Drink Driving
 

If some one has lost there licence in the UK can they drive in Spain ?

Re: Drink Driving
 

Not unless they have a separate Spanish license with no DD convictions on it. Shop them! ASAP!

Re: Drink Driving
 

LOL now how could you do that I shoped my ex but got no where LOL

Re: Drink Driving
 

Thankfully, the Guardia up here take it very seriously.

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Drink driving is one of the few unforgiveable crimes.

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Here we go again.seek.snoop.shop.Is this a favorit british pass time.

before you start on me .I dont drink alchol when Im driving.I end up being the sober choffer.

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Know quite a few people here that have been out and drink driving and at times the police just haven`t fined or arrested them. seems like speeding is far more serious here.

Re: Drink Driving
 

Just a quick link to the Drink Drive/Points on your Spanish Licence in Spain. :o
If convicted in Spain and your Uk licence is taken away the Spanish Traffic do not stamp your licence re the offence but send it back to the DVLA however the good news is that the DVLA will just return it back to you clean.From 2010 the amount of alcohol found in your blood will be reduced from 0.5 which is about a small beer to 0.2 so you are better off not drinking at all. :blink:

http://www.spainvia.com/penaltypointslist0107.htm

Re: Drink Driving
 

agree there - should be zero tollerence

Re: Drink Driving
 

I think it depends on the mood the guardia are in

I have been stopped twice and breathalised - hadnt had a drop either time so was fine but they didnt ask to see paperwork, insurance or anything

someone else we know of was stoped over the limit, breathalised and just let go

another girl we know was stopped over the limit, 450€ and a ban for 3 month (if I rememebr right) which she could take when she wanted !! how crazy is that

Re: Drink Driving
 

In the UK they take your license away from you, so no, you can't drive ANYWHERE during that time. Other countries might not do so. I know of someone who was stopped in France for being over the limit, BUT he continued to drive HGVs in the UK as they didn't tqke his license, and the last time I heard he had never been back to France for his court case, he just didn't go.

Re: Drink Driving
 

The Drink driving Laws in France are a bit complicated, The limit is lower than the UK 0.5 not 0.8. If you are convicted here and your employment involves Driving IE HGV Bus Driving etc you may drive for work if the Board of Judges allow it for Work Only. No Recreational Driving is permitted. Also in France if your convicted they have Sans Permit Cars, Very small cars horrible looking that required no driving licence and they don't go Fast. You really would not want to be seen dead in one.

Re: Drink Driving
 

Assuming you mean they no longer have any valid license at all then it should be quiet obvious , no, because if you dont have a driving license then you cant legally drive in any country in the world, you could apply for a spanish one and pretend you were a learner and start from scratch but obviously that is illegal ,plus the Spanish authorities may contact the U.K. if youve been banned do your time and learn from your mistakes.

Re: Drink Driving
 

So according to those rules you can commit 2 drink driving offences,(1 @-6pts and 1 @ 4pts) and still retain your licence and drive? Strange.

Re: Drink Driving
 

If you retain your licence rather than giving it to the court as far as I am aware you can still drive on it outside of the UK, I was banned quite a while back now, but was in photocard times, I still hired cars and drove in Spain and I would do the same now, If I lost my licence in UK I wouldnt be able to do my job so I wouldnt hand it back to the court, I would keep it and use it in Spain, AFAIK you are only banned from the UK for driving and not anywhere in Europe, the same would be vice versa as Posh states.

I can speak from experience and not assumption. In the UK You are banned from driving only, not for holding a licence

Re: Drink Driving
 

If you go really over the limit - like 1.2 or something like that - they can put you in prison. The law changed earlier this year. It also applies to serious speeding.

Re: Drink Driving
 

You make it sound something to be proud of.........if that was me who got banned I would be too ashamed to let the whole world know!

And as for driving in another country when you are banned in the Uk well that has totally stunned me.......you shouldn't be allowed to post crap like that!! :blink:

Re: Drink Driving
 

JDR, No offence but you assume too much, I said I was Disqaulified but it was not for drink driving, I never said that.

Im posting the Law, you are only banned from the UK not from anywhere else. Any solicitor will confirm this

Re: Drink Driving
 

Firstly, there is a slight difference between JDR and myself!
Secondly, I never mentioned drink driving in my reply, but as this thread is about drink driving, it would be a reasonable assumption.
And thirdly, re "posting the law", are you "quoting" UK law or world wide? I only ask as "Any solicitor" would be very highly regarded if he was so well versed as to know about being banned from "anywhere else" and being able to confirm the same.
I would love to see you trying to explain this to the Guardia!

Re: Drink Driving
 

It would not be a problem as you have your licence. You would only lose it again if the Guardia took it from you but you are entitled to drive anywhere other than the UK.

UK law only applies in the UK so it does not cover Spain or Germany or anywhere else, the same vice versa as posh has allready stated, if your banned in Spain your not here although they are trying to convict you of offences abroad here but im not wholey sure if driving comes into this, I think its just sex offences.

Also sorry, My browser is running expat forum very slow and It did when I read it say JDR Posted, sorry for that, lol

Re: Drink Driving
 

The information that you have posted relates to a foreign national in the UK, and therefore I think that you have misinterpreted it. I read that as saying that the ban on that person driving in the UK will not affect a ban in other countries.
If She had been banned in her own country I think it would be different.My take is that if you have your license taken away then you cannot use it abroad to drive.
Anyone else any thoughts?

Re: Drink Driving
 

Exactly you are correct as under Section 38 of the law says you have to surrender your licence, but its entirely up to you whether you do this, all I say is I wouldnt and I know thats it end of, I would then up sticks and live somewhere I could drive legally. Maybe the morals I have are different to yours but thats the way it is for me.

The information posted above is fact, you can not be disqualified in any other country other than the UK for anyone if the offence is committed in the UK.

Whether you agree with it or not is not relevant, but the law is as she has replied.

Its down to you if you surrender your licence or not, if you surrender it your stuffed

Re: Drink Driving
 

How could you drive legally somewhere else unless you had say a Spanish license? If the UK authorities have "taken away" your license, whether or not you surrender it, if you use that to drive abroad or hire a vehicle, that is fraud, because you are then either driving on an invalid license or you produced an invalid document to obtain services, namely the hire of a vehicle.
Also, surely by not surrendering your license you are committing yet another offence.
I would still like to hear other peoples opinions on this

Re: Drink Driving
 

If you are reordered to take you driving test as most drink driving convictions now are. You would then be driving abroad without a Current Driving License. On receipt of a retake your details as a full driving License holder are removed from the DVLA database. This info is now shared abroad. See if it works, I know someone who was lucky enough to get 2 bans at once. One in England and one in Spain.

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you are not on a GB licence like the old days.you are on a EU licence issued by uk.they can check in 2 mins with DVLC if they want to.verry rare I admit.

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you limit is lower in spain aswell if you hold a profesional licence

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Yup Zero tolerance.

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They can check with the DVLA but it wonrt make a blind bit of difference, the law is only applicable in the UK.

Its seen on TV often enough and in the papers that the English Police make enough mistakes with PNC Checks they have to carry fingerprint machines becuase they fail to do DVLA Checks consistently.

As for the professionals I see them breathalizing coach drivers (school services) in Estepona the other day which does show that in Spain - some parts - they take it more seriously.

Personally Ill admit I dont have a big hang up on drink driving as some clearly do here, but I dont let much get to me I find im to busy to be bothered by what others do, however I do totally disagree with driving drunk which is totally out of order and should be punished but that is not the same IMO as general drinking and driving, some people drive better after a drink.

I was stopped not all that long ago in Arcos de la frontera, they had a festival there was about this time last year I think, IIRC I had 3 half lagers and a baileys, but I lied and said 2 cana's with a meal and that was it, it was a random check I think and was allowed to go on my way, im sure if I was falling all over the place it would have been different.

In my own mind even though I knew what alcohol limits are I decided to drive because I felt I was not drunk, others will clearly again disagree.

Every part of Spain is different, I remember one day in Chiclana we was in a bar again only in the last 2/3 years max and a guy totally pissed got into some old mercedes and drove off after falling over in the bush in front of his car, the Policia Local was there and did nothing, but if that was in say Torrevieja could be totally different outcome.

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This is how I understood the law, thats why I was asking. I have never lost my license or had any points just wanted the facts.

Re: Drink Driving
 

If you need concrete facts, then you should ask the Guardia, or a Spanish legal representative, don't take what is in effect hearsay on a public forum as fact.
Unless you also have a Spanish driving license, if you "lose" your UK license via the UK courts, then you have nothing to show that you are allowed to drive here in Spain. If you receive a ban which would need to be shown on the license, and then produce a photocopy for example, that doesn't show it, that is fraud. Driving without a license is now a criminal offence in Spain, therefore a "disqualified" driver in the UK cannot drive here.
The previous post that showed a specific case, related to a US born celebrity being allowed to drive anywhere other than the UK. Had that person become "disqualified" in the US, then they would no longer be able to drive anywhere.

Re: Drink Driving
 

But you would then be illegal as your license is suspended by DVLA,very simple really,which ever way you look at it you are at the very least committing fraud and I thought we were discussing what you can do legally not what crimes we can get away with.

Re: Drink Driving
 

That's what I was trying to point out as well! Using or producing an invalid license (as it is suspended) is fraud.

Re: Drink Driving
 

Jail sentences now for driving without a valid licence.

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having no licence is not the same crime as not having a valid licence.

Re: Drink Driving
 

thats what I take it to mean.if you are banned in the uk then you have no licence.its revoked.if you hold a uk licence and you get banned in another country you are banned in that country,they have no juristicion over your uk licence.but for a while now what was supposed to happen is we are all in the eu.thats why you get parking fines and speeding tickets in the uk from any where in the eu.any one who drives a truck can get done in uk and visa versa for any offence they have commited any where in the uk or eu.

Re: Drink Driving
 

Explain to me WTF you mean.
If you don`t hold a valid licence to drive in the host country, then you don`t have a licence to drive in the country, simple as that.

Re: Drink Driving
 

He's right. In Spain driving with no licence is a serious offence and can carry a prison sentence.

Having a licence that is no longer valid is a different offence - for example you don't go to prison because you failed to renew your licence on time.

Re: Drink Driving
 

But technically you are still driving without a licence ?

Also we are talking of a drink driver losing his UK licence, not handing it in to the authourities and driving fraudently in another country with it, aren`t we ?

Re: Drink Driving
 

ok if you have held a driving licence you can only be done for not having a current licence.or maybe driving on a provisional.or driving while banned.if you have never had a driving licence you will be done for not having a driving licence 2 seperate issues.its like you cant be done for steelling a car.but you can be done for steeling a pushbike.

Re: Drink Driving
 

Next time you are in my area please let me know so that I can stay well away from the roads!

I have been in Chiclana watching England football matches and left the bar early due to the amout of people that were clearly drinking too many and would be getting into their cars and driving home.

If you drive and are over the limit and injure or kill yourself so be it, but when other people are involved it´s another story!

Straying from the OPs question but am feeling a little incensed!!!