The operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

Explanation

In both cases; both steering play exceeding 10 degrees on a bus built on a passenger car base and the absence of mudguards or mudflaps.

The permitted limit for total steering play depends on the vehicle type, and that point is what this whole question is built on. For a passenger car and any vehicle built on its base — including a van or minibus built on a car chassis — the ceiling is 10 degrees. More than 10 degrees means operation is prohibited. Excessive play means part of the steering wheel's rotation is not transmitted to the road wheels at all; the driver turns the wheel and the vehicle responds late, and to compensate for that delay he over-steers. The result is a wandering course at speed and loss of control in an emergency manoeuvre.

The absence of the mudguards or mudflaps provided for in the vehicle's design also prohibits operation on its own. These parts are not decorative: their main job is to contain the gravel, water and mud the wheel throws rearwards. Without them, the car behind receives a layer of mud across its windscreen in the rain and its driver's vision is destroyed at the worst possible moment; a thrown stone can also break his windscreen.

Worth memorising: the figure of 10 degrees belongs to passenger cars and vehicles built on their base; an ordinary bus has a higher ceiling.

• Play above 10 degrees on a vehicle built on a passenger car base really is an offence, but it is not the complete answer and sets aside the mudguard fault. • The absence of mudguards and mudflaps really does prohibit operation too, but it is not the only item raised in the question.

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