Driving Licemce: Paper or Plastic?

Advocate

Lord_Lardington wrote: »

Moonrakerz has touched a real nerve with me. Going plastic would have been a great idea if they'd actually done away with the paper portion. Keeping it was just ridiculous. Grrrr.

The original plan was to just have the Photocard, with all the details about points/endorsements stored on a magnetic strip or chip, but as with all Government I.T. projects it started running massively over-budget and behind schedule, and at the last minute they abandoned the idea and brought in the counterpart as a last-ditch contingency plan.

Just imagine if a bank couldn't work out how to put a magnetic strip on their cards, so insisted customers carried round an A4 piece of paper and produce it every time they used the card! The bank would be an absolute laughing stock!!!

The Government couldn't organise a p1ss up in a brewery, but we have to pick up the bill for their ineptitude.

Perhaps the nastiest thing about the current system is that if you lose the paper counterpart half of your licence, you have to pay £22 to have BOTH replaced... you can't just have the counterpart replaced on its own... so you are basically paying £22 for an A4 sheet of paper.

They can not give any satisfactory explanation as to why they can not provide a replacement counterpart on its own for a reasonable fee of a couple of pounds... just a robotic "that's the way it is" response. It's another piece of vindictive profiteering by the DVLA, just like the premium rate 0870 helpline that people have to call to sort out the DVLA's own mistakes.

Whatever happened to the idea of the Government being public servants?

anewman

Advocate wrote: »

Perhaps the nastiest thing about the current system is that if you lose the paper counterpart half of your licence, you have to pay £22 to have BOTH replaced... you can't just have the counterpart replaced on its own... so you are basically paying £22 for an A4 sheet of paper.

It's the same with passports. Cost an extortionate amount of money and they give you a leaflet with it detailing where the money "supposedly" goes, but it's just plain and simple hidden taxes - imposed because you have to get a passport, and you have to get a driving license. Well you don't *have* to but you have to pay if you want one is my point.

adonis

dzug wrote: »

Not so according to the RAC as long as your licence is the pink one and not the even older green one.

I am sticking with my green one, and if i go to the usa i will get an international driving permit from the AA.:cool:

anewman

Advocate wrote: »

The original plan was to just have the Photocard, with all the details about points/endorsements stored on a magnetic strip or chip, but as with all Government I.T. projects it started running massively over-budget and behind schedule, and at the last minute they abandoned the idea and brought in the counterpart as a last-ditch contingency plan.

Problem with the government is they go for the cheapest bidder, and invariably they are crap and don't have a clue how to turn a computer on, the project goes over time, over budget, and then just like the child support agency it doesn't work when completed.

I'm hoping the problem the government was having was how to stop criminals removing details of endorsements from the card.

amandada

It's unlikely you'd have to produce your licence for police when stopped-the information's all on the PNC (police national computer) so it can be checked out there and then
That would be why when I moved house almost 7 years ago, I sent off my paper licence to the DVLA to change address, and have never bothered getting a photocard one.:o
The important part is that you keep your address up to date with DVLA

dzug

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Are we sure about this? I went all through the change of address rigmarole on the DVLA website, and they tried to charge me £22.

Well I have an email from DVLA telling me so. And browsing the DVLA website confirms it.

What went wrong when you tried it I've no idea.

dzug

adonis wrote: »

dzug wrote: »

Not so according to the RAC as long as your licence is the pink one and not the even older green one.

I am sticking with my green one, and if i go to the usa i will get an international driving permit from the AA.:cool:

My reply was about Italy, not the USA.

Officially your green one (without an IDP) is fine in the US.

Stephen_Leak

dzug wrote: »

Well I have an email from DVLA telling me so. And browsing the DVLA website confirms it.

What went wrong when you tried it I've no idea.

I just followed the links. The website also mentions a form at the Post Office, so I might get one of these and see what it says.

wolfehouse

i thought that within the decade they were going to force everybody to switch to the photocard license...
whatever happened to that plan?