Any recent experience of driving licence renewal?

[Cyril Haearn]

Maybe it would be simplest just to test drivers again, the theory test and multiple choice too

Why would retesting be simpler than being required to complete an online form?

And if our some reason you want retesting it might be more sensible to start with groups known to be at higher than average risk.
..

Might be simpler for those who cannot produce documents
17 year olds would be the group to retest again, best not to let anyone drive until they are grown up, maybe 30 should be the minimum age

[Cyril Haearn]

Maybe it would be simplest just to test drivers again, the theory test and multiple choice too
New licence valid for vehicles up to 3.5 t max weight only

If there was to be any check on a person's ability to drive because of age a driving assessment based on the Pass Plus course would be better than a retest. It consists of over 5 hours of driving on all types of roads with a Pass Plus approved ADI in the passenger seat. This would serve two purposes by weeding out those genuinely no longer capable of driving safely and providing advice on bad habits and tips on better driving etc for those who are capable.

Not five hours on one day, one hopes

[Jdsk]

Maybe it would be simplest just to test drivers again, the theory test and multiple choice too

Why would retesting be simpler than being required to complete an online form?

Might be simpler for those who cannot produce documents

If they can't produce documents they can't get a provisional licence, a test or a full licence.

Jonathan

[Mick F]

Age UK general advice:
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/travel-hobbies/driving/

If your licence expires and you don't apply for a new one, you won't legally be allowed to drive.

Not completely true.

Driving without a licence is an offence it's true, but you are still allowed to drive because you have passed the driving test.
All you are guilty of, is not holding a licence.

This subject has been discussed on here before.

[Jdsk]

Driving without a licence is an offence it's true, but you are still allowed to drive because you have passed the driving test.
All you are guilty of, is not holding a licence.

Please could you explain what "allowed to drive" means in the context of not holding a valid licence?

Thanks

Jonathan

[rjb]

When i moved house the dvla gave me a photocard license at no charge as i previously had a paper one issued in 1971 which expired when i would at 70.
I bought the licence when they offered lifetime licences so you didnt have to renew every so many years. If i recall my first license had to be renewed every 3 years. The current photocard version has a blue EU flag on it. Will Boris replace these with the old cardboard ones in a Royal blue cover on 1st jan?

[thirdcrank]

I've not checked the current wording whether this still applies, but the standard compulsory third party insurance used to say something on the lines of "holds or has held a licence to drive the class of vehicle, provided they have not been disqualified from driving." AIUI, that was to stop the cover lapsing with a diver's memory over renewal dates or an admin failure. Pre DVLC, when driver and vehicle licensing were both local authority matters, driving licences were renewable every three years and the (paper) system was chaotic.

Driving without a licence is an offence. Obviously less serious than driving while disqualified. Unless something has changed, driving without a licence does not carry endorsement, unless the driver was not complying with the conditions which would have applied to their licence. The most obvious example of that is somebody who only could get a provisional licence who drives without L plates and / or a supervisor. Ditto motorcyclist with an unqualified passenger.

[pete75]

Maybe it would be simplest just to test drivers again, the theory test and multiple choice too
New licence valid for vehicles up to 3.5 t max weight only

If there was to be any check on a person's ability to drive because of age a driving assessment based on the Pass Plus course would be better than a retest. It consists of over 5 hours of driving on all types of roads with a Pass Plus approved ADI in the passenger seat. This would serve two purposes by weeding out those genuinely no longer capable of driving safely and providing advice on bad habits and tips on better driving etc for those who are capable.

Not five hours on one day, one hopes

Yes. Why not?

[Jdsk]

Maybe it would be simplest just to test drivers again, the theory test and multiple choice too
New licence valid for vehicles up to 3.5 t max weight only:

If there was to be any check on a person's ability to drive because of age a driving assessment based on the Pass Plus course would be better than a retest. It consists of over 5 hours of driving on all types of roads with a Pass Plus approved ADI in the passenger seat. This would serve two purposes by weeding out those genuinely no longer capable of driving safely and providing advice on bad habits and tips on better driving etc for those who are capable.

Yes. There's no reason that retesting should be limited to what's in the current test. If something else is more cost-effective we should do that.

But there's no particular reason for being diverted in to this when discussing driving at 70y because that doesn't increase risk to others, unlike driving when 17 to 21, or previous offending.

Jonathan

[Cyril Haearn]

Five hours seems a lot, is a stamina test included? Whether someone is skilled could be determined in two hours I think

[Mick F]

I've not checked the current wording whether this still applies, but the standard compulsory third party insurance used to say something on the lines of "holds or has held a licence to drive the class of vehicle, provided they have not been disqualified from driving." AIUI, that was to stop the cover lapsing with a diver's memory over renewal dates or an admin failure. Pre DVLC, when driver and vehicle licensing were both local authority matters, driving licences were renewable every three years and the (paper) system was chaotic.

Driving without a licence is an offence. Obviously less serious than driving while disqualified. Unless something has changed, driving without a licence does not carry endorsement, unless the driver was not complying with the conditions which would have applied to their licence. The most obvious example of that is somebody who only could get a provisional licence who drives without L plates and / or a supervisor. Ditto motorcyclist with an unqualified passenger.

Thanks TC.

I passed my driving test in Dec 1970 and was licenced to drive from then on.
This was pre DVLC and obviously pre DVLA.
I had a little red book licence and was valid until .............. ? Forever I was alive, I think.
Just had to renew if or when I changed address, and was renewed at the local offices.
Wigan and Preston, and then after marrying and moving to Fife, it was Cupar to register a change of address.
Car log books similarly.

Then, they brought out DVLC and after a change of address they sent a green paper licence that expired aged 70. We have friends who still have green paper licences and have done for decades and it's cost them nowt as they've remained at the same address since the early 1970s.

We had green ones too, but when we were given a new postcode, we needed to change address, so we ended up with a photo card that expires every ten years ............ and although a change of address was free, it expired after ten years and we had to pay!

What happened to my entitlement in 1970?

[thirdcrank]

...
I passed my driving test in Dec 1970 and was licenced to drive from then on.
This was pre DVLC and obviously pre DVLA.
I had a little red book licence and was valid until .............. ? Forever I was alive, I think.
Just had to renew if or when I changed address, and was renewed at the local offices.
Wigan and Preston, and then after marrying and moving to Fife, it was Cupar to register a change of address.
Car log books similarly.

Then, they brought out DVLC and after a change of address they sent a green paper licence that expired aged 70. We have friends who still have green paper licences and have done for decades and it's cost them nowt as they've remained at the same address since the early 1970s.

We had green ones too, but when we were given a new postcode, we needed to change address, so we ended up with a photo card that expires every ten years ............ and although a change of address was free, it expired after ten years and we had to pay!

What happened to my entitlement in 1970?

Re: the old style driving licences - as I noted in the bit you quoted, they lasted three years. Actually, the little red book lasted as long as it lasted but the important bit - the renewal slip stuck inside - lasted three years. (if you think about, if they lasted forever, there would have been some in use till very recently, perhaps even now.)

Your entitlement in 1970 was and remains an entitlement to apply for a "full" driving licence covering the groups for which you had passed a test.
That system was open to abuse eg the only security feature was the driver's signature, assuming they bothered to sign it.

Incidentally, as age-related renewals are free, I'm not clear what your problem is with renewing it.

===============================================================
PS Somebody to whom I had issued a "producer" (Form HO/RT/1) produced his dead father's licence which was still valid but the astute PC who took the production noted he had a stack of renewal pages, even though he was only in his teens.

[Mick F]

Thanks again TC.
"Renewal" may have been every three years, but it cost nowt other than visiting the local council offices.

These days, if you pay for a renewal that lasts ten years, it costs what?
£14 or so?
Lasts ten years.

Say you are nearly 70years old and your DL expires as it's ten years old.
Pay your £14, and then a short while later it expires.

Why bother?

[Mick F]

I keep records.
I keep accounts too.

Renewed our photocard driving licences in April 2014 and they cost £20 each. We had new photocard licences in 2004 when we had a new postcode, so they were free then. £20 to renew ten years later.

Seems they cost only £14 online now, or £17 by post.

Strange how the costs have come DOWN.

[Mick F]

............................... and another thing!

If the over 70s now have to pay for a TV licence, why should they get a free driving licence?