Six driving law and road rule changes in December 2024 including huge £10k fine

Motorists are being alerted to six new driving laws and roads rules that are being introduced this December. The changes affect everything from electric vehicle charging to car production after the government announced major changes.

There will also be changes for those who use company cars with HMRC advising of new fuel rates which some employees will also need to be aware of in the coming days.

Here are all the changes coming in from December 1, 2024.

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Advisory Fuel Rates

HMRC have published new advisory fuel rates for company car drivers. Employers can use these rates to reimburse company car drivers for business fuel. These rates can also be used if employees are required to repay the cost of fuel used for private travel.

The new Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs), effective from December 1, include changes to the pence per mile (ppm) rates for both diesel and petrol company cars. AFRs for diesel company cars have all decreased. The rate for a diesel company car with an engine size of more than 2,000cc is cut from 18-17ppm, while the new AFR for a diesel vehicle with an engine from 1,601-2,000cc falls from 14-13ppm.

For diesel cars up to 1,600cc, the new reimbursement rate will be 11ppm, down from 12ppm. All three rates for petrol company cars have also been cut.

HGV rules

New Government rules outline that on or after December 31, 2024, a "full" smart tachograph 2 or "transitional" smart tachograph 2 must be retrofitted into in-scope vehicles with an analogue or digital tachograph undertaking international journeys.

Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV’s) must be fitted with new tachograph technology from February 21 under new regulations. The DVSA said: “On or after February 21, 2024, a ‘full’ smart tachograph 2 or ‘transitional’ smart tachograph 2 must be fitted into all newly registered in-scope vehicles regardless of journey types.”

The DVSA added: "On or after December 31, 2024, a ‘full’ smart tachograph 2 or ‘transitional’ smart tachograph 2 must be retrofitted into in-scope vehicles with an analogue or digital tachograph undertaking international journeys.”

£10k fines

Charge point operators face a fine of £10,000 for each charger that does not meet new rules which came into force in November. All electric vehicle (EV) charge points of 8kW and above, and existing chargers of 50kW of above, must now offer contactless payments to consumers.

Adam Hall, director of energy services at Drax Electric Vehicles, said: “These findings highlight both progress and opportunity. Councils are working hard to modernise their EV infrastructure, but barriers continue to exist. Bridging these gaps is essential to not only build confidence in the UK’s EV growing market but also help make the transition smoother for businesses and fleets who rely on a reliable public charging network.”

“Across the country, the potential financial exposure for the industry is substantial, especially for larger operators with hundreds of charge points to manage,” said the ESP Group. “As the number of public charge points in the UK surpassed 68,000 earlier this year, total non-compliance could result in billions of pounds in fines for the sector.”

Contactless payment options AND chargepoint reliability

Under new regulations introduced at the end of November, EV owners will be given assurances from charge point operators who will need to guarantee their devices have a 99 per cent reliability rate. This will also ensure that new chargers with a power capacity of 8kW and above, as well as existing charge points of 50kW and above, can offer contactless payment options as standard.

ZEV

The Labour Party could u-turn and water down the ZEV mandate, it has been reported this week. From 1 January 2024 onwards, car manufacturers will need at least 22% of their car sales and 10% of their van sales to be fully electric under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate which aims at increasing the sale of electric vehicles to help reduce emissions. The government plans to increase this percentage of electric vehicles sold over time so that by 2030, at least 80% of the cars sold are electric, and by 2035, all cars sold in the UK produce zero emissions to stay in line with their ban on the sale of diesel and petrol cars by 2023.

Car makers who fail to hit this target in 2024 will be fined £15,000 per car and £9,000 per van short of the target.

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