Driving Licence

At the lower edge front and at the rear of my photo licence, it lists the vehicles I am qualified to drive, in capital letters, on the front after the capital letters, it lists several more in lower case. Likewise, on the rear, it lists those same lowercase letters f/k/l/n/p/q

What are they?

Ford Kia Lancia Nissan Porsche Quoros

It happens that Andy Burns formulated :

Thanks, I was just checking I was still good to 7000Kg

That just tells you they haven't changed. The definitions are here:

f Agricultural tractor k Mowing machine or pedestrian-controlled vehicle l Electrically-propelled vehicle n Exempt from duty

Interestingly, "l" appears to include any electric vehicle, with no limit on weight or number of seats. So it seems you could drive an electric HGV or bus quite legally (for fun - there's other requirements would stop you doing it commercially).

P and Q are pre-EU moped categories (and mostly overlap with AM):

Category P

You can drive 2-wheeled vehicles with a maximum design speed of over 45km/ h (28mph) but not more than 50km/h (31mph). Its engine size must not be more than 50cc if powered by an internal combustion engine.

Category Q

You can drive 2-wheeled and 3-wheeled vehicles without pedals with an engine size not more than 50cc if powered by an internal combustion engine a maximum design speed of no more than 25km/h (15.5mph) This category also includes trial e-scooters.

Mike

It's always worth checking. I know I can drive 7.5 tonners, but my (paper) licence stated 7.5T, plus a trailer, up to a total of 12T and did not state any other limitations.

When it was replaced with a photo licence, an extra code had appeared, limiting me to a combination of 8.25T - not that I am likely to need even that.

You might lose that at a certain age ...

From age 70 onwards you have to pass a (proper) medical to continue to keep 7.5 tonne entitlement on your licence. It's the same (I think) as HGV drivers have to pass.

I've done it twice now. It checks basic health and fitness to drive plus quite a lot of sight tests for acuity and peripheral vision etc.

I did mine shortly after I had had new glasses, and got away without having a "special" optician's certificate, although my GP muttered a bit and only signed me up for lorries (which I wanted) but not buses (no interest to me).

One thing people might find interesting. She used a Snellen chart on the back of the door, and I struggled slightly to meet the criterion. There was no light over the chart and the surgery is quite dingy so afterwards I did some research and found that the test is *supposed* to be done with a well-lit chart. I have not been back in the surgery since, but I have a light-meter app on my phone, I will try to check it next time.