Organising
a motoring event - what authorisation is needed?
Note reproduced
from a recent Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC)
(2/2010)
Posted: 1.4.10 |
EVENT
AUTHORISATION
Some clubs have questioned whether or not their events
need to have formal authorisation. No one will be surprised
to learn that many factors need to be considered before
an answer can be given. Broadly these are: whether the
event uses the public highway or private land; whether
or not there is any element of competition; and whether
or not the organising body is a member of the Motor Sports
Association (cars) or Auto-Cycle Union (motorcycles).
A. Events that take place on the public highway
If any part of an event takes place on the public highway,
it is subject to the provisions of the Motor Vehicle (Competitions
and Trials) Regulations of 1969 (Statutory Instrument
1969/414 as amended). These regulations appoint the Royal
Automobile Club Motor Sports Association (MSA) as the
body responsible for authorising events taking place on
the road in England and Wales, with the Royal Scottish
Automobile Club carrying similar responsibilities in Scotland.
For motorcycle clubs the equivalent authorising body is
the Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) and Scottish Auto-Cycle Union
(SACU). Regular readers of this newsletter will know that
different rules apply in Northern Ireland where requirements
for 'parades' also apply to motor events.
The following article applies to car clubs: for more information
on motorcycle events, where the authorisation process
is slightly different, the ACU website is www.acu.org.uk
and the SACU can be found at www.sacu.co.uk.
In general, SI 1969/414 requires organisers to obtain
authorisation for the routes they propose to use, but
it does allow for the following types of event to be authorised
automatically:
1) those with twelve or fewer participating vehicles;
2) those which have no element of competition associated
with them and which thus have no performance testing (i.e.
timed sections) and no fixed route (other than common
starting and finishing points); or
3) road safety events.
If an event falls outside those categories, then route
authorisation is required. Applications may be made no
more than six, but not less than two, months in advance.
However, even if authorisation may be automatic, the obligation
on organisers of events to ensure that what they plan
is not going to cause problems for the public remains,
and to that end, organisers of events that have a fixed
route (such as a treasure hunt) are advised at least to
make contact with the relevant Route Liaison Officer (RLO)
in order to minimise the risk of clashing with other events
or exacerbating existing problems.
Route Liaison Officers are appointed by MSA to monitor
motor sporting activity within their area and advise organisers
where their planned route may cause clashes, public nuisance
or other problems. It is a requirement that any MSA Recognised
Club must clear the route for any events which use the
public highway (including single venue stage rallies)
with the relevant RLO, whether or not there is a requirement
for formal route authorisation under the law. RLOs are
listed in the MSA Competitors' and Officials' Yearbook
at Appendix 8(c).
Non MSA clubs organising purely social events are welcome
to contact RLOs and as a courtesy should always contact
the local police in advance of an event taking place on
public roads.
B. Events taking place entirely on private land
The Motor Vehicles (Off Road Events) Regulations of 1995
(SI 1995/1371) (as amended) lists bodies that are appointed
to authorise off-road events. The list includes the Motor
Sports Association, the Auto-Cycle Union and the National
Traction Engine Trust.
Although there is nothing in law that requires the organiser
of an event taking place entirely on private land to obtain
authorisation from anyone other than the landowner, the
wise organiser looks beyond that and considers wider implications,
such as risk to public and participants; health and safety
considerations; insurance and other such matters. Since
these bodies have well tried and tested codes of practice
that applicants must agree to, seeking authorisation is
a practical and sensible way of maintaining administrative
and organisational standards.
It is worth understanding why these regulations exist
when there is no compulsion to seek authorisation. In
the 1990s, changes to the Road Traffic Act extended various
offences such careless and dangerous driving so that they
applied on private ground to which the public has access
just as they do on the public highway. An unintended consequence
was that, for instance, doing handbrake turns in an autotest
meeting on private ground could render the participant
liable to a charge of dangerous driving because the ground
was open to the public for that occasion. In order not
to stop entry-level motor sport dead, the government introduced
the off road event regulations to remove the possibility
of careless or dangerous driving charges under the conditions
set out in those regulations. Thus it is clearly in the
interests of a club organising an event during which participants
are expected to drive, either by way of demonstration
or competition, to obtain sanction from one of the authorising
bodies.
C. Clubs that subscribe to the Motor Sports Association
In subscribing to the MSA, clubs agree to be bound by
the MSA's Regulations which are in addition to any legal
obligations. The requirement for a Recognised Club to
clear routes with the appropriate RLO (see A above) is
an example.
Regulation D4.1 states that no event may take place unless
the MSA has granted its approval by the issue of an organising
permit unless the event is of a type that has been exempted
from the regulations, in which case a Certificates of
Exemption should be obtained.
This leads to the obvious question: what is an event?
The MSA considers any (motoring) activity organised by
a club for its members and advertised through whatever
medium that club uses to publicise its activities as an
event. Such an activity places a liability on the organisers
and that activity should, therefore, have approval from
the MSA. A benefit is that in granting approval (whether
by permit, or Certificate of Exemption) MSA provides public
liability insurance cover up to £30 million under
the MSA Master Policies arrangement.
The low-key events that fall outside the scope of the
MSA's Regulations include events such as Touring Assemblies;
Road Safety Events; Processions for Historic or Charitable
Purposes; Veteran Rallies or Runs; Gymkhanas; Treasure
Hunts; and Concours d'Elegance. Certificates of Exemption
for such events now cost £19 which covers the cost
of the administration and the premium for the public liability
insurance. The organisers are under an obligation to collect
and record details of participants
These Certificates, which should not be confused with
route authorisations described in A, above, used to be
free. The introduction of a charge has caused some organisers
to question whether their activity requires one. The answer
is that the law does not require them to have one, even
if it requires them to have route authorisation, but failure
by an MSA Recognised Club to obtain one could mean they
are (at least technically) in breach of their agreement
with MSA and thus at risk of being expelled.
FBHVC has received representations from some member clubs
that are also MSA Recognised Clubs who consider the MSA
requirement to obtain a Certificate of Exemption (and
all the clerical work recording insurance details that
involves) excessive for what are purely social events,
many of which take place entirely on private land.
As a result of these representations, the secretary and
the chairman met Simon Fowler at MSA recently, and are
pleased to report that MSA accepts that for small touring
assemblies and purely social events the Certificate of
Exemption conditions may still appear too onerous and
have agreed to look again at the definition of a touring
assembly and any small social event that does not have
a set route and does not involve marshals and controls,
avoids single track roads and sensitive areas. The exact
definition of this 'social run' type of event is still
to be decided and the FBHVC will keep members informed
of progress with these negotiations.
Further
details
There is a great deal more information on the MSA website:
www.msauk.org and the staff at Colnbrook are also happy
to take calls from member and non-member clubs alike to
clarify any matters relating to event organisation.
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