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Fined 90 Euros for having UK licence


Btuckey
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The friend of a friend was stopped in Quillan last week for one of the many routine inspections.  The Gendarme noted that she had a UK driving licence and asked how long she had been in the country.  She replied a year and the G. responded that she should have changed her licence for a French one as the address on the UK one was not valid.  She was fined 90 Euros for the offence.  Is this a ‘new’ ruling or was the Gendarme just pulling a fast one?

Brian

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As I understand the law, if you have a pink UK licence with the EU symbol it's fully vaild in France and the EU. No matter if you are a resident or not. I have always understood it's not a requirement to change it to a French driving licence.
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[quote user="chris pp"]

No, the Gendarme didn't know what the law is, I had one try to do the same to me a month or so back, but I wasn't having any of it, Gendarme spoke to his superior, who put him straight.

 Chris

[/quote]

I bothers me a bit that the gendarmes do not seem to know the law on a few things. Re the pool security checks where some gendarmes were saying that alarms were not an option.

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I suspect the Gendarme has applied Article R222-1 of the code de la route which deals with the validity of EU issued licences in France.  The Article confirms that UK licences are valid for use in France without time restriction and it contains no provision to classify an obsolete licence address as an offence. That means that if they have fined you under this Article, then the fine was improperly applied.

However, Article R222-1 also contains an exception whereby UK licences which were originally issued in exchange for non-EU licences may only be valid for one year in France and may have to be exchanged.  An example of this would be a US citizen exchanging their licence for a UK licence then moving to France.  Unless their original US licence was subject to a reciprocity agreement with France, then their UK licence would indeed have limited validity.

Before you advise your friend's friend to complain to the Gendarmerie, you should check that this case does not apply to him/her.

 

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I confess that I remain mystified as to why there is such resistnce to

changing one's licence for a French one. It's not difficult, it's not

particularly expensive (or, at least, it wasn't), you get a useful

piece of ID (minor benefit) and jobsworth gendarmes can't misapply the

law on a flimsy excuse (they can always find another one, I am sure).

So why the reluctance to change?

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I don't think anyone's expressed any particular resistance to exchanging their licence.  More like why change just for change's sake when it's not actually required?

I've only ever been stopped at a roadside check once and the gendarme was fascinated by my photocard licence - he reckoned that they were better than the French ones because of the photograph. I've also used it for ID in a brico - again, better than the French driving licence because, like the identity card, it has a photograph.

The French will be introducing photocard licences, but until they do, the only real benefit of exchanging is when you reach the age of 70 because a UK licence then becomes periodically renewable.  A French one doesn't.

 

 

 

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As loweezel says, I also seem to remember that there is one category of vehicles the UK license allows but the French equivalent does not allow.

Also, I understand that for minor "points offences" (e.g. single points) you will not be forced to change to a French license and will thus not have the point applied (which would be applied if you had a French license).

(But do correct me if I am wrong on the above).

Ian
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[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

I've only ever been stopped at a roadside check once and the

gendarme was fascinated by my photocard licence - he reckoned that they

were better than the French ones because of the photograph. I've also

used it for ID in a brico - again, better than the French driving

licence because, like the identity card, it has a photograph.

[/quote]

Eerrmmm...French driving licences have photographs on them. I'll admit mine looks a bit smarmy, but it is definately me.

I've heard the arguement about driving bigger trucks, but, frankly how

often does one need to? My entitlements were carried over, but for the

biggest vehicles re-testing is required after several years. I have no

plans to do this myself, though I suppose it could be inconvenient for

some.

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[quote user="saddie"]One disadvantage of changing to a French licence

is that you lose your history. I know someone who changed his licence

and subsequently could not hire a car because there was no proof he had

been driving for umpteen years.[/quote]

Lose your history? What, you mean the date you passed your test? It's

clearly marked on mine (in several places for reasons best known to the

issuing office). I know that they had a bit of a problem getting the

computer to accept my DOB and test date because I was 17 when I passed,

but they managed it in the end. I can't help feeling that more problems

might be encountered when attempting to hire a car when the address on

the licence and the credit card billing address don't match...

Oddly, according to my permit, I can currently drive articulated

vehicles up to 12 tonnes in weight - I don't recall passing a test to

do that....

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[quote user="Jon D"]I confess that I remain mystified as to why there is such resistnce to changing one's licence for a French one. It's not difficult, it's not particularly expensive (or, at least, it wasn't), you get a useful piece of ID (minor benefit) and jobsworth gendarmes can't misapply the law on a flimsy excuse (they can always find another one, I am sure).

So why the reluctance to change?


[/quote]

No reluctance to change here, but our Prefecture wouldn't do it when I went to ask, said it wasn't necessary as we had the pink EU licence and our CdS (for identity purposes), and refused![8-)]

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[quote user="saddie"]One disadvantage of changing to a French licence is that you lose your history. I know someone who changed his licence and subsequently could not hire a car because there was no proof he had been driving for umpteen years.[/quote]

What history?  Both mine and my husband's have the date that we passed our tests in the UK on them and there's been absolutely no trouble hiring cars or vans with them.  Mine's got a photo too!!!

As an aside, a friend got pulled on a routine check this week and the gendarme discovered that she had been drivng around for six months without a controle technique.  She had misunderstood when she bought the car (second-hand) and thought that the CT ws valid for two years from when she bought the car, not just two years, hence, she thought she had another six months to run.  She was fined 90 euros but is now worried about whether she will get any points.  Anyone know if this is a "pointable" offence??  If so, can they give/take away points if she still has a UK licence?

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[quote user="Jon D"]I confess that I remain mystified as to why there is such resistnce to changing one's licence for a French one. It's not difficult, it's not particularly expensive (or, at least, it wasn't), you get a useful piece of ID (minor benefit) and jobsworth gendarmes can't misapply the law on a flimsy excuse (they can always find another one, I am sure).

So why the reluctance to change?


[/quote]

 

Jon there may be people like me who own a house in France, where I spend not inconsiderable time, rent a house in Germany, where I work, and still have a valid (ie not even officially moved away) address in the UK.

 

Given that I am only allowed one licence, which should I go for?  Long term it will be a French one, if only because of the expiry at age 70 for the UK one, but today?

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I am in the process of chanign insurance and had a letter to say "nous vous demandons de bien vouloir nous faire parvenir la copie de votre permit francais que vou devez echanger dans un delai d'un an a compter de votre entree sur le territoire francais".

Same merde!

I will write back, attaching the same text for article R222-1 (thanks for the link).

They also seem to want a "releve d'informations" for each driver. Any idea what this is?! Is this something only on french licenses? (perhaps this is the "catch 22"...)

Regards,

-Rob-

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I know someone quite well, let's call him a friend, when he gets stopped for speeding and produces an English driving licence and speaks no French the gendarmes give him a 'Foreigners Ticket' which is a €90 fine. The gendarmes are concerned that they may miss out on the stealth tax if the person cannot be found in France.
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[quote user="Stevehudson"]

Fair point, but there must still be people using a UK licence with an invalid address.

My question related to these people.

Steve

[/quote]I wrote to the DVLA on this subject when I moved here.  They wrote and said quite categorically that it was not a problem but that I should fill in the  change of address box on the licence.  I have kept the letter in case of problems and carry it around with my licence.  I shall copy the link above also and carry that round too.
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