The United Kingdom has introduced 3 new driving laws which have come into effect since September 2021. Drivers & motorists on the roads of United Kingdom are advised to be aware & up to date with the latest rules & driving laws implemented. These new driving laws that have come into effect in September have been aimed at reducing pollution, giving people with driver’s licenses more time to renew them & better, sturdy and secure number plates for better tracking of offenders to aid enforcement of road safety.
- Fuel Changes from E5 to E10 Petrol
- September 1st onwards, the standard fuel at petrol stations has been changed from E5 Petrol to E10 Petrol. E10 Petrol comprises of 10% bioethanol in the mixture with petrol compared to 5% of bioethanol in E5 Petrol mixture.
- Increasing the percentage of bioethanol means there are fewer CO2 emissions compared to E5 petrol & unleaded petrol. With this move, the UK government aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by an enormous 750,000 tons which could be equated to removing more than 300,000+ cars off the road.
- Vehicles (especially cars) manufactured before 2002 are not built to adapt to this change in fuel & could cause damage to key components like fuel lines and cause carburetor corrosion.
- This means that vehicles that are not compatible to use E10 Petrol are restricted to use E5 Petrol which is now more expensive as it has been designated as super unleaded protection grade fuel. Customers will older cars will have to pay as much as £10 to £15 more per full tank filling.
- Other European countries like France, Germany, Finland etc. have already made the switch to E10 Petrol.
- Driving License Extension
- Owing to the lockdowns & restrictions due to the pandemic in 2020, the Driving & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has allowed for extension of driving licenses that expired between 1st February 2020 & 31st December 2020 till the end of September 2021.
- Hence, beginning from October 1st 2021, the licenses that would have expired in 2020 have to be renewed or else drivers without renewed licenses can be fined up to £1,000.
- Drivers who have applied for renewal can continue to drive once they receive the confirmation of their application being processed by the DVLA.
- Changes to Number Plates
- The UK will have new 71- number plates for vehicles registered from September 2021 onwards. The vehicles registered since March 2021 were registered with 21- number plates.
- Also, these new number plates must have solid black lettering on the number plates making it easier for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (APNR) cameras to recognize plates. Two-tone digits/alphabets are not allowed since September 2021.
- The new BS AU 145d standard was replaced by the BS AU 145e standard for number plates – these new plates are more durable & less resistive to road debris damage.