Forced to renew Driving License?

Guest101

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Requirement to produce driving licence and offence not to do so - s.164, Road Traffic Act 1988.

Fair enough, however subsection 8 clearly outlines your defence for this:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/164

smashingyour...

Guest101 wrote: »

Fair enough, however subsection 8 clearly outlines your defence for this:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/164

Please explain how, they don't have one to produce within 7 days.

Rover_Driver

Guest101 wrote: »

Fair enough, however subsection 8 clearly outlines your defence for this:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/164

That defence is only available if the licence etc. is subsequently produced.

If it is not subsequently produced, the offence is complete.

Guest101

Yes if it is produced before the court date, so you would have to be charged with the offence and even then have time to produce it.

So I stand by my comment, no you do not need to be in possesion of a licence to drive. Just be entitled to a licence.

Aretnap

Guest101 wrote: »

Going to jail - cite the Act please, where by failing to update your licence is an offence punishable by time in prison.

I was actually saying about sending it in to be updated, and being lost in the system at the DVLA, which happens all the time.

Nope, you were saying send in an empty envelope, then lie about what was in it. Perjury and/or perverting the course of justice - both imprisonable offences. Really not worth it for the sake of £20, even if the risk of being caught is quite low.

Your entitlement to drive is always there, whether you have the photocard or not.

RTA s99

In so far as a licence authorises its holder to drive motor vehicles... it shall, unless previously revoked or surrendered, remain in force...for the period ending on the seventieth anniversary of the applicant’s date of birth...

Once you surrender your licence it is no longer in force. What you do when you renew it is actually to surrender your old licence and apply for a new one. You can surrender it without applying for a new one - but in that case you no longer have a licence and cannot legally drive. Or you can fail to surrender it, in which case you can still drive, but you commit the offence of failing to surrender it. The only way to stay the right side of the law AND retain your entitlement to drive is to surrender it and pay the £20 for a new one.

Rover_Driver

Guest101 wrote: »

Yes if it is produced before the court date, so you would have to be charged with the offence and even then have time to produce it.

So I stand by my comment, no you do not need to be in possesion of a licence to drive. Just be entitled to a licence.

Two different matters, you don't have to be in possession of your driving licence to drive.

But you must produce it when required to under s.164, RTA 1988.

smashingyour...

Guest101 wrote: »

Yes if it is produced before the court date, so you would have to be charged with the offence and even then have time to produce it.

So I stand by my comment, no you do not need to be in possesion of a licence to drive. Just be entitled to a licence.

Just because there is a defence or get out doesn't stop it being an offence.

Guest101

smashingyour... wrote: »

Just because there is a defence or get out doesn't stop it being an offence.

Yes it does, otherwise you'd be found guilty.

Guest101

Aretnap wrote: »

Nope, you were saying send in an empty envelope, then lie about what was in it. Perjury and/or perverting the course of justice - both imprisonable offences. Really not worth it for the sake of £20, even if the risk of being caught is quite low.


RTA s99


Once you surrender your licence it is no longer in force. What you do when you renew it is actually to surrender your old licence and apply for a new one. You can surrender it without applying for a new one - but in that case you no longer have a licence and cannot legally drive. Or you can fail to surrender it, in which case you can still drive, but you commit the offence of failing to surrender it. The only way to stay the right side of the law AND retain your entitlement to drive is to surrender it and pay the £20 for a new one.

From my understanding perjury is lying under oath, which i dont believe the OP would be.

PErverting the course of justice, hmm, not sure. Possibly

notanewuser

Richard53 wrote: »

Even if there was a one-off charge at the start, my point was that we have replaced something that was 'free for life' with something that just happens to need replacing every 10 years, and of course there are fees attached. As far as I can see, no-one benefits except the Treasury. In other words, a tax in all but name.

The DVLA is self-funding. They don't receive anything from the Treasury, nor do they put anything in. It's a non-profit making organisation.