Driving Licence Renewal

[steve2006]

I passed my driving tests back in 1977 when it was just a case of driving/riding around a set route and performing various tasks while doing so at the required level of competence.

”I’m pleased to tell you that you have passed”

Upon passing, my pink provisional licence was then upgraded to a green full licence which cost a mere £5.00 and was valid until I reached the age of 70. Great value at less than 10p a year.

Moving on a few years and photo-card driving licences are introduced for which we have to pay for. Just a minute my green licence last me until I’m 70 that was the deal for my fiver.

”Dear DVLA about this new licence charge”

”No due to EU regulations you now require a photo card licence and have to pay for it unless you never move house until you are 70 when you can continue with your green paper licence”

OK admit defeat at this point and pay another £10.00 for the photo one.

Ten years later “Dear Driver your photocard driving licence is due to expire and requires renewing” Another £10.00.

Now just received another renewal at either £14.00 online or (work this one out) £21.50 which includes a £4.50 PO service charge at the Post Office.

With all the local DVLA offices now closed it should be free!

But hold on “The UK has now left the EU” 

“Dear DVLA”

”Photocard driving licences are the only licences now issued you cannot revert to the old style green licence once a photocard licence has been previously issued”

To add insult to injury if you renew your licence before the expiry date it starts from the application date so you lose a month as well, mine will get renewed just before midnight on 11/06/2021 then.

Having said that I will have to reapply at 70 anyway!

 

[Malc]

15 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

11/06/2021 then.

Happy Birthday for 11th June then Steve 

your age 70 one will only last 3 years tho'  .......  then I guess annually ?  or maybe 3 yearly ? ............... I'll discover whatever in a couple more years

 ............. unless you're a Ls400 or Celsior owner then, by law,  you don't need a new licence  ................  ( sorry, I made that one up 😊 )

Malc

[dutchie01]

My first reaction was woo, 1977, that IS long ago. It took me some time to figure out i got it in 1979!! Time seems to move faster than we think!

[steve2006]

28 minutes ago, Malc said:

Happy Birthday for 11th June then Steve 

your age 70 one will only last 3 years tho'  .......  then I guess annually ?  or maybe 3 yearly ? ............... I'll discover whatever in a couple more years

 ............. unless you're a Ls400 or Celsior owner then, by law,  you don't need a new licence  ................  ( sorry, I made that one up 😊 )

Malc

Birthday is March 13th, you all missed it again this year but I eagerly await next year now you know 😀 (born on a Friday too!) but the licence renewal date is 11/6.

At 70 you apply for a 3 year one based on a self health declaration i.e. can you still see other cars around you or are they similar to a blurry 1970s video game. 

“Dear DVLA I think there is a problem with my glasses from Specsavers”

 

[Las Palmas]

Here it is better. 5 years every time. At least so far. Missed renewing at 70, did not before 71 and the new one was to 76. Renewed it again and got 5 more years.

Come to Las Palmas. Perfect place to retire. Good weather all year. No winter (maybe one or two days on top of the mountain) never cold at night, sometimes a bit hot in days.

Congrats, you are still young.

 

[Sundance]

1 hour ago, steve2006 said:

I passed my driving tests back in 1977 when it was just a case of driving/riding around a set route and performing various tasks while doing so at the required level of competence.

”I’m pleased to tell you that you have passed”

Upon passing, my pink provisional licence was then upgraded to a green full licence which cost a mere £5.00 and was valid until I reached the age of 70. Great value at less than 10p a year.

Bit of a late starter then were you Steve?  By my calculations that means you didn't pass your test until you were 26 ... 🤔

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, steve2006 said:

”No due to EU regulations you now require a photo card licence”

But hold on “The UK has now left the EU” 

Photo card license never had anything to do with EU, hence leaving EU never had any bearing on this. This is typical BS in UK where every time they ask you to do something unpleasant it is "because of EU rules".... I wonder what is their new scape-goat going to be? 

However in other hand as John mentioned above - in most countries you would be expected to renew every 5-10 years... so I was surprised when I noticed expiry date on my UK license was 2058...  

[cruisermark]

my photo license expired in December 2020 - but DVLA are giving an 11 month extension due to Covid.

[Sundance]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

Photo card license never had anything to do with EU, hence leaving EU never had any bearing on this. This is typical BS in UK where every time they ask you to do something unpleasant it is "because of EU rules".... I wonder what is their new scape-goat going to be? 

It's not BS at all.  It was as a direct result of a series of EU Directives that the current European photo card Driving Licence came about.  As time progressed both the Council and the European Commission deemed it necessary to replace all the different models used by individual Countries (States) and consequently all Members of the EU had to comply.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing as the photo card licence is reputedly more difficult to forge, but it is totally wrong to say that the EU did not have a hand in it, quite the contrary. 

[Mr Vlad]

As above. Personally I don't know why anyone has an issue with the photo card.

[Linas.P]

19 minutes ago, Sundance said:

It's not BS at all. 

Great display of ignorance and fundamental miss understanding about how EU works. But I am not surprised, if people would understand that we would not have brex****.

EU as well have legislation that every car has to drive with headlights on 24/7, which is amazing idea and for this reason it is so much easier and safer to drive in Continental Europe compared to UK - you can clearly see all the cars from far away, because headlight makes cars many times more visible, especially dark grey ones in the gloomy November afternoon.

But UK does not have this... why? Euro is as well European legislation, but we still use Pound... why? That is because any European legislation has to be put into law by LOCAL GOVERNMENT. It has always been and still is only the UK government discretion which legislation they put into law and which they don't, as any other government in EU. Being part of EU or not part of EU makes absolutely no difference - we have photo card licenses not because of EU, but because our government thought it was good idea (which it is) and put into the law.

Not only that - UK had representation in EU and voted in favour on over 96% of all legislation, so if our MEPs voted in favour of it then how it is EU fault. Perhaps we should have elected retard like Fartage as a MEP then?  

3 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

As above. Personally I don't know why anyone has an issue with the photo card.

I have no issue with that, but I have an issue with the statement that this was somehow EU fault that we have to have one.

[Sundance]

15 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I have no issue with that, but I have an issue with the statement that this was somehow EU fault that we have to have one.

I never said it was EU's fault, now you're misquoting in an attempt to prove your unprovable point.  Look more carefully at my answer which, by the way, is neither out of ignorance nor misunderstanding rather it is out of fact.  To replace your bluster and misplaced irrationality with better research might help your cause.

Discovering that you're wrong is never a pleasant experience, especially when you present your opinion, because in most cases it is just that, an opinion, in such an overbearing and seemingly unequivocal manner. Perhaps the use of a pinch of humbleness rather than your usual self-assertive brash approach might be a start that allows your readers to be more forgiving.

 

[Sundance]

27 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

As above. Personally I don't know why anyone has an issue with the photo card.

I quite agree Vlad, it was both a positive and an inevitable step ... but evidently it's necessary for some people to be clear about the history behind it. 😉

[rich1068]

My granddad never had to take a test and as far as I'm aware never had a formal licence. He learned to drive in the army and quickly moved on to armoured cars. In a way, you could say Europe had a hand in that too...

[Linas.P]

51 minutes ago, Sundance said:

Discovering that you're wrong is never a pleasant experience,

That is quite ironic statement. 

If you don't like some facts it doesn't make them just an opinion you can disagree with. Fact is that EU did not force and could not force and country to legalise any legislation. As such making photo cars licenses legal requirement is only matter of UK government not EU.

There is plenty of precedence where UK government has not implemented EU legislation, some examples I have already mentioned, but maybe even more relevant are "national identity cards"... All EU has it, but UK decided not to introduce them. Again this just proves it is down to the local government to decided and not EU.

Now granted - Steve maybe have said that jokingly and in light-hearted way, but in current context ... where businesses are closing, youth have lost their lifetime opportunities to study and work, and UK is going into direction of inevitable middle to long term recession.... it is not very funny. Further this is cliché statement of government spokesperson trying to shift blame somewhere else... "ohh it all was just because of the EU".

Sure I could understand jokes sometimes, but sad truth that many people in UK are used with this line that many actually believes it and it becomes rather tragic instead of being funny.

46 minutes ago, Sundance said:

 evidently it's necessary for some people to be clear about the history behind it. 😉

It is always important to be clear about the history behind it, because that dictates the context. And context is everything...

[Malc]

Anyway Steve ..  happy birthday for 13th. March just gone .............. this is all your fault you know .........  refer yourself to the Chief Mods to get reprimanded for starting a subject that you must have known was going to get out of hand 

Anyway, about turning off the lights on Jersey ........................... 😲 ................

Malc

[Sundance]

3 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Photo card license never had anything to do with EU, ...

As you seem to be having difficulty separating fact from archetypical 'remainer' fiction Linas, let's at the very least agree that there remains no doubt that your above statement has been clearly shown to be categorically and unarguably wrong, which casts rather a shadow upon the remainder.  Don't be shy, just admit it, I promise that you'll feel better afterwards. 😄

Otherwise I think I've probably reached the point where the term 'flogging a dead horse' becomes appropriate. 🙄

[Linas.P]

No it is rather archetypical brexsh iter lie.

45 minutes ago, Sundance said:

let's at the very least agree that there remains no doubt that your above statement has been clearly shown to be categorically and unarguably wrong

No it wasn't and not even close. It is very convenient to be ignorant or at least pretend to be ignorant when the truth is uncomfortable or cannot be proven. As well is convenient to drop generic and open ended statements without providing any evidence - this is typical brexsh it mentality ("we had enough of experts and facts").

I am happy to change my mind if you happen to ever come across (non-existent) proof to your statement. Obviously, in mean time I will live very happily and sleep very well knowing you just can't prove it beyond some brain dead brexsh it teories and lies.

What I said is very easy to prove and there are plenty of precedent e.g. EU has legislated national identity cards - UK has decided not to incorporate it into the law. EU has legislated common standards of photo card driving licence and UK has incorporated that into the law.

This clearly shows UK government has power to decide what they want to legislate and what they don't want to legislate. Likewise, it is clear that EU has no power to force the rules onto UK, didn't have any whilst UK was in EU, before UK was in EU or now when UK is out of EU. If there are any rules which we like it is because of local government and if there are any issues in the country, likewise they are because local government failed us.

If you still fail to understand it, then I am afraid there is issue with your rational and logical thinking my friend... 

[steve2006]

4 hours ago, Sundance said:

Bit of a late starter then were you Steve?  By my calculations that means you didn't pass your test until you were 26 ... 🤔

Passed both tests at 17 I was born in 1959, check you calculations 😀

[rich1068]

Blue passports tho'...

[steve2006]

1 minute ago, rich1068 said:

Blue passports tho'...

Don’t make it worse, I only wanted me five quid back coz I felt cheated 😀

[Sundance]

13 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Passed both tests at 17 I was born in 1959, check you calculations 😀

Ah, fail ... I was assuming that you were 70 on 11/06/2021, sorry to have diddled you out of 8 years. 😉

[Sundance]

35 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

No it wasn't and not even close.

Forget the horse ... I'm transferring to the wall ... 😂

[Linas.P]

38 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Don’t make it worse, I only wanted me five quid back coz I felt cheated 😀

You were cheated, just not by EU 🙂

Sorry, for making big deal out of it... I am just getting tired of everyone blaming EU for everything, plus sometimes it is hard to tell if it is joke or is it meant seriously. 

[steve2006]

8 minutes ago, Sundance said:

Forget the horse ... I'm transferring to the wall ... 😂

So Peter Jones has offered all the money for 20% of the company but that other guy profiteroles has also offered 80% of the money for 15% of the company, all the other dragons have said they’ll take me out. Just wish I could find my way back to the lift and leave quietly.