PassA permit on top of a licence
A driving licence is not always enough. No person may drive a motor vehicle of a prescribed class on a public road except in accordance with the conditions of a professional driving permit issued to them — and unless they keep that permit with them in the vehicle.
A PrDP sits alongside your driving licence. It does not replace it.
Who needs one
The prescribed classes are, broadly, the vehicles where the driver carries responsibility for other people or for dangerous loads:
- Passengers — buses, midi buses, minibuses and taxis carrying people for reward.
- Goods — heavier goods vehicles.
- Dangerous goods — vehicles conveying dangerous substances, which carries the strictest category.
Learning on a vehicle that needs a PrDP
Where the class of vehicle requires a professional driving permit, the person supervising a learner must themselves be registered as a professional driver in respect of that class, and must keep that permit with them in the vehicle. An ordinary licence holder cannot supervise you on a vehicle that needs a PrDP.
Carrying it matters
As with the driving licence itself, the law requires the permit to be in the vehicle with you. Holding a valid PrDP that is somewhere else does not satisfy the requirement.