cjm

Attempting a bit more digging, but back in 2008 the French Transport Minister promised to tighten laws to ensure 'foreign' drivers caught speeding at least paid their fines. This seemed to refer to tourists. There was and maybe still is, no cooperation between countries to share details via number pate recognition.
A comment at the time said:
A study by the French transport ministry found 900,000 German drivers, 550,000 Britons and 350,000 Italians are flashed by French cameras every year.
And although foreign motorists only make up five per cent of traffic on French roads, they are responsible for 27 per cent of all speeding offences.
I did find that the one year residency that meant you had to apply for a French licence was resinded. UK licence is permanent and need not be changed.
Martin may be correct, the law is a mess. This makes me wonder if demaning UK residents to swap licences for a French may not be legal.

Im_and_Er

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. So we've come to advocating fraud then have we

When you exchange your UK licence for a French one the Prefecture will eventually send your surrendered one back to DVLA and when they receive it how long do you think it is going to take them to realise that you have handed in an old supposedly 'lost' - and therefore invalid - licence. When they inform the French of the fraud you will likely find yourself in very serious trouble.

Additionally, because of the dictat that only one EU licence may be held at any time, the issuance of a French licence will automatically void any and all previous EU licences so your fraudulently obtained UK replacement is instantly rendered worthless anyway.

From a strict legal stand point any infraction in France attracting a loss of points requires a licence exchange.

cyrian

From a strict legal stand point any infraction in France attracting a loss of points requires a licence exchange.

How does that apply to non-residents?

Im_and_Er

It doesn't although it hasn't prevented cases of non resident holiday home owners being forced into an exchange.

Martin Parker

Not really, we are all old enough to make our own decisions, I was simply carrying on the conversation.

My actual point is the mess that the EU has made of this and the fact that we do not have a single EU licence.

Im_and_Er

The directive for harmonisation of driving licences has been in place for over a decade, in UK the introduction of the photo licence was the first step towards it.

When you consider however that each and every EU member state has it's own unique licence system you can begin to imagine what a near impossible task it is and in reality is one which will take a generation or more to fully implement.

Essentially it can only really begin in earnest when the actual driving test is standardised and then the penalty system but to date I have seen no evidence of moves in either of those directions.

The only thing which is selectively being brought in is cross border fine enforcement.

Martin Parker

That is precisely the point. Ten years and millions of Euros later and what has been achieved? Very little.

I can't see the problem of a European licence, marked with the country of issue all controlled from a central point. Yes there are differences in the testing and type of vehicles you can drive, but that is covered by the country of issue stamp. In affect, that is the same as now but with a single licence instead of individual country licences.

Overtime, the testing and vehicle types could all be brought in to line across Europe, but at least a start has been made by having everyone on a single licence type.

This opens the other question of whether you actually want the EU to have that much control over our lives in the first place - an entirely separate debate!

cjm

The responses from Martin and Im_and_Er rather confirm that the system is a mess. A single licence is a problem, as I said, the UK licence allows greater flex in what you can drive. A Gendarme who inspected my photo licence expressed surprise at what it covered.
Cameras tickets are still tough to enforce surely, as authorities do not exchange info.
I wasn't aware of a law that said you could only possess one EU licence, but it makes sense really. But, if I have a French licence and are caught on camera in UK, how do they get the fine?
The wheels for harmonisation turn slowly it seems.

Im_and_Er

There is no doubt that it is a dogs breakfast. It doesn't help when you exchange a UK licence for a French one yet retain groups such as C1, C1E, and D1E when by default the French are limited to 3,500kg without a further test.

Mechanisms are in place for authoritities to exchange information but few countries seem to bother. Italy it seems is getting quite hot on it though and I believe that France and Belgium also routinely enforce fines, a convenience due to the common language no doubt.

If you are flashed in UK in a foreign registered vehicle then nothing will happen just the same as if you got flashed in a UK regged car in France, the process for tracing a driver is just too cumbersome. If you got stopped however then you would be fined, possibly even arrested and taken to court the next day, and DVLA would create a virtual licence in your name to record the points. Accumulate 12 and French licence or not you will effectively be banned from driving in UK.

Ka Ora!

If you get stopped, Be it the Gendarmes or the Traffic Police in the UK they will escort you to a Cash Point to pay the on the Spot Fine. There is no getting out of paying then.

Being flashed by a Camera Speed Trap is a blessing, When in a foreign car if you are leaving the country in the near future. If you remain in the area and that car has collected a bunch of Speed Trap fines there is probably not much stopping the Gendarmes getting quite shirty with you. ANPR systems are being rolled out here anyway. But I hear the French are working on their own version of ANPR and it keeps sending itself a fine for not having a Road Tax.

Im_and_Er

When did UK introduce on the spot fines then

Ka Ora!

Last Year.

I don't know where the Official bit is but it applies to Non Dom drivers in the UK HERE.

It may have been a pilot scheme initially, But changes were made to the Road Traffic Act.

I know someone on the Task Farce

Im_and_Er

Ah, a bit of a question of semantics then. I knew about the 'deposit' scheme but had not regarded it as an on the spot fine, which technically it isn't, hence my query

Ka Ora!

Call it want you wish You Violate the Road Traffic Act they get On the Spot cash.

And they will escort you to a Cash Point.

jasoninparis

If someone can help me clarify something on this rather complicated driving license situation I would be truly grateful.

Firstly, I am a resident in France with a British driving license. Ive had a couple of speeding tickets on my British license, ive paid the fines.
So… Question 1: have I had any points taken off or not? i.e. am I still on 12 or have my offences reduced this, given the fact that I have a British license?

Secondly.. I believe that it is mandatory to change a British license to a French one when one commits a speeding offence. I have not done that (yet) if we assume that I HAVE lost some points and in the future I go to change my British license to a French one do you think the authorities will throw the book at me as I did not change my license after my first offence.

Many thanks for any advise,

Jason
Paris