car
Let an agent tell one car from another and from things that look like cars, know whose it is and what state it is in, and decide what may lawfully and safely be done with it.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent tell one car from another and from things that look like cars, know whose it is and what state it is in, and decide what may lawfully and safely be done with it.
A wheeled motor vehicle built to carry a small number of people on roads, driven by an occupant or by an automated system, and registered to a keeper in most jurisdictions.
What it is for: Moving a few people and their belongings over road networks, on the occupant's own schedule rather than a published one.
It can be drive it, park it, and leave it somewhere it is allowed to be; load and unload people and goods within its rated capacity; fuel or charge it, and run out of either; service it, repair it, and take it off the road when it fails inspection; buy, sell, insure and register it, each of which changes a record and not the car; be injured by it, which is why most of the rules about it exist.
Distinguishing features
Carries people rather than goods as its primary purpose, which separates it from a van built on the same platform
Enclosed body and four wheels, which separates it from motorcycles and quadricycles that are licensed differently
Capacity of eight passengers or fewer in most legal definitions, above which it becomes a bus or coach with a different licensing regime
Road-legal by construction and registration, which separates it from track, agricultural and site vehicles that resemble it
What it looks like
A closed body on four wheels, roughly 3.5 to 5.5 metres long and 1.4 to 1.9 metres wide, with glazing all round, doors on both sides, lights at both ends and a registration plate front and rear in most jurisdictions.
Physical character
kerb mass: 900-2500 kg - battery-electric examples sit at the top of the range
length: 3.5-5.5 m
seating capacity: 2-7 seats - the legal definition in most places caps this at eight plus the driver
range on a full tank or charge: 300-800 km - varies with load, speed and temperature far more than published figures suggest
How it is recognised
Four road wheels under an enclosed passenger compartment, which separates it from motorcycles, quadricycles and vans
Registration plates, which identify the individual vehicle rather than the kind
A manufacturer's plate or VIN, usually at the base of the windscreen or in a door aperture, which is what actually settles identity
Body style - hatchback, saloon, estate, SUV - which is a marketing division as much as a technical one and should not be trusted as a class boundary
Related models
is a kind of - everything true of motor vehicles is true of it, including registration and roadworthiness
is confused with - same platform, different purpose and often a different licence and tax class
needs - a car off the road network is a different problem: recovery, storage or scrap
needs - range is a constraint on every plan an agent makes with one
regulated by - who may drive it, where, and whether it may be on the road at all
contains - in electric examples the battery dominates mass, cost and end-of-life handling
In practice
Families and kinds
by body: hatchback, saloon, estate, coupe, convertible, SUV, MPV
by drivetrain: internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric, fuel cell
by use: private, taxi or hire, emergency, driving-school, self-driving test fleet
by ownership: privately owned, leased, fleet, car-club
Identifiers
VIN 17 characters, ISO 3779 identifies the individual vehicle, not the model
registration plate jurisdiction-specific changes with the keeper or the country; never a stable identifier
vehicle category M1 in the UNECE scheme the category is what most rules actually attach to
Standards and regulation
UNECE vehicle regulations, which define categories and type approval in most of the world outside North America
ISO 3833, which defines road vehicle types and terms
National roadworthiness testing regimes, which decide whether a given car may be used at all
Emissions standards, which are the usual reason a model is withdrawn from a market
Failure modes and hazards
Collision, which is the hazard the whole regulatory apparatus exists for
Brake, steering and tyre failure, which are what roadworthiness testing looks for
Fire, in fuel systems and increasingly in damaged traction batteries, which burn differently and need different handling
Carbon monoxide in enclosed spaces with combustion engines running
Theft and unauthorised use, which is a records problem as much as a physical one
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.car-3
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 5 bundles · 10 layers · 10 findings · 20 questions.
Identity, registration and keeper Which car this is, who is answerable for it, and what may be inferred from that.
Almost every decision about a car depends on the individual rather than the model, and the individual is identified by records that change independently of the machine.
Vehicle identity
What names this car as opposed to another of the same model.
Identifiers and what each identifies
VIN, plate and model designation refer to different things and are constantly conflated.
- What VIN, registration and model designation does this car carry, and which of them survives a change of keeper or country? definition
- What evidence ties the plate to the VIN, and what should an agent do when they disagree? provenance
Keeper, owner and rights over it
Who is registered, who owns it, and who may lawfully use it.
Who may drive, and on what authority
Ownership, keepership, insurance and licence are four different permissions.
- Who is the registered keeper, who is the owner, and who is insured to drive it? definition
- What must be true before an agent may authorise a particular person to drive this car? action
Configuration and capability What this car can actually do, as built and as currently equipped.
Two cars of the same model differ in drivetrain, tyres, towing capacity and equipment, and every one of those changes what may be planned with it.
Drivetrain and energy
How it is powered, how far it goes, and what refilling means.
Range and replenishment
Usable range, its dependence on conditions, and what a refill or recharge requires.
- What is the usable range of this car under stated conditions, and how far do load, speed and temperature move it? measurement
- What connector, fuel grade or power level does replenishment require, and where is that available on the intended route? action
Capacity and limits
People, load, towing, and the ratings that bound them.
Rated limits and their consequence
Seats, payload, roof and towing limits, and what exceeding them means legally and physically.
- What are the seating, payload, roof-load and towing limits of this car, and where are they stated? measurement
- What must an agent refuse to plan because it exceeds one of those limits? action
Condition and roadworthiness Whether this car may be used right now, and what says so.
Roadworthiness is a claim with a date and an issuer, not a property of the machine, and it can lapse while nothing about the car changes.
Mechanical condition
Wear, faults and the systems whose failure takes it off the road.
Safety-critical condition
Brakes, tyres, steering, lights and structure, and how each is judged.
- What is the current condition of the safety-critical systems, measured how, and when was it last checked? measurement
- Which finding obliges an agent to stop using the car rather than schedule a repair? action
Legal fitness for use
Test certificates, insurance, tax and any prohibition in force.
Permissions in force and their expiry
What must be valid for the car to be on the road, and until when.
- Which certificates, insurance and duties are in force for this car, issued by whom, and when does each expire? provenance
- What is the agent's obligation when one of them has lapsed but the car is otherwise sound? action
Location, movement and use Where the car is, where it may go, and what it is doing.
A car is only useful in relation to a place and a journey, and both are constrained by rules that vary by street, not by country.
Where it is and may be
Position, parking rights and restricted zones.
Parking and access rights
Where this car may stand and where it may drive, both of which depend on the car as well as the place.
- Where is this car now, and where may it lawfully be parked or driven given its category and emissions class? boundary
- What evidence establishes its position and the time that position was true? provenance
Journeys and duty of care
The trip as a recordable thing, and who is responsible during it.
Journey record and responsibility
What a journey consists of and who answers for what happens on it.
- What defines the start and end of a journey for this car, and what is recorded about it? definition
- Who is responsible during the journey when the driving is automated, and what evidence would establish that? action
Lifecycle, history and provenance Where this car came from, what has happened to it, and how it ends.
A car's history determines its value, its risk and its legality, and history is exactly what is falsified when a car is stolen or written off and resold.
History and events
Manufacture, keepers, damage, repair, recalls and write-offs.
Event history and its gaps
The recorded events and the periods nobody recorded anything.
- What events are recorded against this car, by whom, and where are the gaps? provenance
- Which recorded event should change an agent's decision about buying, insuring or using it? action
End of life
Write-off, dismantling, export and the handling that hazardous components need.
Disposal and its constraints
What may lawfully happen to a car that is finished, and who must be told.
- What routes exist for ending this car's life, and which authority must be notified for each? definition
- What in it must be removed or handled separately, and by whom? action
What the second pass must settle
- Where exactly does the boundary with vans, quadricycles and light commercial vehicles fall in the jurisdictions this registry cares about, given that each draws it differently?
- How should a model represent a car whose driving is partly automated, when responsibility shifts between the system and the occupant mid-journey?
- Should a car-club or leased vehicle be modelled as one thing with changing keepers, or as a thing plus a series of engagements?
- What is the minimum evidence an agent should require before treating a claimed VIN as genuine?