foreign EU drivers - what are the rules for them?

fridgeracer

hello all.

i was wondering what the rules are in general for foreign EU drivers in the UK where they are driving their imported left hand drive car from another EU country?

i ask because, i see a lot of them without a tax disc in the winshield and at work a colleague of mine told me that they are allowed to drive here without road tax for a certain period - except once they are in the country and the car is not dvla registered then how are police ever going to know how long a foreign car has been on the road here for if they can't check the plate?

he mentioned that he knows a lady from europe that said she would never buy a car here because she does not have to tax or insure her car from country? really?

i don't intend to stereotype what so ever, but i have seen quite a few foreign EU cars (back plate on the car says PL or RO for example) where they have removed their font number plate.

isn't it illegal to drive without a front plate? iv'e been driving around town and see some PL / NL / RO / ES cars without a front number plate and cops go right past them without a care in the world.

what about insurance? what if a euro driver hits you in a collision? do they have to have insurance with a british company? what happens when you tell your insurance company their number plate and they turn around and tell you it's unrecognised because it isn't a dvla registered vehicle? can they actually cross check across every database in europe for any legal car?

Grumpygit

I can't comment on some of your post but.....

We do not have tax discs and our number plates are just numbers and black & silver number plates are legal over here. We are in Guernsey.

We have been stopped in both the UK and Europe - but it's more to do with the police being nosey and wanting to know where we are from than for any infractions (ie just numbers on a black/silver plates)

They should be able to cross check as the UK is part of Europe. Not so very long ago, we could not be chased for any fines (ie speed cameras) and although they can't take us to court, it is recommended that we pay up in case we ever go back and are then stopped.

As for insurance - why would they have to have UK based insurance? Do you have French based insurance if you are driving over there for instance even if you are there for more than your two week holiday?

Like all places, if the police are involved, you stand a better chance of claiming from someone else (if they are insured) in the event of an accident.

fridgeracer

well in that case, if someone from mainland europe wants to come over here for whatever reason be it settling or a holiday, do they have to do things at dover or whatever port they land at such as:

have the car checked for a valid insurance policy in their own country?

have their licence checked? i.e. is it an EU or rest of the world licence?

does the plate get checked and logged so that if the car is found in the country after the tax exemption expiry date then the police have warrant to go after it IF it's been seen after this expiry date without a tax disc?

is there not any laws in place to force foreign drivers who have settled here with their imported cars to DVLA register it after a certain period of being here?

Grumpygit

I can't answer for the UK, but we do have rules over here in that if you are moving over you have to surrender your driving license for a local one be it someone from the UK or mainland Europe and you have to reregister your car.

Nilrem

IIRC non UK cars are allowed to be used in the UK for something like 6 months in any year without UK road tax etc, I think they're meant to be registered in the UK if they're used for longer than that.
I suspect enforcement is probably partly by ANPR at the ports etc, and partly people not realising that when they tell the officer they've been in the country for a year with the car they're giving information that can be used against them.

I think it's generally assumed that anyone entering the UK with a vehicle will have a licence for it....
Although from memory at times VOSA and the police will set up check points and run everyone through a licence/insurance/vehicle safety check, sometimes, just by chance, they'll be near a port of entry.

Unfortunately we're not setup like some EU countries that require anyone from another country to buy a specific ticket to make use of certain roads.

When it comes to things like driving offences, from memory if the DVLA has no access to foreign licence systems, or the person just doesn't have a UK licence (IE a "youth" driving without a licence), the DVLA create a record for a licence, and add any endorsements to that.
So you can effectively have various convictions on your driving licence before you actually apply for one.

Johno100

fridgeracer wrote: »

well in that case, if someone from mainland europe wants to come over here for whatever reason be it settling or a holiday, do they have to do things at dover or whatever port they land at such as:

have the car checked for a valid insurance policy in their own country?

have their licence checked? i.e. is it an EU or rest of the world licence?

does the plate get checked and logged so that if the car is found in the country after the tax exemption expiry date then the police have warrant to go after it IF it's been seen after this expiry date without a tax disc?

is there not any laws in place to force foreign drivers who have settled here with their imported cars to DVLA register it after a certain period of being here?

Here are your answers, Google is your friend.

http://www.internations.org/great-britain-expats/guide/16150-transport-driving/advice-for-car-owners-in-the-uk-16142

That is of course if you are genuinely interested in answers to these questions.

silverwhistle

fridgeracer wrote: »

is there not any laws in place to force foreign drivers who have settled here with their imported cars to DVLA register it after a certain period of being here?

Yep! They can spend 6 months without re-registering, and it was the same when I moved to Italy.

When I moved back I had a perfectly functional car but at 12 years old it wasn't worth doing the changes necessary to re-register. You need to (amongst other things I can't remember) change the speedo dial and the headlights, pass an MOT and pay a fee. For me it wasn't worth it.

Mind you, I've just been helping some Italian friends moving here and was happy to tell them (and they were very pleased) that their friend was wrong - they don't need to change the steering wheel position!:D

AlexMac

fridgeracer wrote: »

hello all.

i was wondering what the rules are in general for foreign EU drivers in the UK where they are driving their imported left hand drive car from another EU country?

IMHO the most significant rule is the one on the sign which I pass regularly on the A2 just outside Dover - 'tenez gauche' - keep to the left. It's repeated in other languages, including Swedish 'kor till vänster'.

Only problem is, having checked Bing translate (yes, I should get out more) it seems 'kor till vänster' means 'cows to the left'. This implies either a worrying lack of language skills on the part of Kent Highways staff- or that they're expecting Swedish farmers to herd their cattle to London on foot!

nobbysn*ts

AlexMac wrote: »

IMHO the most significant rule is the one on the sign which I pass regularly on the A2 just outside Dover - 'tenez gauche' - keep to the left. It's repeated in other languages, including Swedish 'kor till vänster'.

Only problem is, having checked Bing translate (yes, I should get out more) it seems 'kor till vänster' means 'cows to the left'. This implies either a worrying lack of language skills on the part of Kent Highways staff- or that they're expecting Swedish farmers to herd their cattle to London on foot!

I'd go for bing being wrong. It means 'drive' to the left. Bing is over translating this into a cattle drive, hence, 'cows' to the left. The noun is körning - driving verb is köra - to drive.

vaio

I once used google translate to give me the german for "applogies for my poor german" it can back with the equivalent of "I'm sorry about the the destitute germans"

AI/machine translation has a way to go yet

Iceweasel

I think that just about the worst foreign EU drivers (as far as car registration, annual tests etc. are concerned) are the British ex-pats living in France and Spain etc.

As far I see evidence with my own eyes from my visiting relatives who are living in those places, most Brits have no tax disc and no MOT.

They tell me they have insurance but I have to take that on trust.

I see out of date ,or no disc at all, on the screen and some have cars that have not been back to the UK for years.

The 'trick' is they never actually exceed the 6 month rule. They stay in Spain for 6 months then cross the border to France then return to Spain for another 6 months. They deliberately don't have Spanish residency so they can return to the UK for free NHS treatment.

The same thing happens but to a lesser extent with our Eastern European workers.

The majority of them go back home for holidays and visits and so never go beyond 6 months continuous in the UK.

As long as 'visitors' to other countries have all their paperwork in order for their home country I see little wrong with the situation, either here or in other EU countries.

Buying or renting a property long term and so putting down roots is a different matter.