Driver licensing, vehicle fitness and administrative duties
This domain covers the paperwork and fitness rules that make driving legal: licence category, medical fitness, penalty points, compulsory insurance, registration and periodic vehicle tests.
Core rules
- A category B licence covers a private car up to the permitted weight and passenger limits. Do not drive a category you do not hold.
- Learner and newly licensed drivers face restrictions and a stricter alcohol rule; carry the licence and follow the conditions attached to it.
- A licence can be suspended or revoked for medical reasons, serious offences or accumulated penalty points. Report conditions that affect safe driving.
- Compulsory motor insurance (bituach chova) is required; driving without it is an offence. Comprehensive insurance is optional.
- The vehicle must be registered and pass the periodic roadworthiness test when due. Keep the test certificate and pay registration fees on time.
- Report a change of address and any accident or defect that affects the vehicle’s fitness as required.
Worked example
You buy a used car. Before driving it, you confirm the ownership transfer, valid compulsory insurance and current roadworthiness test. If the test is due, you book it and do not drive without the required cover. Reasoning: registration, insurance and fitness are separate legal duties; a valid test does not replace insurance, and insurance does not cure an unfit vehicle.
Traps
Assuming the seller’s insurance covers you; driving with an expired test because “the car feels fine”; ignoring penalty-point notices; failing to report a medical condition; lending the car to an unlicensed driver.