Driving licences

Thanks Chris - I stand corrected and Bob’s info is so much clearer and more precise - I’m sure the french legal documents I was shown didn’t talk about livré par un pays tiers… but in my case it wouldnt have changed anything - Unfortunately I’ve only ever been stopped by Gendarmes when I HAVE commited an offence and so had to be rather humble :frowning: !!!

Can’t find the document I was confronted with but Bob’s one is very clear - and I had to change in my case and should have done so years ago but kept running from them!!! I can see where the mistake comes from about the year’s residency - your average gendarme isn’t terribly bright, just very good at writing PV !!!



Now what if I changed back to a UK licence and was very careful… !

I’ll try and find the document I was given - I know in my case there was no getting out of it as I’d been caught 4 times over a 5 year period, I’d escaped a whole load of points but now it’s time to play by the rules. As for the year ruling, quite a few gendarmes told me this and I also found the document on the french.gouc site - will try and find it again too. If there’s any way I can go back to having a uk licence I will - but will change bacl to a french one once I near 70! the law’s a real mess, especially between EU and French law (as usual!)

Bye for now

Good point about not believing everything the Gendarmes tell you Chris - same goes for notaires and just about all other figures of authority…:slight_smile:

Can we have a photo of you please Chris BTW so that we can ‘see’ who we are talking to? Thanks! Cx

It’s pretty clear in France - you can drive on your UK licence for up to a year, you’re then meant to change it if you’re resident in France. You have to change it if you commit an offence within the first year so they can take the points off it - yes it’s the other way round in France - you start out with 12 points and get them removed! I managed to “escape” for 5 years paying the occasional fine and promising to go to the prefecture and change my UK licence. they finally caught up with me and I was officially summonsed to the local gendarmerie where they explained that enough was enough “you live hear, you work here, your other half’s French, your kids were born here, you’re in the French social security and pension system…” They checked with the prefecture that I’d been along and changed it. I know have a naff paper “permit” and am paranoid about speed traps and cameras!

BUT if no one had summonsed me I’d still be happily driving on my old UK licence and would prefer to still be doing so!

Bonne route !

We’ve been on the original UK issued ‘paper’ licence since we arrived here. When we left the UK the new credit card type licence hadn’t even been issued.

I’ve also been through a couple of ‘controles’ on the road, OK one time the gendarme suggested that I change it to a French one but the second time I was checked (and it was the same gendarme) there was no mention of needing to change it. Both stops were for general checks late at night and neither resulted in any action/penalties.

We changed our EEC (UK) licences for the French pink licence recently. The only reason was that we are now over 70 and would have had to renew the UK licence. The French licence is valid indefinitely. It did take a lot of research to take all the necessary documents (including my marriage certificate) and the lady in the prefecture congratulated us in passing the paperwork test!!

Chris, the way I see it is that insurance salesmen will tell you all sorts of things to get their commission, but it is down to the owner to abide by the laws of the land.
When the accident happens and the cops ask you why you have an illegal car, and you reply that the man who sold you insurance said that it was OK, the coppers will point out that he does not make or enforce French law.

OK, I have found it!
www.securite-routiere.equipement.gouv.fr/…/dpl._permis_communautaire-2_cle2137c9.pdf
If people were to print this off and keep a copy in the car, then that would explain all to any copper who decided to question the legality of driving with a UK (or German) licence.

Chris, I would love to but have got the document saved on my computer as a pdf. It was a two page flyer titled “LE PERMIS COMMUNAUTAIRE”. Perhaps a search under that title would find it.
If you want to drop me a private message, with an email address, I would be happy to send it as an attachment, or if there is anywhere on this site that I can upload it to, I will.

Don’t know?

I agree with everything you’ve put and you are correct about the number of days. In our case, they didn’t suspend the contract as they knew we were doing everything possible to sort it. I think this can have a bearing on future insurance applications? We actually chose not to drive the car for most of this time for those precise reasons.

I agree with Bob Thompson; I have been living in France for 20 years and have always had my German drivers licence accepted when stopped by the Gendarmes. I am English and lived in Germany before moving to France. Any European drivers licence is valid in all European countries. Drive safely.
Maureen

Hi Catharine, was that 56 “retenu”?

Allinz let us have over 12 months in the end as they knew that the problems caused by reregistering that held the process up (13 months in total) were down to French paperwork and not any reluctance to comply on our part…

I got 3 points for doing 56 in a 50 zone…

Very wise words Paul, I wish more people would abide by the rules.

Well said Chris, your last paragraph is one of my favourite gripes! My insurers (AXA.fr) ‘allowed’ me 6 weeks on UK plates once I’d begun the re-reg’ process (which really is a doddle - done 3 now). They even covered me in UK for a car i went to buy, bring back (with UK Tax, MOT &) in the knowledge that it was to be re-reg - which it is now.
I recently stumbled across a classic rally, one car present was a mint MGA, proudly displaying UK plates + French CT & Ins? I wouldn’t dare risk to run such a classic like that!

Towing here requires a separate test too. A friend of mine recently turned 70 & changed his licence to a French one, he then sold his massive trailer due to not, at his age wishing to sit a test.

Rule of thumb: A vehicle has to be legal in the country in which it is registered: French reg’d = French ins, CT & Carte grise, UK Reg = UK Ins, Tax & MOT. You cannot mix & match. Simples!
Regards

Merci!

But they have a driver record, as do the UK Police. The points are recorded on your driver record. The UK Police have to use a driver record to prove a defendant has (or not) any previous traffic convictions. A DQ1 is sent to DVLA and the report is sent back for inclusion in a court file. France have a similar system, so my daughter will have ‘deducted’ points on her (now created, court admissable) driver record in the case on any future ‘misdemeanours’.
As I said, it really is all down to the department in which you reside as to how they deal with you. Don’t you just love France? I do!