Taking a minibus through France to Belgium

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threebikesmcginty

Corn Fed Hick...
Location
...on the slake
As you're one for shared transport could you pick up a few crates of Belgian beer and drop them off at my house, please?
 

threebikesmcginty

Corn Fed Hick...
Location
...on the slake
[QUOTE 3326160, member: 45"]I'm planning to pick some up. As I don't know the way to your house I'll have to take them home with me.[/QUOTE]

They'll be wasted on a pleb like you. No offence.
 

ayceejay

Guru
Location
Rural Quebec
[QUOTE 3326229, member: 259"]There's probably some namby pamby health and safety stuff saying you can't tie them to the roof rails any more.[/QUOTE]
You obviously have little experience in reading 'the small print' I said number of passengers anything attached to the roof would be considered luggage or bagage in Dutch and therefore a different sub section.
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
The main issue is the tachograph
It needs to be fitted and working, and the drivers each need a tacho card, which can take 3 weeks to get hold of

If the minibus does not have a tacho, not is not going out of the UK.
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
Yes.
No Tacho= It ain't leaving the UK

https://www.gov.uk/drivers-hours/passenger-carrying-vehicles

We had to cancel a Scout trip at Easter to Luxembourg for exactly this reason at very short notice.
There is a reason why minibuses are common in the UK and as rare as hens teeth in the rest of Europe.
The rest of Europe regards a minibus as a small bus, they are only driven by professional drivers
The local school, church, scout group, football club etc. does not own its own mini bus, they hire in with a driver when required.

To drive a minibus (>9 seats) in Europe you need the following:

Drivers with D1 Licences, or who passed their test before 1997 (This 'grandfather' law will be repealed in the near future, but you are OK for now)
or a driver with a PSV licence
The licence needs to the modern credit card type with a photo
The vehicle needs to be fitted with a tacho suitable for the age of the vehicle (which means in reality the old paper disc ones could be an issue if there was an accident, they have been phased out in the rest of Europe but they are not yet illegal in the UK)
The drivers each need their own tacho card, this is a process that takes 3 weeks to obtain
The vehicle needs two warning triangles, spare bulbs, two breathalyser kits (buy on line, a lot cheaper than buying in a shop) plus a hi-vis jacket for every person on board, plus working seatbelts
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
[QUOTE 3326742, member: 259"]Are you sure about this? For a privately owned minibus in France and Belgium? You can hire them here with a pre 1997 licence or a D1.
I know for certain that you don't need to have the new EU model driving licence in Belgium or France (very few people have them).

You don't need breathalysers, as the French government decided it was unworkable. As far as I recall, you don't need a hi-viz tabard for all occupants either. You certainly don't need this for cars, vans or buses.
[/QUOTE]

Be my guest
Here is the 52 page document on the rules
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...urs-and-tachographs-psvs-in-gb-and-europe.pdf

As I said we were forced at 10 days notice to pull a trip for Scouts for exactly this reason, if there had been a way around the rules I'm sure we would have found it, as we had several transport managers putting their heads together to see if there was a solution.
 
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