is car tax required for unadopted roads?

Paul4real | 12:32 Wed 31st Jan 2007 | Road rules

9 Answers

the estate i live on has been and is still under a dispute between the developers and the council about the sites drainage, as such the council have refused to adopt the land.I am selling a car at the moment and as such am not going to bother taxing it as it is not used( i now have a compnay car so dont need it), my question is if a viewer comes to see it amd i breaking any road tax laws if i took him for a test drive on the unadopted roads?

Uninsured

Highway code in USA

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THECORBYLOON

You must have a valid tax disc to have the car on a road and under the Road Traffic Act 1988, in England and Wales, a road is " any highway and any other road to which the public has access."

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Panic Button

Not quite that simple I'm afarid.

I know that airport vehicles working at BAA airports do not have to have road tax when travelling on the public roads that are on BAA land. They even run on untaxed red diesel.

BAA byelaws accept all road traffic laws except taxation.

That may not have any relevance to the unadopted road situation though.

Paul4real

Question Author

yes im working on the asumption that as the road is not adopted it is therefore not maintained etc by the highways, on our estate when we had snow and ice last year the council refused to grit as they weren't "adopted by the local council and as such do not come under their remit for maintaining. Therefore i know a big assumption i would assume why would you pay road tax for a road whihc isnt being maintained by the council/government.

Panic Button

Corbyloon is probably correct that all road traffic laws apply to your road.

The case I quote is where the organisation owning the road has specific byelaws governing the road.

Annlinda

I am assuming that the vehicle is not insured as well as untaxed. I think that you could find yourself in trouble if you drove your vehicle on your estate.Just because the Council have not adopted the road it could still be classed as a public road because the public have access. Have you got a sorn notice on your car? This stops you using the car on public road. Dont risk it.

Grunty

Now let's see what the law says. The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 creates the offence of using an unlicensed vehicle on a public road. Public road is defined as one that is repairable at public expense. The reference book that I consulted says ' Whether or not a road is repairable at public expense can be established by the local authority who will be able to say whether it has been adopted in the sense that a highway authority is responsible for its maintenance under the Highways Act 1980 or under another enactment'. In any case, the vehicle will require the other documents, including insurance.

kempie

It does not necessarily follow that an unadopted road is not a part of the public highway. Unadopted roads which have acquired highway rights are subject to the same Road Traffic legislation as the public highway.