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Is it legal to park a vehicle that is declared as off the road (currently on my drive) on an unadopted road or am I likely to face fines. I could do with my drive back!!
Is it legal to park a vehicle that is declared as off the road (currently on my drive) on an unadopted road or am I likely to face fines. I could do with my drive back!!
It depends on whether the public have access to the privately-owned road, whether the vehicle is immobilized - that is, is wheels prevented from turning - and whether there is an insurance policy on force relating to the vehicle.
Determining whether the public have access is trickier than might be thought; if pedestrians have access, it may be public. But it also depends on whether access is for purposes to do with the owners of the road.
This makes sense. Suppose, for example, a farmer owns some land, with a private road leading to a farm shop owned by the farmer. Members of the public visiting the shop will use the road, but I'd say that does not make it public for road law purposes. So you could park an uninsured vehicle there without committing an offence.
However, if the private road was used by pedestrians as a short-cut to a shop *not* owned by the farmer, that might be enough to make it public for road law purposes - and so vehicles parked there would need to be insured.
I expect you can find lots of cases and appeals on this subject, mainly brought by insurance companies attempting to avoid liability.
My understanding is that vehicles parked on a private road would not require a test certificate though ... admittedly I've not tried very hard to try to get to the bottom of that question.
I also seem to recall reading that if the vehicle were immobilised such that is impossible for the wheels to turn, insurance is not required if it is on a private road even if the public have access.
Is it legal to park a vehicle that is declared as off the road (currently on my drive) on an unadopted road or am I likely to face fines. I could do with my drive back!!
Whether the road is adopted or not is irrelevant.
You may not place a vehicle under SORN on the Public Highway. Who actually owns the highway is immaterial.
You can check with the Highway Authority (County Council or Unitary Authority) to see if you unadopted road is actually public hughway. If they confirm that it is not, then you may park the vehicle there under SORN rules
Unadopted by the Highway Authority, so it is NOT a public highway.
My house in Wales is on an unadopted road, I have two SORN'd vehicles parked on this road, and the local Police have told me that there is no requirement for any Tax, MOT, or Insurance. PLUS, they say that the vehicles do not have to be immobilised, they also say I can even drive them along the road perfectly legally as long as I don't drive onto the PUBLIC highway at the end of the village.
But if the public have unhindered access - eg if there is a public footpath along the road - then it is a public highway even if it is unadopted.
Not necessarily. I live opposite a 'service road' to a primary school. It's tarmacced, pavements on each side and street lighting and has public access. The road is owned by the Education Dept of the local council, who maintain it, yet it is unadopted and not part of the public highway (I've written confirmation)
If you look at the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 you will see that it makes mention of "public roads". If you then look at s. 62 it tells you what is a public road, namely "in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, means a road which is repairable at the public expense".
So the best bet is to contact your local highways authority and check to see whether the road is maintainable at public expense.
My neighbour has SORN his car, but still uses it on the public road every day. It is almost three years since he last bought a tax disc. In fact, at the moment he has six cars parked in front of his house. The road, however, is unadopted, so he gets away with it. He calls himself a trader, but he never sells any of the cars - just drives them around. It is like living on a garage forecourt.
My neighbour has SORN his car, but still uses it on the public road every day. It is almost three years since he last bought a tax disc. In fact, at the moment he has six cars parked in front of his house. The road, however, is unadopted, so he gets away with it. He calls himself a trader, but he never sells any of the cars - just drives them around. It is like living on a garage forecourt.
Then why don't you report him? I WOULD!!
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The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.
I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.
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Already reported him three times to dvla, nothing has happened as yet. Thanks anyway for the advice.
Nothing will happen as the vehicles are legally parked off road as far as SORN is concerned. The DVLA or their agents NSL will not bother taking action which probably surveilance and require a RIPA authorisation to catch him using an untaxed vehicle on a public highway maintained at the public expense it is not worth the man hours or expense when there is easier prey for them to target.
Nothing will happen as the vehicles are legally parked off road as far as SORN is concerned. The DVLA or their agents NSL will not bother taking action which probably surveilance and require a RIPA authorisation to catch him using an untaxed vehicle on a public highway maintained at the public expense it is not worth the man hours or expense when there is easier prey for them to target.
Did you not read his post properly? He said the car is SORNd but being used every day on a public road!
__________________
Please Note
The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.
I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.
Please click my scales at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice usefull.
Parking a "SORN" vehicle on an unadopted road
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Originally Posted by pkinsey
