Europeans needing a British driving licence.

[croyde]

Czech girl I know was bemoaning how expensive it was to pass the Brirish Driving Test so she has nipped home for the weekend to do her test, which appears to be a piss easy multi choice, then she can drive in the UK.

Mmmmmm no wonder that the diving standard in London has got worse over these past few years.

[Pints]

And the foreign licence also seems to give them a sense of impunity.

[M3CS]

Pints said:

And the foreign licence also seems to give them a sense of impunity.

'Seems'?

[Liokault]

So how long can you drive in the UK on a non UK lcence?

[Pints]

M3CS said:

'Seems'?

I'm trying to be diplomatic about it.

[valais]

croyde said:

the diving standard in London has got worse over these past few years.

Especially since the Olympics and Tom Daleys performance.

[crossy67]

Indefinitely if you have an EU license.

We get English and Dutch youngsters going back to their mother land to pass their tests because it's easier and cheaper than in France

[Silver]

croyde said:

Czech girl I know was bemoaning how expensive it was to pass the Brirish Driving Test so she has nipped home for the weekend to do her test, which appears to be a piss easy multi choice, then she can drive in the UK.

Mmmmmm no wonder that the diving standard in London has got worse over these past few years.

Like the piss-easy British multi-choice driving test then?

Also, I didn't know London had a diving standard. Do they do it in the Thames?

[AnotherClarkey]

Somewhere, on a parallel forum in Germany, they are moaning about the piss-easy driving test in the UK.

[cptsideways]

That'll be the Czech theory test, I'm pretty sure the Czech test involves compulsory training passes too.

[croyde]

Silver said:

croyde said:

Czech girl I know was bemoaning how expensive it was to pass the Brirish Driving Test so she has nipped home for the weekend to do her test, which appears to be a piss easy multi choice, then she can drive in the UK.

Mmmmmm no wonder that the diving standard in London has got worse over these past few years.

Like the piss-easy British multi-choice driving test then?

Also, I didn't know London had a diving standard. Do they do it in the Thames?

Passed mine in '82 so have no idea about multi choice. Surely you still have to do a driven test.

[FFSport]

Here is one for you on the subject of this, I passed my car test in the UK when I was 18, But I also took my full bike test in spain at the age of 18 can I get that put on my UK card?

[KTF]

Liokault said:

So how long can you drive in the UK on a non UK lcence?

3 years: https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-lice...

[Finlandia]

KTF said:

Liokault said:

So how long can you drive in the UK on a non UK lcence?

3 years: https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-lice...

Except for a EU licence, then you can drive with it up until your 70th birthday.

Also the driving test in Finland has a motorway and skidpan/ice road test, does the UK one?

[SteveSteveson]

EU law also means that the licences should be of the same minimum standard. The Czech one will still have a practical test. The theory may be easyer, but then I would suspect the theory would be easyer for her anyway as it is in her first language with road rules she has grown up with...

It will also be allot cheaper there just because of the economics. I can see why she would do that.

[spaximus]

We had a smoalian drive for us and when we had an issue with his driving we had an RAc trainer out with him who was appaled. It turned out that as Somalia was a ex French dependancy they could convert a somalian licence to a French one with no extra test. He converted that to a British one, fully legal but had never driven on a motorway in his life before arriving here with said licence.

It seems that there are a few EU countries with similar arrangments with other countries. IIRC Portugese will convert a Brazilian licence in the same way.

[GrahamC230K]

Finlandia said:

KTF said:

Liokault said:

So how long can you drive in the UK on a non UK lcence?

3 years: https://www.gov.uk/exchange-a-foreign-driving-lice...

Except for a EU licence, then you can drive with it up until your 70th birthday.

Also the driving test in Finland has a motorway and skidpan/ice road test, does the UK one?

If you are a resident in the UK, you can only drive for 3 years on your EU license, then need to exchange your EU license for a UK one.

I am sure the police don't count going on holiday for a week as leaving residency and starting again, so anyone from the EU in GB long term needs to transfer their license. No further test though.

[hdrflow]

GrahamC230K said:

If you are a resident in the UK, you can only drive for 3 years on your EU license, then need to exchange your EU license for a UK one.

I am sure the police don't count going on holiday for a week as leaving residency and starting again, so anyone from the EU in GB long term needs to transfer their license. No further test though.

Or until the age of 70 whichever is longer.

[hdrflow]

spaximus said:

IIRC Portugese will convert a Brazilian licence in the same way.

And many other countries. According to the IMTT website is actually compulsory for them to do so after 185 days of entering the country. But according to DVLA they can only use this new licence for 1 year in the UK.

[Medic-one]

hdrflow said:

Or until the age of 70 whichever is longer.

Exactly, those last three words are the important bit people tend to miss.

I've been here 7 years now and still have my Dutch licence, on which I can drive for another 40 years.

However I've also got my "C" entitlement, which I can use for 3 years after becoming a resident, or until the age of 45.

So I must exchange licence for a UK one in 15 years. I have looked into doing it earlier but the Dvla wants me to send them both my original Dutch licence and my passport, leaving me with no official ID, and unable to travel. And with family back home in bad health I want to be able to jump on a last minute plane.

Edited by Medic-one on Sunday 25th August 09:03