Can I drive this van on my licence?

[pmanson]

Hi All,

Need to borrow a van for a couple of days so that I can move house. A family friend has offered me the use of a Fiat Ducato (with a high roof):



Now this would be ideal (and fully insured etc) but I just want to check and make sure I can drive it on my licence. I passed in 2000 and my licence states the following categories B, B1, f k p.

Thanks,
Phill

[eltax91]

Phil,

If it's under 3500 KGS MAM (maximum authorised mass) then you are ok. This looks like the size of van that is around that figure, but i would suggest you do your research on that bit

[pmanson]

eltax91 said:

Phil,

If it's under 3500 KGS MAM (maximum authorised mass) then you are ok. This looks like the size of van that is around that figure, but i would suggest you do your research on that bit

OK a quick google finds this:

said:

The Fiat Ducato has bounded upmarket size-wise in its latest form. The largest derivative of the old model that operators could lay their hands on was a 3.5-tonner with a 12m3 load volume.

So i'm assuming it's 3.5 tonnes unladen which would put me on the limit? So does this mean I could drive the van empty but not loaded? Or is the weight measured with the van empty not his max carrying capacity.

Phill

[blueyes]

The ducato lwb high top is 3.5 tons.
The 3.5 tons is the GROSS vehicle weight: vehicle and load so you can drive it on a normal car licence.

If it was the EXTRA long high-top it would be 4-4.5 tons (they've only just come out so I doubt it is) and you'd need a C1 licence.

[pmanson]

blueyes said:

The ducato lwb high top is 3.5 tons.
The 3.5 tons is the GROSS vehicle weight: vehicle and load so you can drive it on a normal car licence.

If it was the EXTRA long high-top it would be 4-4.5 tons (they've only just come out so I doubt it is) and you'd need a C1 licence.

Ah Cheers!

It's an old one (similar to the one in the picture).

Don't want to get stopped and find i'm in the wrong so I thought i'd check... ignorance is no excuse as they say!

[GPSHead]

Trying to park a LWB van when you've driven nothing bigger than a Mondeo is bags of fun.

[pmanson]

GPSHead said:

Trying to park a LWB van when you've driven nothing bigger than a Mondeo is bags of fun.

I've driven this van before (but this time I had read something about licence restrictions so I just wanted to check I was ok) and i also used to drive the old folk's people carrier all the time!

Great fun driving the van - very odd feeling as I normally drive a Golf!

[Flat in Fifth]

Another thing to remember is that different speed limits apply.

[esselte]

Flat in Fifth said:

Another thing to remember is that different speed limits apply.

Yeah,with a white van you're limited to warp factor 1....

[AndyAudi]

esselte said:

Flat in Fifth said:

Another thing to remember is that different speed limits apply.

Yeah,with a white van you're limited to warp factor 1....

Brother has a couple of Merc Sprinters which do exactly that, when helping my sister to move house we had a run through the night on empty dual carriageways & Motorway. These things are quite capable of reaching & sitting 100 plus.
Big things to remember
depended how they are loaded their handling changes dramatically
always slow to about 85ish if empty and overtaking high sided vehicles (as I discovered trying to catch little brother)
they can also take forever & a day to stop and only a blink of an eye to flip.

Andy