Michael Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 I would like to try and get a French Driving Licence but do not want give up my English driving licence. I do have a home in France and therefore a French address but I am not resident. I have checked with a driving school who is willing to give me lessons and let me take the written test.My big problem is my French is not up to much and therefore I will have great difficulty in reading the questions in the test.Does anyone out there know of a driving shool that has an english speaking instructor and a programme that give the questions in English. The location would best be Calais or any where in northern France, or near Quiberon where I have a house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Forget it. You have to take the test in French. There's nothing wrong with using your UK one. If you want to, you can exchange it for a French one at the prefecture - if they'll let you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted September 20, 2006 Share Posted September 20, 2006 Two questions:Why do you want a French driving licence?If you do get a French licence, why don't you want to give up your English licence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted September 21, 2006 Author Share Posted September 21, 2006 I have a number of vehicles insured here in the U K and a French licence will probably make things difficult for the insurers to give me a competitive quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 You still haven't said why you want a French driving licence. Your UK licence is valid for driving in all EU member states and unless you commit a traffic offence in France which involves penalty points, you are not required to exchange it for a French one.If you do exchange, your UK licence will be retained by the prefecture and returned to the DVLA. With regard to obtaining competitive insurance quotes, the place of issue of your driving licence is immaterial (see above). Your driving entitlements remain the same whether it's a UK or French licence.Unless you already have 11 points on your existing licence and/or are about to be banned, then I see no benefit in going down the French driving test route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absolut Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I have a French driving licence which you can have if you really want one, providing you let me have your English one!I regret having changed mine when it was not necessary. I was awarded 3 points and a 90€ fine for no safety belt in our village. (OK my fault) The Gendarme who stopped me spoke excellent English and said that if I had retained my UK licence, he would not have even booked me!Also, I have noticed that although there appears to be no expiry date for the driving of certain class vehicles (cars and small things) I can only tow a caravan until 2007. What happens after that, I have no idea. Can anyone out there help please? Is it an age thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Your category (E)B for caravan towing requires a periodic medical:Up to age 60 - every five yearsFrom age 60 - every two yearsFrom age 76 - every year.I expect you'll find your expiry date probably co-incides with the above.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesg Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 I understood that a B + E License for towing would only be necessary if the caravan's PTAC is greater than the unladen weight of the car, or if the gross train weight of the combination is more than 3500Kg.Can anyone confirm this please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Code de la Route Art R.221-4:Catégorie E (B)Véhicules relevant de la catégorie B, attelés d'une remorque dont le poids total autorisé en charge (PTAC) excède 750 kilogrammes, lorsque le poids total autorisé en charge (PTAC) de la remorque est supérieur au poids à vide du véhicule tracteur ou lorsque le total des poids totaux en charge (véhicule tracteur + remorque) est supérieur à 3,5 tonnes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesg Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hi Sunday Driver and thanks for the reply.That looks like what I read with my rather inadequate French language skills.Hopefully that means that the answer to the question is yes. I got the usual gobble de gook from Babelfish when I tried for an exact translation.I am just buying an Eriba caravan and hoping not to need the E part of the license, as I will have to change mine soon because of age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Sunday Driver,Interesting. If I read this correctly, you are saying that it is actually counter-productive to change from UK licence to French licence ...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 ChessfouWhen you exchange a UK licence for a French one, you keep your original entitlements - therefore no difference in what you can tow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More2Learn Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 While scanning this site once I did notice a side bar offering licences for France.Seems that for an undisclosed sum they could provide you with some sort of EU type licence which you could then take to the relevant department and apply to exchange it for a French licence.I suppose if you look around hard enough there must be a number of devious routes that you can use to obtain a French licence without giving up your UK one.It made me wonder if I could turn in my old United Arab Emerates licence for one? it was issued some 20 years ago so it's most likely expired by now.I would be more worried that by providing all the details to someone over the phone or by post I would end up having my identity cloned. According to the press about the fastest growing crime in the UK now.More2Learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossumGirl Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 I would be very hesitant to use any type of fake license to obtain a French license. If the authorities try to check it out and find out that it's fraudulant, I imagine you could get yourself into a world of trouble. The times we live in are not forgiving ones...PG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More2Learn Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Firstly I would never encourage anyone to break the law, in France or the UK.There are however legal ways to overcome some problems and that was merely my suggestion.I have held a number of local driving licences, usually obtained by showing my UK licence and having some forms completed and a local licence issued. I had one in Singapore and another in Dubai, though this was a long time ago, both these were obtained at the same time as work permits and residents visa's etc.France obviously accepts another EU countries licence as well as other International licences as proof of competence and validity to drive a vehicle in France. In some cases one of these might be used as a means to obtain a French licence without sitting a driving test. The only problem of course is they hang on to the old licence as proof for the records. If you handed over a licence obtained on your UK licence from another country that didn't keep the UK licence then you would have found a legal way of getting a French licence without loosing the UK one.It is just finding out how to go down that route, of course it might mean spending some time working in some far flung French protectorate, so would it be worth it?More2Learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Interesting scenarios, M2L.The question is, why would you want to go through all that trouble in order to possess two licences?You only need one to be able to drive....[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiras_Back Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 [quote user="Sunday Driver"]ChessfouWhen you exchange a UK licence for a French one, you keep your original entitlements - therefore no difference in what you can tow. [/quote]HOWEVER, if you are getting the abovementioned caravan/towing capabilities 'kept' onto your French licence you need to follow French law, so a visite medicale is obligatory every 5yrs ... even for youngsters like me!Kira Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 ...and once you reach 60, it's every three years until you're 76, then it's every year.....[:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiras_Back Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 By my reckoning I've got another 5 visits before I reach the 3 yearly ones ... I was amazed they passed me at the last one, I'd gone to bed at 4.30am after a fete, had the visit at 8.30am and had to be driven there by neighbours as I was unfit to drive and then fell over during the medical!Kira Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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