GagainPEI

If you haven't passed your test in England you will get only an automatic license. Our last 3 cars in England were automatic. It shouldn't be that difficult to get a decent 2nd hand one.

sallysimmons

Coming from the US, we're not allowed to switch our licenses the way you can if you come from Canada. We get one year on our US licenses and then we have to take a test

I'm hoping they can find records of my UK license so I can just get a replacement. I really can't be doing with driving tests anymore.

ldyinlv

I have been driving in the US for 30 years, but I have to say I am worried about driving in England on the wrong side of the road..lol

GagainPEI

My understanding is, if you have passed your test in the UK, you just need to renew your license with Swansea DVLA.

Gabgoeshome

You can drive what you like for one year ,you then have to take a test anyway

Probably better if one takes the test while they are still driving on their American license ,so as not to not have one at all if you leave it too late and fail !!!!

Canadians do not have to take another test in the UK provided they only EVER drive an automatic ...if they fancy a manual after the first year then they must re-test !

I think the rule that Americans can drive for one year is totally silly IMO ,if you are going to have an accident ,surely it would be more likely to happen when you first get there .

I had a car in the UK ,drove all over the place on a provisional (with a qualified driver obviously ) failed one test and then I starting traveling and gave up lol !

I am not looking forward to taking a test again in the UK , it was a dreadful experience last time !

sallysimmons

That's what I'm hoping. I tried to apply but you can't do it until you're home. I had a license for a few years before we left. Actually, it's somewhere in the house in a box, but I doubt we'll find it.

GagainPEI

Then Sally, you should be alright. Hope so but that is my understanding.

islandwoman120

I am not planning on driving over here now, but I remember when I was first here in the 1970s, I took a driving lesson from the British School of Motoring, so that I could practice the road test in particular. I did this in Barnstaple, Devon, which is very, very hilly. And the parallel parking, and hill start were on a real hill. The instructor told me I would fail, and to come back to him after my test. Well boo hoo to him, I passed first time. But I was in my 20s then, and very determined. I drove in an automatic, so my license was limited to that type of vehicle. I had learned to drive in Jamaica, at the age of 17, with a British School of Motoring instructor, and learned to negotiate pot holes, straying, and dead animals, and weird drivers. So no country instructor was going to make me fail! But now - I don't want to tempt fate again. I was told by a Canadian cousin who was concerned about driving in that country after learning to drive in Jamaica (on the left, like in the UK), that just remember to keep the white line dividing the road on your drivers' side, then you know you are on the correct side of the road. Don't ask me about single lane roads, or snow covered ones... this is just as a general rule to help prevent anxiety attacks in a new country!

ldyinlv

I know that when I visit and am a passenger in a car, I have some terrifying moments when I think we are driving into on coming traffic..lol ..its gonna take some getting used to..

cheers

If you are in a Canadian Province that states you can drive a stick shift then you are qualified to drive a stick in the UK ( I write like I know right?)

Since its a pain getting a license in the UK it would be nice if you could go from the US cross the border into Canada, exchange your licence for a Canadian then go to the UK and exchange it for a UK license and everything would be hunkidory??

Eastern I'm a little distracted by your spelling of license (I should talk) but is it the UK or Canadian the way you spell it?

I have got the impression that it can cost around $700 to get a licence in the UK if you add all the costs involved including taking driving lessons.

A side note. Don't blame the UK for inconsistency on getting a license if you are from the US. It is more of the US to blame because of the different driving laws in different states. I maybe wrong but a person from say China or Mexico can exchange their license in the UK but we can't.

Another note. There is an American business man in prison in the UK because he was in an accident on the way to the airport, to go back to the US, and he killed a couple of people. My point is it is serious business.

ldyinlv

Ive been driving for over 30 years, would I still need lessons in the UK????

cheers

It is amazing that they let you drive when you get off the plane after being up for maybe 24 hours, half a sleep, and then driving on the other side of the road and on the Motorway at 80? mph to boot. Its insane IMO.

I have notice I drive on the hard shoulder if I don't watch it. I also have to concentrate when turning into another street that I don't end up on the wrong side. Its been done.

Beedubya

Like Cameron Diaz in that movie The Holiday, when she drives in the UK for the first time LOL!!

cheers

No you don't have to, its not required and I don't plan to but I don't want to pay for those expensive lessons. Most Americans that emigrated to the UK will say they would never have passed the test without the lessons even though they had driven for ever in the US.

Tell you what go on those notorious British roundabouts and see if you need a lesson. I think it helps to close your eyes until you leave the roundabout.

Beedubya

What?

OMG I am off to check this out for Australia, there is NO WAY I would pass my test with all my "bad" driving habits and driving here for 30 years........never had a licence in England...........off to check it out!!