Gardengirl Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 A friend here in France is very worried about driving in England at the start of 2015.He is 71, and has read on the internet that he can be stopped and prevented from driving when travelling in England because he won't have had his driving licence renewed at age 70 as he doesn't need to in France. He's really worried about being prevented from driving to various relatives' homes while in England. Has anyone on the forum come across that; has it happened to anyone you know? Or is it just internet myth? I looked myself but didn't find such info, and have also looked at the DVLA site with no luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 [quote user="gardengirl "]... stopped and prevented from driving when travelling in England because he won't have had his driving licence renewed at age 70 as he doesn't need to in France.[/quote]If he has a valid french licence then he can drive in the UK without problem.My friend (aged 79) returns to the UK by ferry at least twice a year to visit relatives. She has never been stopped even though she drives too fast - she learnt to drive in Paris around 1955 and still loves whizzing round the Etoile. She was helped once to find the right road by a UK policemen during heavy fog, when a diversion was in place and she became disorientated, but he didn't ask to see her licence.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 [quote user="gardengirl "]A friend here in France is very worried about driving in England at the start of 2015.He is 71, and has read on the internet that he can be stopped and prevented from driving when travelling in England because he won't have had his driving licence renewed at age 70 as he doesn't need to in France. He's really worried about being prevented from driving to various relatives' homes while in England. Has anyone on the forum come across that; has it happened to anyone you know? Or is it just internet myth? I looked myself but didn't find such info, and have also looked at the DVLA site with no luck.[/quote]Does he have a French driving licence or a UK one? If it is a UK one, then he needs to change it for a French one, IIRC, because his UK one will have expired when he turned 70.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 [quote user="Pickles"]Does he have a French driving licence or a UK one? If it is a UK one, then he needs to change it for a French one, IIRC, because his UK one will have expired when he turned 70..[/quote]Pickles I think the heading answers your question : Re: Driving with a French driving licence in EnglandSue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 [quote user="suein56"][quote user="Pickles"]Does he have a French driving licence or a UK one? If it is a UK one, then he needs to change it for a French one, IIRC, because his UK one will have expired when he turned 70..[/quote]Pickles I think the heading answers your question : Re: Driving with a French driving licence in EnglandSue[/quote]I was just checking in case a senior moment had been taking place when the OP was posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 I thought it worked the same way across Europe as it does here, in that you can drive with your valid EU licence in any EU country as long as you don't commit any driving offences which incur points gain or loss (depending on how the country does it), in which case you would have to exchange your licence in order to have the points gain or loss applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Not quite.If you are not UK resident then you cannot be forced to exchange to a UK licence.If you commit a points attracting offence in UK whilst holding a non UK licence DVLA will create a ghost licence in your name to add the points to, commit more offences and reach 12 then you will be banned from driving in UK regardless of what licence you hold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debra Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Sorry - didn't realise he was only going to be visiting.Didn't know that about the ghost licence, is that a recent thing? I wonder if France will start doing that? Or have they already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Thanks for the replies; he was somewhat reassured, then a reply from DVLA cinched it for him:''I can confirm that your friend would be covered to drive on his French driving licence as long as the licence remains valid. If he was to become resident, he would be covered to drive for 3 years. If he wished to continue driving after this time, he would need to exchange his French licence for a Great Britain licence.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 GG there is a little bit missing from that last statement, this is from the DVLA websiteYou can drive in Great Britain on a full, valid driving licence from another EU country until you’re 70, or for 3 years after becoming resident in Great Britain, whichever is longer. Now I haven't had much sleep, so what does that mean? I knew what it meant for my OH as he passed his test in France and will have to change to a UK licence when he is 70, but when one is over 70, I'm not sure. ALSO, as I passed my test in the UK, when we moved back, I had little time to change my licence back, cannot remember how long, but there was no waiting for me to get to 70 (edit, maybe this has changed in the meantime).....and to transfer to my UK licence was free. When my husband changes his, he will have to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Just realised that that must mean that over 70 someone can have an extra three years on a french licence...so maybe they really have changed the system since I changed my licence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 [quote user="AnOther"]Not quite.If you are not UK resident then you cannot be forced to exchange to a UK licence.If you commit a points attracting offence in UK whilst holding a non UK licence DVLA will create a ghost licence in your name to add the points to, commit more offences and reach 12 then you will be banned from driving in UK regardless of what licence you hold.[/quote]I Wonder if that actually works in practice or is just words like drivers of foreign registered vehicles will be pursued for the Dartford crossing charge.The French do something similar with the Cannonball run type speeders, they ban them from driving in France and someone else has to take the Wheel for them to continue.I Wonder if there is any legal foundation to say that we have now decided you cannot drive in our country on your valid EU license? Morally of course it is right, in France no-one is going to argue the toss with an armed flick but back in the good old youman rights respecting UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereford Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 Going back to the original question: a French person aged over 70 driving in the UK on a French licence would be legal so cannot see why the OP thought it would be different just because the driver was English... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 I put the question, as a friend of ours had worried himself so much after reading on the internet that he could be prevented from driving if stopped by police for whatever reason. There are scary stories about all sorts of things put there on the internet, and as he has recently been operated on and is recovering at home, I think he allowed his worries to take over.I couldn't see why a French resident should have his French licence disregarded, but .......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted December 13, 2014 Share Posted December 13, 2014 30 seconds on the DVLA website would have dispelled all doubt or confusion in a few mouse clicks [;-)][url]http://lmgtfy.com/?q=dvla+foreign+licence[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Excellent! I do like LMGTFY [:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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