UK driving licences after Brexit - I'm glad I did not panic!

I would not mind taking the test. BUT - I would mind having a learner plate, having to be accompanied for the first year, having a speed limit imposed on me for 2 years etc. etc.
All because politicians have no sense of urgency and no brain to follow up on their grandiose plans for ‘independence’ from the EU.

https://www.thelocal.fr/20210408/france-and-uk-in-final-stages-of-agreement-that-will-allow-brits-to-exchange-driving-licences/

Here is a link to the UK government response to thr petition about licence exchange. Doesn’tactually say anything new…and has my favorite weasel word “seek” to agree.

And this is what Kim Cranstoun has posted on the facebook site for those who don’t use facebook

08/04/2021 - UK LICENCE RECIPROCAL AGREEMENT UPDATE

Various rumours, news articles are raising questions that have been answered quite a lot over the last week or two. So I am putting it all in one place for clarity of what is known.

The Reciprocal Agreement has been done, it is with the powers that be for checking and signing, how long this will take I cannot say but no one is specifically holding it up, it’s just the adminstration, hopefully something more concrete in the next 2-3 weeks.

We understand that:

No driving test will be required unless you specifically wish to take the 2 part test.

Expired licences will be exchanged, both cards and licences.

There will be a specific criteria for exchanging but I really can’t say what this is until it’s officially released, ie, translations etc, I have asked for clarification on this.

And before everyone shouts that there’s not enough time before the end of the year, the criteria will cover this.

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Let’s hope that they are quicker with this than the Titre de Sejours.
‘It’s just the administration, hopefully something more concrete in the next two or three weeks’.
If past experience is anything to go by, don’t hold your breath.

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just hope that there will be a fast track mechanism for people whose driving licences expire in the nest few months, otherwise I won’t be driving this autumn!
My application made online in December, when I received a formal acknowledgement of application, hasn’t moved.

The Connexion reporting in newsletter yesterday that little progress has been made in reaching an agreement on exchange of British licences for French ones :frowning_face:

When I switch to a French driving licence, do I have to follow the car in front much closer?

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Kim Cranston says the Connexion article is not up to date. No reason for her to lie, and I have more faith in her than the journalism in the Connexion. Have added her message to the outreach event thread

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And have the indicators disabled as well as forgetting how to use roundabouts :joy:

If you had a bit of foresight and bought an Audi you wouldn’t even need to do that.

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I went through my Audi stage in the 80’s :upside_down_face:

I hope and suspect you are right…with that in mind i mailed them to ask how they reconciled the tone of the article with what the Embassy staff said on the call…l look forward to their reply, but I’m not holding my breath to get one.

I understand from another post that if you hadn’t applied to change D licence by 31.12.2020 in Italy you will have to take a test.
Why have driving licences become such a big issue and why wasn’t it included in the 2019 withdrawal agreement?

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No, since that will stop you doing ridiculous overtaking just in front of a blind corner.

5 of us on both sides of the road had to brake hard to save a driver who did this yesterday. More to save the small family car he was about to hit head on, that was coming round the corner I think.

Because this wonderful oven ready Brexit deal refused to consider things that weren’t consistent europe-wide and left them to individual negotiations. So driving licences, seed potatoes, certain types of shellfish, etc, etc were all stuck on the shelf.

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Lots of threads re driving licences…and can’t post on all!
Applied 21/12/20 and the application showed against my name with a reference number and comment of under investigation.

Just looked today and the comment has not changed but the date has changed to 26/05/21. Should I read anything positive into this?

Unfortunately not, John! Same happened for a lot of us as unprocessed applications expire within 6 months unless kept alive and itlooks like ANTS has been trawling throughthem making sure they didn’t just die. We should be grateful, I suppose :smiley:

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Probably because Frost doesn’t have to have a licence he’s always been driven whether in his short and notably undistinguished diplomatic career or latterly as a promoter of Scotch.

A rhetorical question?

The supposed over ready Brexit deal glossed over a huge number of issues that were left to unilateral negotiations between individual states or sectors. Or not thought through like shellfish and seed potatoes.

I think there will be years of difficulty as all these come to light.

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The paper document that came with the UK plastic cards has been declared irrelevant/useless since 2015. The paper licence is a different matter and still extant.