Britain’s Department for Transport is considering whether 18- and 19-year-old bus and coach drivers should be allowed to carry passengers on services now closed to them, while retaining additional safeguards for road safety.
Drivers in that age group may currently work on regular services only when the route is no longer than 50 kilometres. The restriction does not prevent them from driving an empty vehicle, but it excludes longer scheduled routes and non-regular work such as many coach services. The rules sit in the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 and apply to category D and D+E licences in England, Scotland and Wales.
The consultation sets out three possible approaches without selecting a preferred one. The government could preserve the restriction but create an exception for drivers who complete extra training; remove it while requiring operators to monitor young drivers with technology; or remove it and rely on guidance for operators and drivers. Elements could be combined.
All three options would open non-regular services and regular routes longer than 50 kilometres to the age group. The smaller category D1 and D1E minibus licences are outside the exercise. Read the Department for Transport consultation.
