Stopped over VRT

Our man in Havana

A trivial matter to the hundreds if not thousands of UK/EU Licence holders living here and happily avoiding penalty points. A system of mandatory court appearances like in the UK for people not holding Irish licences should be introduced here.

Alun

Well if that's true, what on earth then would be the point of having a law that allows you to drive anywhere in the EU on a licence from any other EU country if merely having the wrong address on it makes it invalid? That would be silly. Anyway, AFAIK it's not possible to change your address to one outside of the jurisdiction it was issued in .. it's not possible in Holland anyway, I've tried, plus over there they couldn't give a fig what address is on your licence, it's not an offence at all.

In any case, you're contradicting yourself in your own post .. on the one hand you're saying that not having the right address on it makes it invalid, and then later on you're saying (more correctly) that it's just "a slap on the wrist" offence. Make up your mind.

Alun

Bond-007 wrote:

A trivial matter to the hundreds if not thousands of UK/EU Licence holders living here and happily avoiding penalty points. A system of mandatory court appearances like in the UK for people not holding Irish licences should be introduced here.

Why? I'm entitled to keep my EU licence as long as it's valid, that's the law whether you like it or not. Anyway, you don't avoid penalty points, they just store them up for when you do eventually exchange your licence. The only reason I'm not exchanging mine until it expires (in 2010) is because a) I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay here and b) why should I fork out good money, and be without it for god knows how long, for a new licence that, by law, I don't need?

Our man in Havana

Some people will never renew their licences, esp the UK ones that go to age 70. If I am caught in the UK for a traffic offence, I am summonsed to the Magistrates court and don't have the luxury of taking points. Same system should be applied here.

peasant

Bond-007 wrote:

...all those living here and keeping their UK/other EU licences to avoid points.

ahemm ...

I'd like to strongly object to being tarred with one very wide brush here.
It's not my fault that they can't award me points (yet), but it doesn't mean that I drive poorly (as implied) in the knowledge that I can't get any points

I'm keeping my licence because it's MY licence. I worked hard for it (had to pass 6 different tests), I payed dearly for it (the equivalent of 700 Euros over 20 years ago(car), another 500 Euros a few years later (motorbike) and 12 months of my life (truck/army)) ...I'm attached to it.

I'm not interested in a worthless Irish one that you could get in the post for free.

Our man in Havana

My point is that you should have to convert to the licence of the country of residence after a period of time say 3 years.
No offence was intended towards anyone (esp peasant) and I apologise if any was taken.

peasant

Naaahh ...didn't really take offence

Thing is ...several countries already exchange points between each other and a EU wide points model is currently in the workings ...it's only a matter of time.

From an EU perspective change of licence when changing residence wouldn't solve this issue anyway. Not all EU countries are islands (:D ) and the number of foreign drivers/foreign licenses commiting pointable offences while passing through in transit to elsewhere is far, far higher than the number of offences commited by relocated foreign citizens with the "wrong" licence.

OKenora

In any case, you're contradicting yourself in your own post ..

How on earth is it a contradiction ? I stated it's an offence but one that is not normally prosecuted through the courts or to the fullest extent of the law that it could be, a "slap on the wrist" offence. Still does not make it legal though....

Seeing all our driving licence laws are now based on EU law they vary very little from country to country. In the UK.....From DVLA

Why is it important to update?

It is a legal requirement to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) when you change name and or address. Failure to notify DVLA could result in a £1000 fine.

As I said i am not sure as to how it affects the validity of your licence but you are driving on a licence that contains false information, serious enough for a £1000 fine, which is the same fine for having a licence with a false name on it, which is clearly an invalid licence.

My partner recently got 3 points but DVLNI refused to return her licence as she needed to update her address details, their letter explained that the licence would not be valid if they re-issued it to the wrong address.

ambro25

God... and UK/IE people moan about national ID cards ?!? UK/IE driving license 'technicalities' sound 10 times worse than most other European countries' ID cards! :rolleyes:

Alun

Well, as I said, in the Netherlands they couldn't give a toss what address is printed on your licence. Why, I hear you ask? Because part of your licence number is your SoFi number, your social security number. This keys in to your registration (obligatory, and something that carries very heavy penalties if you don't do it) with the local Gemeente or council, so they can determine your official address from that number alone. In fact, if you go along to the council offices (who issue driving licences in the Netherlands) and ask to update your address in your driving licence, they'll tell you to go away and not to be so silly. So, no, not all countries have the same rules about incorrect addresses on driving licences.

But anyway, back to my question .. if it is indeed so that having an incorrect address on your licence invalidates it, which I very much doubt, then what is the point of the EU legislation, incorporated into Irish law, allowing you to drive here on your existing EU licence?

Alun

I've shot off an email to info@transport.ie asking them about this. I'll be interested in their reply, if they even bother to answer it, that is.

blorg

OKenora wrote:

So if you move to Ireland on a UK licence it is valid here as long as it remains valid.....which technically is only up to the day you moved to Ireland as your address is now wrong.

AFAIK it is also illegal to drive on a licence that shows an incorrect address for you though this is usually only a slap on the wrist offence. Eithe that or the offence is not informing the DVLA/DVLNI of a change of address, either way it's an offence.

Someone else posted this earlier in the thread:

Moving to another country

If you move to another country, you should check with the driving licence authorities there for information about driving and exchange of licences. It will not be a requirement to notify DVLA of a change of address when moving to live abroad.

Source: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DG_10023103

frex

OKenora wrote:

The law is simple, if you are a Northern resident you should have a Northern licence and then you would have no problem with driving a Northern car. There is a grace period of 12 months after you move north in which you can use your Southern licence but then it has to exchanged over.

Just a brief question. The DVLA website for the UK states that:

"If someone has a full licence issued by and European Community (EC)/European Economic Area (EEA) country there is no need to exchange until age 70 or for 3 years after becoming resident whichever is the longer period"

This would imply that you don't have to change over your licence if you don't want to. Is this correct?

Our man in Havana

I suspose you could never become resident and therefore stay within the law.

R.O.R

Bond-007 wrote:

I suspose you could never become resident and therefore stay within the law.

I think if you are working and paying tax, then you get resident status whether you want it or not. Got mine after paying PAYE for 4 years in Ireland.