Safe Speed Forums

would a UK ban mean i couldnt drive anywhere in europe?

i'm just thinking because i know someone who got several speeding points in Oz and they dont apply over here?

is there any other countries (USA, canada etc) i could still drive in?

its just that i am thinking of moving overseas due to me currently paying £800 - £1000 a month in income tax/N.I. and £40 a week in fuel tax, nearly £400 a year on road tax, VAT on everything, speed cameras on every road i go on, house prices totally ridiculous, roads in a bad state etc etc

i pay all this tax but if i lost my job i bet i wouldnt get dole or housing benefit - and i went into hospital when ill and it was a total shambles. what on earth they spend the tax/N.I. money on i'll never know! maybe they spend it all on asylum seekers and pretendy wars to retreive pretendy WMD's?

Yes


I doubt it, because you would no longer be in posession of a valid license to show in the country you intend to drive in.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

If you already had a valid driving licence for another country you wouldn't lose it if you were banned in the UK, just as a driving ban in France wouldn't be applicable (at present) in the UK.

You could always emigrate to the US and become a learner - I believe their test is fairly easy

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

It depends on whether you have a duplicate UK licence. A lot of people now do as if you have to send your licence to have points added and need to go abroad on business and rent a car this can be a difficulty.
It's a bit of a grey area as the UK system can only ban you in the UK and, in fact, your licence is not removed, you are just disqualified from driving in the UK. You are not disqualified from having a licence, just from using it in the UK. There is the other penalty which is from 'holding or obtaining a licence until a period of disqual has passed and another test has been taken. That's a different thing.
Others may have a different view.

Holding a duplicate license simply means that your original is void anyway.


Nothing "grey" about it at all, the minute you are disqualified from driving, you are actually "disqualified from holding or obtaining" a license.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

All good reasons to have an Irish address and an Irish licence then (see other current posts). If banned in the UK you could then still drive anywhere else in the World completely legally.
If you want to keep your UK licence, but you have an Irish address, there is nothing to stop you taking a test there and having two completely legal licences. Howewver, if speeding in the UK you would then have to produce your UK licence, whereas if you've exchanged it for an Irish one under EU regs you could only produce the Irish one which can't be removed, and any ban would only apply within the UK.

If you're banned in the UK, I would reasonably assume that you no longer have a VALID UK driving license.

Lets assume that you want to drive in another EU country (say France). Under EU rules, you can drive in another member state providing (i) you have as VALID driving license from another member state or certain other countries for up to 12 months or (ii) take the appropriate test in that member state.

Unless your language skills extend beyond English that would limit you to the Republic or Ireland (for EU states) or USA/Australia. My guess is that you would probably need to show resident's status (such as ID number) in order to get a take your license again in another state.

Having got your foreign licence, the question remains whether you can drive in the UK (for up to 12 months) on that license. My inkling is that from a point of law "the driver is disqualified" rather than "the licence" is revoked. The best advice is to go to a post office and get a D1 form for exchanging a foreign license for a UK license and see what delarations you are required to make regarding UK offences.

Bottom line: you're probably not the first or last person to try this and the loopholes have been probably been closed,

We are thinking of opening a branch of one of my companies in Eire so I checked out, first of all, the vehicle regulations. We can buy and register company cars in Eire and insure them there, transferring any existing UK NCB's to the Dublin offices of Norwich Union. Then the cars can be used anywhere in Europe at any time, but if they stay in another EU country for more than 6 continuous months they should be registered in that country. However, DVLA said that there are no specific checks possible.
Moving on to licences, if one has an accommodation address in Eire one can exchange their UK licence for an Eireann one, or take an Eire test and then have 2 licences.
If banned in the UK, one cannot drive in the UK on any licence, but if a non-UK licence is also held one can still drive anywhere in the world esxcept the UK until the ban is over.
So, if you look like possibly getting a ban, because, for example, you have 9 points and have just been 'flashed' again, the best thing to do is to delay the case, get an Eireann address, swop out your UK licence, then complete the NIP with your 'foreign' licence and address details. Better still, swop your licence, then don't reply to the NIP, sell the car and go live in Eire for a year (only joking).
There are, however, so many ways to avoid the points without all this hassle, even after you've been flashed, that it may not be necessary to go this route.
Really it's best not to get into that position in the first place.