Unwitting motorists face £1,000 fines

[ArrowsFA1]

More than 40,000 motorists risk being fined up to £1,000 because they are unwittingly driving without a valid licence.
They have failed to spot that their photocard licence automatically expires after ten years and has to be renewed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054636/More-40-000-unwitting-motorists-face-1-000-fines-thousands-photocard-driving-licences-expire.html

[Wade91]

they need to just make lincenses perment, and trhere wouldn't be this problem, but i guess this is probley "why" they make licensesto expire after a certen period of time, so they can get all that fine money from inecent drivers :rolleyes:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Is there any articles in the Daily Mail about £110 car parking charges? :rolleyes:

[Mark]

Of course it would be beyond the wit of the DVLA to send a reminder?

I'm currently waiting for my licence as I sent it off to get the address changed and the photo updated but they sent the photocard back, not updated and apparently the counterpart is coming back at some point and I'm supposed to send it to them all over again :s

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I've had by driving liscence regected as ID because the photo doesn't look like me (I have longer hair now) and because the photo is black and white.

[Drew]

I hadn't even noticed that either! On the back it says until 2057, I assumed that was the end of the card!

[Sonic]

Your paper licence (the bit that allows you to drive) is valid until your 70th birthday. But your photo id (its not your licence BTW - a police officer will not accept it as proof of a driving licence) is vaild for ten years like a passport so you can update the photo. Check section 4b on the front of your cards to check the valid to date.

Spot the driving instructor :rolleyes:

[Sonic]

Also spot the muppet who didn't read the link which pretty much says everything I just said. DOH

[Jag_Warrior]

Of course it would be beyond the wit of the DVLA to send a reminder?


You don't get any sort of notice or reminder beforehand?

[BeansBeansBeans]

they need to just make lincenses perment, and trhere wouldn't be this problem, but i guess this is probley "why" they make licensesto expire after a certen period of time, so they can get all that fine money from inecent drivers :rolleyes:

The licence doesn't expire, just the photocard, which makes sense really. There'd be little point in having a photo that was decades out of date.

[GridGirl]

Of course it would be beyond the wit of the DVLA to send a reminder?

The other half had to renew his photocard in January as it was 10 years old. The DVLA did sent him a reminder. :) Although it didn't particularly promp him to get a new one as he didn't bother doing anything about it untill till the week before it was about to expire. :rolleyes: His old photocard had a colour picture on it, the new one has gone old school with a black and white picture and all for the price of £17.50!

[Brown, Jon Brow]

The licence doesn't expire, just the photocard, which makes sense really. There'd be little point in having a photo that was decades out of date.

The photo ID on staff railcards doesn't require to be updated. It has hilarious consequences!

[Daniel]

Your paper licence (the bit that allows you to drive) is valid until your 70th birthday. But your photo id (its not your licence BTW - a police officer will not accept it as proof of a driving licence) is vaild for ten years like a passport so you can update the photo. Check section 4b on the front of your cards to check the valid to date.

Spot the driving instructor :rolleyes:
Rather silly I think.

In Australia your licence is a plastic one which is valid for either 1 or 3 years depending on how much you pay and in theory you can keep your picture forever and don't need to get a new one when it renews.

The Australian licence also clearly states when the licence is valid to and doesn't have any confusing fields on the back with no explanation :mark:

Why the photo is black and white I don't know either. In Australia they seem to manage colour photos and we've only just recently got electricity :mark:

The downside of the Australian licence is that you do have to renew it every year or 3 :mark:

[J4MIE]

I have to renew mine every three years but have yet to have the photo updated. It's getting on for 10 years since I passed my test too :eek:

[GridGirl]

A friend of mine passed his test last last year and unfortunately for him as he'd had his provisional licence for about 7 years that his new full licence photo card will still expire in about two or three years time.

[raybak]

My last licence was a 10 year one, I changed from a Victorian licence to an ACT and they gave me the 10 years even though in the ACT they only do 5 year licences.

It was confusing if i used it as Id as in the photo i had hair, something which is lacking these days :(

Ray

[Tazio]

Rather silly I think.

In Australia your licence is a plastic one which is valid for either 1 or 3 years depending on how much you pay and in theory you can keep your picture forever and don't need to get a new one when it renews.

The Australian licence also clearly states when the licence is valid to and doesn't have any confusing fields on the back with no explanation :mark:

Why the photo is black and white I don't know either. In Australia they seem to manage colour photos and we've only just recently got electricity :mark:

The downside of the Australian licence is that you do have to renew it every year or 3 :mark: In the USA licenses are state issued (though honored throughout the country as long as they are valid and you haven't permanently changed your residence). In California (and I have to admit I don't know all the exact details) but the rules are similar to what you stated about Australia. Plastic, color photo, holographic to denote if you are of legal drinking age, and valid for 5 years unless you are really old, young, or posses a very poor driving record!
About the elderly, anyone can inform the DMV (usually a family member) that they think you are a menace on the road and you will be asked to retest the vision examination, and possibly the driving and written test. You'd be amazed what lengths many elderly people go to keep theirs. I know my father was one of them. I think there are new mandatory laws that have gone into effect that I'm not aware of in this regard. I avoid The Department of Motor Vehicles like the plague. And yes they do remind you when your license is due to be renewed.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Canada, it is a plastic hard card. In Ontario you renew every year or every 2 years ( how much money do you want to give the gov't basically) but the photo is retaken every 5 years.

I think the valid reason for all of this is not just tax revenue but to make sure people update their address files and to evaluate who is actively driving. If you are driving with an expired license...well pay up eh?

[Wade91]

The licence doesn't expire, just the photocard, which makes sense really. There'd be little point in having a photo that was decades out of date.
oh ok, yeah, that does make sence, although i think photo ID is kinda pointless anyway

[Mark in Oshawa]

Now Wade, you have said some dumb things...but that is dumb. Photo ID is EVERYTHING. It stops people from driving with the wrong licenses for starters...( if you had a suspended license, just steal someone elses...with no picture you would have no worries )

Picture ID on licenses has done much to help make law enforcement work better.....not mention to keep cheesy high school kids from drinking underage...

[Wade91]

Now Wade, you have said some dumb things...but that is dumb. Photo ID is EVERYTHING. It stops people from driving with the wrong licenses for starters...( if you had a suspended license, just steal someone elses...with no picture you would have no worries )

Picture ID on licenses has done much to help make law enforcement work better.....not mention to keep cheesy high school kids from drinking underage...
what i mean is, peoples apeareces change, people grow their hair, cut their hair, grow their beird, trim their beird, change their hair color etc.........

so, photo ID is pretty much just guess work

[Hazell B]

Jeez, I'm still with the old non-photo version!

It expires in a few years, so I'll finally get a photo one then. In the mean time I'm happy as it costs me nothing :)

[Forza Ferrari 1]

I kept my original paper version and that is valid until I am 70, so I won't be classed as illegal.

I reported my original as lost rather than sending it in for a swap. Baffled me how the price differs by a tenner if you don't send your old 1 back when at the end of the day they are still producing the same peice of plastic!!???.....

Only had a plastic 1 done because of the hassle these days when making applications for other stuff and you don't have any photo ID!!

[Forza Ferrari 1]

Of course it would be beyond the wit of the DVLA to send a reminder?

I'm currently waiting for my licence as I sent it off to get the address changed and the photo updated but they sent the photocard back, not updated and apparently the counterpart is coming back at some point and I'm supposed to send it to them all over again :s

Not so sure about that. I would have forgotton to keep my private number plates on retention, which would be in their favour as they would have ownership of the number to re-sell, but a very usefull reminder came in the post a few weeks before it was due.

It's not in the DVLA's interests to have a load of drivers on the road illegally, it's in the interests of the police though because it makes their solved crime figures look good everytime they've pulled someone over lol...

[leopard]

I was being investigated when the policeman checked my drive licenses, besides my long haircut in my photograph which is now unlikely I have that long haircut anymore, they asked more accuracy of the data as it said my occupation as student of uni was more than a year earlier than average student.

[Mark in Oshawa]

what i mean is, peoples apeareces change, people grow their hair, cut their hair, grow their beird, trim their beird, change their hair color etc.........

so, photo ID is pretty much just guess work

Not with a new photo every 3 to 5 years. No one changes THAT much. not having a photo makes the license useless. You might as well use it for toilet paper.