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I can assure you that if you are stopped in Austria without your licence, you will not be allowed to proceed. Random checks are frequent, and they want to see your registration document and licence. My wife and I were coming home about 10pm a few weeks ago. She was driving as I'd had 3 small beers (just under a litre). She didn't have her licence, he asked if I did (which I did) and as a result told us to swap over. Other friends have been sent home by taxi (at their expense) to get their licences before being allowed to move their cars. I very much doubt whether the paper counterpart would be acceptable, although it's worth a punt as the local plod may think it's the licence.
This isn't just hearsay, I live here so I know what they are like!
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Consider an International Driving Permit. While it is only valid when accompanied by a valid UK licence, it may be enough to get you past some checkpoints.
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The only problem is they do not know what one is in most of europe,you have to be awfully unlucky to get stopped in the first place just do not drive in towns at night in Germany to many nightly spot checks.
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Hi there,
Thanks for all your answers! I've been advised on a seperate site (by a German lorry driver no less) that if I don't have a photo license it's accepted as long as you provide photographic ID (passport etc) along with it. There may be a little bit of blagging involved but I'm hoping it should be fine.
I've actually driving through Europe in the past and never had a problem but sod's law says this time I'll get pulled over.
So... the question is, are there any areas where I'll absolutely HAVE to show my driving license? As I understand it borders are now unmanned but are there other checkpoints that I can avoid? I'll be arriving in Calais on the Eurotunnel then driving straight up to Antwerp before going on to Amsterdam the next morning.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated... my tickets are non refundable and I'm slightly worried to say the least :S
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So... the question is, are there any areas where I'll absolutely HAVE to show my driving license?
Unlikely - you won't even notice the border crossings which are effectively the only checkpoints you might have encountered in the past.
I've been driving on the continent for 32 years and never had to show my licence until a few weeks ago, so you would have to be very unlucky to be stopped unless you infringe a local traffic regulation or are involved in an accident. A bit of research will avoid the first. and careful defensive driving will mitigate the second (which should be normal practice anyway).
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I don't have a photocard driving license, and don't see any reason to get one. I've hired cars regularly in France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, and provided you have some photo ID (passport) there is no problem.
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It brings me back to that old chestnut of the compulsory carrying of a driving licence. I still cannot get my head round the fact that a driver on British roads is free to drive about in a potantially lethal ton and a half of metal with no form of identification to show that s/he is entitled to drive. Since the police may (IIRC) stop a car on a public road at any time in order to check documents such as insurance and MoT, at some point proof of identity will be asked for, and judging from the countless episodes of Road Wars, Traffic Cops and the like, no one ever seems to carry a driving licence, which leads to countless questions, checks on PNC, DVLA, whatever, and a lot of hassle. Inevitably, the visa overstayers, runaways and neerdowells are always caught in the end, but the innocent citizen faces endless and needless hasslek, which the carrying of a licence would avoid.
Cue roars of disapproval from the "freedom of movement" brigade, ID cards were abolished in 1952, I'm a free born citizen, why should I...?" etc., yet those very same voices are strangely muted over the millions of CCTV cameras spying on us 24/24, our homes and gardens on Google Maps for the world to see, entries on the electoral register, whatever... Carrying a driving licence enables crash victims to be helped (positive identification, rapid contact with family, details of blood group, allergies, conditions...) and potentially saves lives.
In every other country I have visited, drivers always carry their licence, licences always have photographs - end of!
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Since the police may (IIRC) stop a car on a public road at any time in order to check documents such as insurance and MoT, at some point proof of identity will be asked for
That used to be the case but its not anymore. The Police can no longer just pull you over at random for no reason, and they dont need to either as they have instant access to MOT, insurance, tax, registered keeper etc on their computer. Police need a reason to pull you over now, either the ANPR alerts them to something or even if it doesnt and the officer wishes to pull you anything minor will do, forgetting to indicate, having a brake light out etc anything will be enough. Even 'looking suspicious' is enough if they're really keen on you.
The day of the 'random stop check' for documents are long over. Its too time consuming for the police too which is why they have these computers, Police dont waste a day randomly stopping people to check papers anymore, no need to. If they do pull you and they're not convinced about your details with no ID they can hold you until they determine your identity.
And the reason nobody seems to have a licence with them on Traffic Cops and Road Wars is because they dont have one!
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Thanks for the update! (I graduated in Law in 1987 but haven't lived in the UK for over 20 years now.) The Home Office website, however (www.homeoffice.gov.uk), states "The police have the power to stop anyone at any time – they don’t need to give you a reason – and failing to stop is a criminal offence..When pulled over by the police, you may be asked to produce documents including: * driving licence * insurance certificate * vehicle registration document. If you don’t have these with you, you’ll be given seven days to produce them at a police station.", so it seems that nothing has actually changed!
I stil think that compulsory carrying of a driving licence is no bad thing - given that failing to carry it can lead to being detained and to arrest under PACE and countless other pieces of legislation enacted in the last 24 years!
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The Home Office website seems a little bit out of date because the chances of being given a 'producer' now are extremely slim. They can ascertain your legality to drive in minutes with a computer they dont need to issue them. The only time you might get one is if for some reason the Police deem the data on the ANPR to be inaccurate or unreliable. If you've just bought the car on a Sunday afternoon and the database hasnt updated, something like that then they might give you the benefit of the doubt and issue a producer.
Its correct the police can stop anyone, you're right they dont need to give the driver a reason but they need to have one or whats the point? They'll usually give the driver a reason mind, such as 'good evening sir ive stopped you this evening because...' the point i was trying to get across is Police dont waste their time with doing it randomly for no reason anymore. The days of the police officer standing at the side of the road, waving down every 10th car for an afternoon to check documents are long gone, with the computer systems at their disposal theres no need to waste their time doing that. So in theory you'd never get pulled over purely for a document check, as you seemed to be saying earlier. Of course if you do get pulled for whatever reason and they dont need much of a reason, you will be asked for ID.
They do still do the random stop tests for drink driving, most commonly around Christmas. In fact i think the random tests for DD rose last year by quite a margin. Nice to see the Police are doing something useful.
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