Jump to content

English driving licence


smudge
 Share

Recommended Posts

Your new U.K. licence will last for 10 years. When you move over, if you were to take up a new type French licence it will last for 15 years, if the French ever get their donkey (or an animal that you may even sit on, an ass [:D]) in gear. Failing that, the licence at the mo will take you till you drop, or somewhere near 2030??

OK, I can understand why there is a system to make sure that no carp is broadcast on here, but what the hell is wrong with putting ass, or as it will be wiped out a$$! The PC police have got to the end of the pendulam swing I sincerely hope!!!

An ass a$$ is a kind of donkey for crying out loud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you exchange for a French licence before next September it will last for life !

JJ, the software is American so what do you expect from a nation which doesn't know what end a fanny is [blink]

EDIT: See, that didn't get *****'d but try to write the name for a female dog and see what you get.

Ain't life a bitch

EDIT2: I recently bought a novel from the USA as I couldn't find it anywhere else, there was some foul language in it in places including the motherF word yet despite that somebody had actually taken a black felt tip pen to the word b.itch which was also used a few times !

God save us from the yanks !!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a thought - we have exchanged our English driving licences (last November) and on the section 'Restrictions' it shows the age 70 RU (Royame UNI?), or 74,75, 76, 77 - which I presume are our ages. So I have to stop driving a car in France at 70, but I can drive and coach with a trailer until I'm 77! It says Depuis le and the dates then under Jusqu'au it shows my birthdate next year - I'll only be 60!

Can't figure that out - will I have to re-sit my driving test, a medical or what does it mean?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, Keni, I've just looked at my brand new French licence since reading your post and nowhere does it say when I am to stop driving.

All the dates I can find on it as the dates when I passed my driving test (and no, not gonna say which year![:)]) and also the year when I changed my old UK licence to the last plastic card one (2003).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

70 RU is the code for UK and is nothing whatsoever to do with age !

Against group A1 (and A if you had a full motorcycle licence) and B (and all other groups in fact) under 'Depius Le' there should only be the date you passed your test., there should be nothing in the next column 'Jusqu'au' as category A and B are valid for life.

Groups C, D, and E should show the date of your 70th birthday.

The restrictions mean that to continue driving those groups beyond your 70th birthday requires a medical.

If yours says something different then you need to go back to your prefecture and question it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, on groups A1 & A, there are the dates of my motorcycle licence tests - full motorcycle etc. But on B - Car it shows the date of passing my test - restrictions on that says 70RU - which I take to mean 70 UK.

However all the others show that I have the licence until 2014 - CDE - which make me 60!, But on restrictions C it says 70RU, 74, then for D it says Restrictions 70RU,75 whilst for E -C it says restrictions 70RU,76 and E-D 70RU, 77. So I take it those are the ages I have restrictions but it is the fact it says on CDE I have to stop driving trucks at 60!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Keni"]

Yes, on groups A1 & A, there are the dates of my motorcycle licence tests - full motorcycle etc. But on B - Car it shows the date of passing my test - restrictions on that says 70RU - which I take to mean 70 UK.

No, I covered that in my previous post, 70 RU does NOT mean that you have to stop driving at 70, it is purely a code !

However all the others show that I have the licence until 2014 - CDE - which make me 60!, But on restrictions C it says 70RU, 74, then for D it says Restrictions 70RU,75 whilst for E -C it says restrictions 70RU,76 and E-D 70RU, 77. So I take it those are the ages I have restrictions but it is the fact it says on CDE I have to stop driving trucks at 60!

Again no, 74, 75.76, 77 are not to do with age and are the references to the heavier vehicle groups however if yours does give your 60th birthday as an 'Jusqu'au' date anywhere then they have cocked up and you definitely need to go back and get it corrected. Those numbers properly belong under 'Mentions' but have been left justified which is what causes confusion. [/quote]

Here is a scan of my new French Licence. For some bizarre reason they have put 2014 against group D and ED, and got my birth month slightly wrong, but since I have no plans to drive mini busses, with or without trailers, I doubt I'll be challenging it. The bottom part of the photo shows the reverse where the codes are tabulated and briefly explained.

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/licence_zpsec75aa37.jpg[/IMG]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="AnOther"]If you exchange for a French licence before next September it will last for life ! [/quote]

Well perhaps not.

At lunch today a French friend who is in his sixties described what happened when he was stopped at a routine check by Police at a roundabout last Sunday. When he showed them his rather old and battered, but completely legible, pink licence he was told it needed to be changed at the PrƩfecture asap as it was unserviceable.

He was stunned by their request but also by their very abrupt manner.

Sue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just been talking to a French friend who has put a somewhat different slant on the meanings of the various dates on an exchanged licence and looking at my OH's it seems to make sense.

As stated the 70 has nothing to do with age and is the standard administrative code for an exchanged licence, RU denotes the origin of the original.

The dates under 'Jusqu'au' may vary depending on the style of licence surrendered and surprise surprise, the whim of the individual prefecture.

If it was a old style paper licence which is valid to age 70 then it should say the date of your 70th birthday.

If it was an unexpired photocard then the date could either be the day following the start date of the new French licence (this is what my OH's says) or alternatively the photocard's expiry date, which is what they have put on mine (well almost !).

In any case the licence itself never expires although certain groups do expire at age 70 and will require a medical to be retained, those being E (trailers over 750kg), D (busses), and C (trucks). Group B, the standard car licence, never expires and does not itself require a routine medical at any time. This is the principal advantage in changing to a French licence whilst you still can before the new photocard type comes in.

Exactly how the medical requirements are policed I don't know. Logically you would expect them to write to you approaching the time and advise you of the fact however since there is no legal requirement to update the address on a French licence clearly there is much scope for many to fall through the cracks !

Maybe they rely on French drivers knowing when medicals are required and to either stop driving the relevant vehicles or automatically submit themselves to a medical, or perhaps they just let them go on regardless and then fine them/deduct points if and when they are caught driving a vehicle for which a medical is required but hasn't been taken. I need to do a bit more research on that, unless somebody else who has been there knows the answer ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with what ANO has said about the licences, but I should point out that the dates shown against the various categories are not the dates of passing the tests; mine for example shows 16/07/74 for ALL categories whereas I actually passed my motorcycle test in 1964 and car in 1966, so these dates are probably something to do with the transfer to DVLA from the local licencing authorities. The details in my original little red licence are lost forever! [:(]

The question of photocard licences has been in the UK news this week with some 2 million people not having renewed after the 10-year expiry. Presumably I'm one of them! [blink]  I don't know if the French authorities notify DVLA when we change to a French licence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="AnOther"]

Here is a scan of my new French Licence. For some bizarre reason they have put 2014 against group D and ED, and got my birth month slightly wrong, but since I have no plans to drive mini busses, with or without trailers, I doubt I'll be challenging it. The bottom part of the photo shows the reverse where the codes are tabulated and briefly explained.

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/licence_zpsec75aa37.jpg[/IMG]

 

[/quote]

I think you will find that the reason for the different dates for groups D & ED is something to do with the fact that, after a certain age [:)], a medical is required every year for these groups, compared with every 2 years for the other groups requiring medicals.

My first french licence was issued on 27/03/2007, and, I believe, should have been valid up to the day before my birthday for the groups requiring a medical every 2 years from age 60, and for one year only for groups D & ED, but someone got the numbers mixed up.

Subsequently, the expiry was derived from the date of the medicals rather than the date of issue.

The "depuis" date is from the date of issue of my last UK licence, nothing to do with when I passed my test. I think DVLA lost that information many years ago. A friend who worked there told me they lost just about everything in the sixties, and recovered it gradually from old information on new application forms.

 

[IMG]http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab131/nomoss/Posted%20on%20Forums/FrDrLicRCF07InCROP.jpg[/IMG]

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're right about the expiry dates, but I was referring to the "since" dates. Here's mine: by 1974 I had already held a full motorcycle licence for 10 years, but that record is lost now.

The expiry dates of 2009 and 2010 refer to 1 year and 2 years respectively after the issue if the licence, which for the "heavy" groups requires a medical. I don't want those groups so they've lapsed by default. 

 

I feel certain that 1974 was the time of the switch from local authority to DVLA (or DVLC as was). They conveniently dumped the old data then!

[IMG]http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k611/basstrom79/forum%20pics/mygroups.jpg[/IMG]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The UK licence I handed in in 2007 (as it was about to expire) gave my entitlement "from" date as  " < 10 11 76 ", so presumably DVLA (or C, or whatever they called themselves then)  had no information available before that date.

Some bright lad in Carcassonne decided that the issue date was more appropriate as the "depuis" date for the french licence.

At the time, I was happy enough to get a french licence with no medical exam nor any requirement to wear glasses noted on it.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think nomoss is correct on the medical question however the thing which is most puzzling is that my birthday is in September so 04/01/2014 and 04/01/2015 are completely random dates which seem to represent anything identifiable, furthermore I will not have reached even age 65 by 04/01/2015.

Still, so long as I can continue to drive a car or car/trailer combo up 3500kg without the need for medicals foregoing the other groups will be of no real loss to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thougt you'd like this  - added as a ps to these posts. We exchanged our licences in November. Friends went today to the sous-prefecture at Rochechouart to get exchange licences, and were told that they now have to provide a translation for their old English Driving licence! We didn't need to in November. Our friend didn't understand what the lady was saying, so phoned, me, and I spoke with the lady there and she definitely wants a certified translation of their existing licences as well! Anyone else come across this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...