European driving licences, post-Brexit

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 20 Dec 2016 23:33
European driving licences, post-Brexit - Bilboman

Probably one of the last items on most people's list of "post-Brexit worries", but I wonder what will happen to EU drivers settling in the UK (and vice versa) after Brexit. Licences from the EU are valid until the driver reaches 70 and licences from 17 "qualifying countries" (most of the countries in both groups drive on the right) can currently be swapped over willy-nilly, but when Brexit is triggered, I envisage some restrictions springing up for immigrants from the EU (I assume some will be allowed in!) and a nice boom for driving schools (to say nothing of back street forgers!)
There may be some quickly drawn up deals with Ireland, Cyprus and Malta - just as there are already reciprocal agreements with Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe for example - but this is yet another administrative issue whose implications haven't yet been considered.
I've always thought it strange to allow a straight swap of licence when moving to a country that drives on the other side, but I benefited from that in Spain 20 years ago and my "skeleton" driving licence record still exists on the DVLA computer should I ever need to swap back!

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Tue 20 Dec 2016 23:51
European driving licences, post-Brexit - Smileyman

I see no problem in swapping - having driven both UK & hired cars on the right it's a quick conversion process to master, apart from a few quirky USA rules, easily mastered with a little reading.

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Wed 21 Dec 2016 08:16
European driving licences, post-Brexit - RT

There have long been international rules on licences for ex-pats - after a set length of time their foreign licence stops being eligible as their visitor status no longer exists - arrangements differ as to which countries licence can be accepted for exchange to a UK one and which countries require a UK test. Basically only countries with a test standard equal or better than the UK - in the UK's opinion!

I see no change in that - but arrangements for EU ex-pats will be part of the Brexit deal.

Edited by RT on 21/12/2016 at 08:17

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Wed 21 Dec 2016 09:59
European driving licences, post-Brexit - colinh

The rules in Spain keep changing - the latest (January 2015) seem as confusing as ever:

murciatoday.com/from-january-2015-foreign-national...l

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Thu 22 Dec 2016 10:55
European driving licences, post-Brexit - focussed

"I see no change in that - but arrangements for EU ex-pats will be part of the Brexit deal."

Hmm - I don't fancy trusting my right to drive with a UK licence being based on dodgy deals concocted by the political pygmies in Wasteminster.

So I will have to change my UK licence to a French licence which is valid for life with no three-year renewal after 70 as with a UK one.

The only downside to this is it makes it easier for the French to deduct points if I am caught "making progress".

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Thu 22 Dec 2016 21:16
European driving licences, post-Brexit - Bilboman

So I will have to change my UK licence to a French licence which is valid for life with no three-year renewal after 70 as with a UK one.

The only downside to this is it makes it easier for the French to deduct points if I am caught "making progress".

If les flics do things the same as in the UK, they can issue points to a (currently non-existent) "phantom" French licence of a Brit resident in France, so there is ultimately no escape. I can think of a few advantages of changing to a French licence - as in Spain, most stuffed-shirt officials accept it as ID, and it is more convenient than constantly carrying a passport around. Also, the joy of hiring a car on a visit to the UK without having to request that stupid code from the DVLA and reveal points status to all and sundry!

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Thu 22 Dec 2016 23:45
European driving licences, post-Brexit - focussed

As long as you don't get caught trying to break the land speed record all they are after is your money here in France, the points on a french licence are deducted from the 12 you start with, not added like a UK licence so I guess they get confuddled over that and generally can't be bothered.

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Fri 23 Dec 2016 12:02
European driving licences, post-Brexit - Theophilus

But even as things stand, if you are resident in France and commit a driving offence which involves the addition of penalty points to your licence you are obliged to change from a UK to a French licence ... so drive carefully!

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Fri 23 Dec 2016 16:10
European driving licences, post-Brexit - Theophilus

But even as things stand, if you are resident in France and commit a driving offence which involves the addition of penalty points to your licence you are obliged to change from a UK to a French licence ... so drive carefully!

Sorry - that should have read subtraction of penalty points!

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Fri 23 Dec 2016 22:06
European driving licences, post-Brexit - focussed

But even as things stand, if you are resident in France and commit a driving offence which involves the addition of penalty points to your licence you are obliged to change from a UK to a French licence ... so drive carefully!

Sorry - that should have read subtraction of penalty points!

It actually doen't seem to happen in practice unless you have been extremely naughty, I have spoken to someone who had been notified that he would have change his licence because of a serious infringement - he ignored it - the gendarmes went round his house and demanded he appear at the prefecture at a certain date and time to surrender his UK licence - he ignored that as well - and nothing happened.

It all depends where you live in France, the local administration can be very inconsistent.

I got caught by a speed camera at 5 kph over the tolerance, paid the fine, heard no more about it.

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