In theory you should change your license when you commit an infraction of the "code du route" that is penalized by the retraction of points on a French driver's licence. In practice the authorities are not likely to act if you have one or two points to be retracted and you pay the fine asap. (unless you find yourselves face-to-face with a cop that doesn't like roast-beef)
But there's a risk: in theory your driver's license is invalid and since your initial ticket and the details of your license are registered, this can get ugly at the next stop-and-check by the police or the gendarmes. It will cost you 90 Euros in fines, an additional loss of 3 points and the obligation to change your license. These 3 points and the ones from the previous infraction will be deducted from your shiny new French license.
In some random cases the gendarmes will come by your house some time after the initial infraction and tell you to change your license. This gets more likely when you get more tickets.....
I had speed fines whilst i had a uk licence, i paid and that was it; but i was stopped once for no seat belt and fined. This type of offence it seems is different and involved gendarmes. I was asked by the local gendarmery, about a year later, to surrender my uk licence to be changed for french. Because i had committed an offence it is obligatory to change; you have to have a medical costing 24 euros with a named doctor too!
Victoria
I have also had a speeding fine, paid it online (actually I think Iāve had 2). Also have been stopped for not āStoppingā at a stop sign (naughty girl). The gendarme said I should change my licence, havenāt done so yet, paid the fine though. You believe you are supposed to change it if you have a fine, but I donāt personally know anyone who has.
Luckily I was not stopped by the gendarmes for speeding, just caught by radar/camera. I have paid the fine online - which was remarkably very easy. I will wait to see if I hear anything else. I am normally very careful with my speed (normally driving at the limit shown) and the French seem to get very annoyed with me and overtake all the time. This time I was doing 62 in a 50 zone which I know is wrong - cāest la vie!
I recently got done for not stopping at a STOP junction. They wanted to give me points (or take them away as they do over here) But as I still had my UK licence, so they couldnāt. I had to do a 2 day āRecuperation des Pointsā course
at Poitiers! Cost 250ā¬ plus 2 days loss of earnings. Not a happy bunny. Iāve got a French licence now!
Paul
Thanks for replying. I have spoken to numerous people on the subject and not one person was told to surrender their UK licence - they just paid the fine online, so I will do this for now and see what happens.
I had a similar situation about five years ago when I had a UK Licence. I paid the fine online and waited to see what would happen next about adding the point to my licence. Nothing happened. After my UK licence expired I got a French one and was expecting the point to appear on it retrospectively. Thankfully, it wasnāt. Unfortunately, I got caught by a camera on the autoroute going 2kmh over the limit about eighteen months ago. One point was added to my licence but this was removed after one year as I had not had another driving offence during the twelve month period. How different in UK. Since having my French licence I got caught in UK driving my English car. I tried to pay the fine online but this is not possible with a French licence. I subsequently received a summons and had to fill in pages of unnecessary questions including whether I was receiving housing benefit! I pleaded gulity, of course, and, eight months after the offence, paid the fine I could have paid in the first place and Ā£15.00 costs. Seems the UK likes itās paperwork as well
We received a speeding fine yesterday - 76 in 70km zone. My question is that the car is registered in my wifeās name. She does not yet drive or have a licence. My licence is French and I still have the 12 pointsā¦
If I just pay the fine, what happens to the 1 point deduction if I donāt show that I was diving? My wife DOES plan to get her provisional licence in the future. I believe new drivers start with 6 pointsā¦and would not want that reduced at the start of her driving. Does the 1 point go back on a licence in six months? Is that the same for a new driver?
Yesā¦I know I would lose 1 pointā¦but if I donāt declare I was driving how could they deduct one point if my wife does not yet have a licence?
Car = asset = wifeā¦>!
@Gprit
Iām interested to know the wording of the document your wife has received ā¦
does it ask who was driving ??
ā¦ or ask the Registered Owner to name who was driving, if it was NOT him/her ??
Iām not trying to tie you in knots, just wondering if your wife will be dropping herself in the mire, maybe at some future date, if she just keeps quietā¦
@Badger (itās not unknown for the Reg Owner not to be able to driveā¦)
I would be concerned about opening a can of worms by not declaring the true driver as you would be, in effect, declaring your unlicenced wife to be the driver. Itās quite possible that 1 point would be the least of your worries.
Itās Catch 22, how could your wife be driving is she hasnāt a license?
The assumption is the registered owner is driving, Itās up to the registered owner to declare who was actually driving. If your wife doesnāt then sheās agreeing it was her at the wheel. Is that a good thing to do without a license or insurance? If it was me I take ghe simple route and admit it was me driving and loose the point. Less hassle all round.
Completely off at a tangentā¦ but some years ago a female politician (I shall not name) did not give the name of who was actually driving, when her ācarā committed some infringement or anotherā¦ and it was clearly not her at the wheel.
In France?
In the UK I remember Chris Huhne getting his wife, Vicky Pryce, to take his speeding points, so that he could avoid a ban, and they both ended up in prison for perverting the course of justice.
