Volvo Owners Club Forum - can i drive 12 seater minibus

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- - can i drive 12 seater minibus (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=111370)

There is a loop hole in the system allowing you to drive a mini bus on a cat B licence. This comes under the

Quote:

a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats provided the following conditions are met:
i. the vehicle is used for social purposes by a non-commercial body but not for hire or reward
ii. the driver is aged 21 iii. the driver has held a car (category B) licence for at least 2 years
iv. the driver is providing the service on a voluntary basis
v. the minibus maximum weight is not more than 3.5 tonnes or 4.25 tonnes including any specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers
vi. if the driver is aged 70 or over, is able to meet the health standards for driving a D1 vehicle

from the website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...ons/DG_4022619

This works really well for student unions (University students), Scout leaders, Duke of Edinburgh etc. I've been driving for a University sports club for 3 years now under this system. I belive you do have to have a "section 19" permit http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repositor...ember%2009.pdf which is when it gets really complicated!!!

Hope that helps to explain what that part is for,
Phil

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merc85 (Post 796543)

Why not buy a 7 Seat 850 estate, i've 4 kidds and that suits us fine ages, 10yrs 5yrs 3yrs and 2yrs.

Hello

I can't work out if this topic is about minibus licenses or 7 seat solutions. If I am right, the original poster needs a car big enough for a large family, and the Volvo 7 seat option isn't big enough.

Our V70 7 seater lasted until last year when our (then) ten year old grew too big for the boot seats. Before that the car served brilliantly as a family holdall , with the luggage going into a large-ish roofbox.

We now have a Mazda 5. The boot-seats will accommodate a 5'9 adult comfortably, though that's not true of other medium mpvs. We tried a couple out, and found the boot seats were no better than the Volvo's. Luggage still goes into the roof box.

We have friends with 5 children (!) who have an old Japanese 4x4 (possibly a Shogun). It has two seats that fold out into the boot area, facing inwards. The kids go in the boot and the luggage goes into a trailer, and they camp in Italy for their holidays.

I think that a lot of the larger Japanese 4x4s have
these fold down seats - the Discovery might have them too.

There are plenty of these things around, and it would save the need for a minibus!

why cant you pull a trailer? you can pull a trailer with a b cat aslong as you stay with the rules and a unbrakeed trailer would be big enough eg 5 foot long to chuck camping gear in ect up to max 750kg inc trailer .this will still keep you in the max train 3500kg car+trailer with a b cat you only need a cat b+e if you need to exceed 3500kg total or pull a trailer with a mass more than the tow car ...(not really recommended) .

unless your car had been modifyed as not capable to tow anymore or a car with subframes witch can't tow.

you can pull a caravan with a car aslong as you dont exceed 3500kg total train wgt with a b cat