Driving over 70

Will I be able to drive my Autosleeper Broadway FB on a normal license when I get to 70 ?

As long as your motorhome has a Max Gross Weight of 3500 KG or less, then yes an ordinary car licence is adequate.

You will have to renew your licence every three years from 70 onwards, but this does not cost anything and it can be done on-line quickly and easily.

Provide it has not been up plated above 3500kg gross vehicle weight, an ordinary DL is ok, no need for C1 rating, but you will lose C1/D1 rating unless you do the D2 medical  route. Renew on line if you don't wish to keep these.

I sometimes wonder what happens if say you have a 3650mgw plated motorhome which has been downplated to 3500, you are over 70 and stopped and weighed and the camper weighs in at 3600. I would have thought you have a good case for saying the vehicle itself isn't overloaded because the manufacturer designed it for 3650. However you would obviously be doing wrong in driving something which you are obviously not capable of driving. Nowadays you are fit and able to hold down a brick hod carrier's job until your 70th birthday before you get your pension (you must be, the Govt says so - you don't need a doctors certificate for that).  However, the day after you suddenly need a certificate for which you have to pay, in order to do what you were doing yesterday. So I suppose in the  case of the 3500 / 3600 / 3650 scenario you would be done for driving something for which you are not qualified, although you used to be qualified and the vehicle itself is built to take that weight. They didn't suddenly come and take away my 7 GCE 'O' levels did they?

Of course I have an interest here, I have a Bourton which originally was 3650 (or was it 3850, I cant remember and it's freezing and dark outside so I don't want to go and look) but has been downplated to 3500. I had it weighed with all the Memsahib's wardrobe stuffed full, her library of books, knitting kit, etc, full (inadequate) water tank and fuel tank, spare wheel, bike carrier and so on and it was 3680. So I went home, removed the satellite dish, TV, spare wheel, rear corner steadies, half emptied the water tank, drove till it had 3/4 fuel tank, removed a lot of unnecessary personal stuff and returned to the weighing place. The chap there was very helpful, he knew exactly why I wanted it weighed, and now it was down to 3350. Then I thought I had best replace the spare wheel, but remove the air conditioning off the roof and replace it with a standard Fiamma roof light. Then I found the air con was stuck to the roof pretty well, and that it weighed 32kg. Although 32kg would be a worthwhile saving, I used to lift 30kg gas boilers on to wall hangers, and I know how heavy that is. I couldn't remove the air con without a crane, so I left it in place - though it will never be used. The microwave will be next to go,that must weigh a bit. It's only use is as a bread bin after all. I'm not going to spend £500 on a lithium battery just to save a few kg.

Has anyone been stopped and weighed? In 60 years of driving motorhomes I haven't. But I do wonder what would happen if I was stopped and weighed 3600.

gassygassy wrote:I sometimes wonder what happens if say you have a 3650mgw plated motorhome which has been downplated to 3500, you are over 70 and stopped and weighed and the camper weighs in at 3600. I would have thought you have a good case for saying the vehicle itself isn't overloaded because the manufacturer designed it for 3650. However you would obviously be doing wrong in driving something which you are obviously not capable of driving. Nowadays you are fit and able to hold down a brick hod carrier's job until your 70th birthday before you get your pension (you must be, the Govt says so - you don't need a doctors certificate for that).  However, the day after you suddenly need a certificate for which you have to pay, in order to do what you were doing yesterday. So I suppose in the  case of the 3500 / 3600 / 3650 scenario you would be done for driving something for which you are not qualified, although you used to be qualified and the vehicle itself is built to take that weight. They didn't suddenly come and take away my 7 GCE 'O' levels did they?

Of course I have an interest here, I have a Bourton which originally was 3650 (or was it 3850, I cant remember and it's freezing and dark outside so I don't want to go and look) but has been downplated to 3500. I had it weighed with all the Memsahib's wardrobe stuffed full, her library of books, knitting kit, etc, full (inadequate) water tank and fuel tank, spare wheel, bike carrier and so on and it was 3680. So I went home, removed the satellite dish, TV, spare wheel, rear corner steadies, half emptied the water tank, drove till it had 3/4 fuel tank, removed a lot of unnecessary personal stuff and returned to the weighing place. The chap there was very helpful, he knew exactly why I wanted it weighed, and now it was down to 3350. Then I thought I had best replace the spare wheel, but remove the air conditioning off the roof and replace it with a standard Fiamma roof light. Then I found the air con was stuck to the roof pretty well, and that it weighed 32kg. Although 32kg would be a worthwhile saving, I used to lift 30kg gas boilers on to wall hangers, and I know how heavy that is. I couldn't remove the air con without a crane, so I left it in place - though it will never be used. The microwave will be next to go,that must weigh a bit. It's only use is as a bread bin after all. I'm not going to spend £500 on a lithium battery just to save a few kg.

Has anyone been stopped and weighed? In 60 years of driving motorhomes I haven't. But I do wonder what would happen if I was stopped and weighed 3600.

3600kg would be 2.85% overweight.

"A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more."

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My EL is downplated from new from i think 4500 to 3500 kg.

Weighed it fully loaded with passenger and dog, was a around 60kg overweight.

If we ever get stopped and weighed all my other half has to do is take dog for a walk!

I have been stopped,random, once.

no  problem.

Its a rare occurrence I think.

Micky

Does the OP question relate to age, or speed? Or am I overthinking as no units (years or mph) are included for context 

Bilbobaggins wrote:Does the OP question relate to age, or speed? Or am I overthinking as no units (years or mph) are included for context 

Sorry bilbo, you are right, I didn't specify. I meant age, but I did refer to my licence being removed / downgraded. Also it wouldn't occur to me to drive at 70 mph anyway, unless to escape some lorries arguing in a dangerous manner in the nearside lanes.
I am surprised at RichardG's downplating by 1000kg, that's a lot. And his 60kg dog! phewee.
Thank you ploughlin for the link and information. let's see, 5% of 3500kg is 175kg which would make it up to 3675kg. That's fairly easily achievable I think. As I say I haven't been stopped, but then again my Bourton does look low at the back end, even when not loaded. I do have hydraulic self levelling which weighs 80kg, which is a lot but that is evenly spread front to back. It would be nice to have rear air suspension but of course that would add more weight. Probably about the same as the spare wheel. I could lose that and risk a puncture.
Mickey - were you stopped because your wagon looked overweight, or were they just stopping every other van / lorry? A few weeks ago I was touring in France on a motorway and they had a road block and were pulling vehicles into a weighbridge. They waved me on but pulled in the panel van behind me. Probably they didn't want an argument with an incoherent Englishman. I expect that my French could suddenly leave me in the face of authority.

So it seems that what you would be done for is - what? is it for the vehicle weighing more than its plated weight, or is it for the driver not having over 3500kg on their licence? Or both? Suppose my vehicle weighs 3600, is plated for 3500 and I am over 70 yrs old without the 7 ton category on my licence, what am I done for? I suppose in theory it could be both, but I could argue that the vehicle is built for 3650kg and hasn't been changed other than some paperwork.

You can tell it's a boring day today can't you?

Surely it is the old chestnut of what happens in the event of an accident? Driving without a valid driving licence? Insurance void? Driving without insurance?

I am dithering on up-plating since we are at borderline weight now and the van will probably never go beyond say 3600, but I will probably do it for peace of mind. If I lose my C1 then I will just have to ditch the bikes and the tow bar and down plate, but hopefully that is years away!

Morag123 asked a simple question and it's her first post. We've probably scared her off with the complicated and technical answers. I know threads go off topic and I'm as guilty as anyone but  perhaps we could hold back sometimes.

The question was actually too simple since we don’t know what the OP defines as a “normal” licence. To me a “normal licence” includes C1. If the OP passed the test after 1997 then as WE all know she may not have C1. She may indeed not need it, but we don’t know.

The discussion on weight is relevant since she may need to take positive steps to retain her C1 if that is what she is driving under.

Given the limited spare capacity in a Broadway she may also be interested in the comments on weight limits and might wish to identify her local weighbridge.