Pick-ups will stop being classified as trucks from today and will be considered passenger cars

Until now classified as industrial vehicles, from today, 7 July, pick-up vehicles will be considered , for traffic purposes, passenger vehicles. The new instruction issued by the DGT takes effect today, under which the configuration, use and performance of pick-ups fall within the scope of a passenger car and no longer within that of a truck or heavy commercial vehicle, as they had been considered until now.

According to the DGT instruction, those pick-up vehicles whose maximum mass does not exceed 3,500 kg, in which the seats and the cargo area are not located in a single compartment and whose total height does not exceed 2 metres, will from now on be subject to the same traffic rules as the rest of vehicles classified as passenger cars: use of lanes in the opposite direction to the usual one, order of priority in the absence of signage, overtaking, speed limits, service levels in winter road conditions, use of HOV lanes, and many more.

Although pick-ups are classified as passenger cars for traffic and regulatory purposes, they will still be considered trucks for tax, MOT (ITV) and load volume purposes. The application of this instruction affects them only for traffic purposes, because with regard to any other of their obligations concerning tax, periodicity of MOT inspections and load volumes, among others, which may arise from their formal classification as an industrial vehicle under the construction criteria of the Vehicle Register, they will continue to have to comply with the regulations specified for heavy commercial or industrial vehicles. The Directorate-General for Traffic will soon enable a specific field in the Vehicle Register for this type of vehicle.

For the DGT, for traffic purposes, most pick-up models are included within the scope of passenger cars and not that of trucks. This situation has generated controversy in the past given the direct application to them of the traffic rules specific to industrial vehicles. For this reason, pick-ups could not until now travel at 120 km/h on motorways, a situation that the DGT’s new instruction now corrects.

The assimilation of pick-ups to passenger-type vehicles for traffic purposes is due to the “dynamism and evolution” that the car market has been experiencing in terms of new bodywork and their adaptation to new uses and configurations.

Pick-ups are vehicles with an open cargo area, separate from the cab reserved for passengers. Their design and configuration make them especially attractive both for leisure uses and for various professional activities.