Thank you for the responses.
From the legal point-of-view, descriptive words like small truck, big truck etc. are unacceptable.
As you see, there is difference between =<1000cc and 1001cc and there is a clear distinction between 1001cc-1300cc and 1301+cc. Different rules apply to different categories. Therefore it cannot be open to interpretation what is the definition of 'light transport' and what is the definition of 'heavy transport'.
From the administrative point-of-view, it opens up all sorts of problems. You may think you can drive a Hilux on an passenger car license while the traffic policeman could think otherwise, causing on-the-way problems. In addition, when there is an accident, if the court finds out that the driver was driving with appropriate license, there is standard penalty, but if the court finds out that the driver did not have the relevant license, the punishment becomes much harder as driving without relevant category license can be considered equal to driving without a license. Therefore I am quite sure there must be a clear definition for each category, and each possible brand name of vehicle must fall in AT LEAST ONE and ONLY ONE category. Otherwise the law would need redefinition.
@mavrik5, let's take the question another way:
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How light is the LTV? Is the distinction by vehicle weight? Or by laden weight? or by GVW? Or is it by axle weight?
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How heavy is the HTV? What is the distinction line that would push the license requirement from LTV category into HTV category?
@usmanuetian, let's try to classify:
- As per you, pickups, vans and wagons fall under LTV. Therefore to drive a Suzuki Ravi, Suzuki Bolan, Toyota Hilux, Toyota Probox, or Toyota Corolla station wagon model, you must need an LTV license?
- Bigger trucks ... what is the legal definition of this term? Bigger by length, by weight, by height, by engine cc, by number of wheels, by number of axles, by what?
Illustration of the problem using some examples:
One day a friend was driving a Hyundai Excel yellow cab scheme which had white-letters-on-black-background number plate (commercial number). The traffic policeman stopped him and asked for license. My friend had a passenger car (M/Car) license. The policeman told him it is not the correct license for this type of car.
Apparently, it is perfectly legal for somebody with a M/Car license to drive Hyundai Excel with a black-on-yellow number plate (private).
But as per that specific policeman, to drive a Hyundai Excel which has commercial number plate, you need an LTV license!
I saw this in a company. They used private number plates Hiace, Hilux and Shehzore to shuttle staff & stuff between there different campuses. But when they delivered some cargo to a customer, they would always use a Hilux or Shehzore with a commercial number plate.
They educated their drivers to contest any traffic fine when the delivery challan would show the point of destination as one the companies' own compounds in another city. The driver would simply tell the policeman that he is taking private cargo (albeit not small in size nor light) between two premises of the same institution and there is no commercial deal, therefore the cargo is not being transported for commercial purposes neither a commercial number plate is legally needed for this transportation endeavour.
The company was highly ethical about not breaking the law and trained their drivers well, did not go cutting corners, as a result there was no fine and no 'handshake' money transfer.
As per the driving license policy (of the company), the drivers who would drive the Hilux, Hiace and Shehzore with private number plate could do it with M/Car license. But the drivers who would be assigned to vehicles with commercial number plate would always be required to procure LTV license.
Again, what about the PSV (public service vehicle) category? If somebody has the HTV, they maybe can drive a truck, but not a bus? How bid can that bus be? A bus would obviously be defined by the seating capacity instead of the weight!
So between 11- or 14- seater Hiace and a 63-seater Hino, there are many vehicle categories e.g:
- Toyota Coaster (19- or 23-seater).
- Mazda T3000 (26- or 30- seater).
Another question:
- A Toyota Tundra or Ford F150 (or even Toyota Hilux) is far bigger/heavier than a Mazda Titan, but have less number of wheels. What sort of license are (legal requirement) needed for each of these?
And the last point is: All this should be supported by some concrete regulation in the background. Because 'according to the traffic rules' is not evidence enough to be used in court of law. The board hanging in the driving license office is not enough. I am dead sure the definition of all these is somewhere there in some Ordinance or Act passed by the National Assembly and approved by the Senate.
Dear moderator, I started this topic in the Professional forum category News/Articles/Driver Education/Safety. This is a topic related to Driver Education. Each license holder must know the distinction between different type of licenses and must know what category of vehicle can he/she drive using that license. He/she must know what is the background of the categorization system and at any time if he/she sees a new type of vehicle (new brand name), must be able to decide for him/herself whether their license enables them to drive that sort of vehicle or not.
This is even more important given that most of the policemen &/or policewomen are also unaware of most part of the law but are quick to twist the law in their favour to take advantage of the ignorance of public at large.
Now I see that the topic has been moved in the Technical forums category Member Opinions & Suggestions. Whereas driving license category is a legal issue and not something subject to "member's opinions".
