Btuckey Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 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. Think your friend should go back to the Gendarmourie concerned and faire plaint.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBC Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 All you need to know is here: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1757.xhtmlOnly non-EU licences need to be changed to French ones after one year's residence in la belle France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddie Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 [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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 [quote user="Rp"]All you need to know is here: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F1757.xhtmlOnly non-EU licences need to be changed to French ones after one year's residence in la belle France. I should print that site and keep it with your licence in case of problems. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Re Logan's advice - rather than printing out the Vos Droits webpage, you'd be better off using the link to the text de reference (right hand side of the page) and printing the actual Legifrance legal extract....[;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Very helpful, have printed it off to go in the car! When you click the link it comes up with Article R222-2, instead of R222-1. (So you need to click retour and type in the code number).Louise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I confess that I remain mystified as to why there is such resistnce tochanging one's licence for a French one. It's not difficult, it's notparticularly expensive (or, at least, it wasn't), you get a usefulpiece of ID (minor benefit) and jobsworth gendarmes can't misapply thelaw on a flimsy excuse (they can always find another one, I am sure).So why the reluctance to change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I think you can drive bigger vans/trucks on a UK licence. (or so Himself tells me.)I wonder if there are other advantages to have a UK licence??Louise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 [quote user="Sunday Driver"]I've only ever been stopped at a roadside check once and thegendarme was fascinated by my photocard licence - he reckoned that theywere better than the French ones because of the photograph. I've alsoused it for ID in a brico - again, better than the French drivinglicence 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 howoften does one need to? My entitlements were carried over, but for thebiggest vehicles re-testing is required after several years. I have noplans to do this myself, though I suppose it could be inconvenient forsome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddie Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 [quote user="saddie"]One disadvantage of changing to a French licenceis that you lose your history. I know someone who changed his licenceand subsequently could not hire a car because there was no proof he hadbeen driving for umpteen years.[/quote]Lose your history? What, you mean the date you passed your test? It'sclearly marked on mine (in several places for reasons best known to theissuing office). I know that they had a bit of a problem getting thecomputer 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 problemsmight be encountered when attempting to hire a car when the address onthe licence and the credit card billing address don't match...Oddly, according to my permit, I can currently drive articulatedvehicles up to 12 tonnes in weight - I don't recall passing a test todo that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Roy Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 [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-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 [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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 [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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crevette Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 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- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 If you have a UK licence and live in France, what address does it show?If you no longer own the UK property surely you are committing an offence.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Steve,You dont have to 'own' a property in UK to have a valid UK licence,after all, lots of people rent property or live in property owned by(say) their parents.I believe the DVLA requirement is that your licence shows an address to which mail can be sent to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevehudson Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Fair point, but there must still be people using a UK licence with an invalid address. My question related to these people.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 [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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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