# I found a UK driver's licence last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 1, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740 "2014-06-01T02:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/1 "2014-06-01T02:44:44Z")
It was just lying on the footpath as I was walking home from the station. I took it to the local police station this morning. What value would it have on the ‘black market’ - assuming I had any idea of how to find where the black market operates? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/2 "2014-06-01T03:16:17Z")
A UK driver’s licence in Australia? Probably not much… although you both have that “drive on the left” thing going for you. I imagine that it would be most useful as a tool in building a false identity. In Australia I can only imagine someone taking it to the UK High Commission and saying that they’d lost all their other documentation and could they please have a temporary travel document to get back home? And it probably wouldn’t work–the High Commission would do all sorts of checking up on the story (I hope…) Edit: Scammers would be better off mailing it to confederates in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/3 "2014-06-01T04:25:36Z")
Could also be a migrant who hadn’t got around to getting their state licence yet. Police station - or social media? But it’s not mission critical like a passport so wouldn’t stress about finding the original owner too much. In terms of identity, not even enough for a 100 point check (think it’s only worth 20 points or something) - useless without passport, other bank cards, utility statements etc. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/4 "2014-06-01T06:39:20Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > What value would it have on the ‘black market’ - assuming I had any idea of how to find where the black market operates? Come on! Surely you can plug ‘The Black Market’ into any modern GPS and it’d drive you right there! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/5 "2014-06-01T09:03:17Z")
UK Driving licenses have a photo on them in any case, so I wouldn’t imagine it could be much use as a fake ID really. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/6 "2014-06-01T10:31:46Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Come on! Surely you can plug ‘The Black Market’ into any modern GPS and it’d drive you right there! > > 😃 Chooops - he doesn’t want to know where it is - he wants to know what operating system it uses … paging the techies … heh - PAGING the techies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/7 "2014-06-01T11:38:45Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Could also be a migrant who hadn’t got around to getting their state licence yet. Police station - or social media? But it’s not mission critical like a passport so wouldn’t stress about finding the original owner too much. In terms of identity, not even enough for a 100 point check (think it’s only worth 20 points or something) - useless without passport, other bank cards, utility statements etc. 40 points. add a birth certificate for 70 points and you have a new identity ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/8 "2014-06-03T03:56:40Z")
I’ve just received a message that the driver’s licence has been collected. The NSW police got in touch with the police in Scotland, who contacted the family, who contacted the Briton in Australia, who went to the police station here in Sydney to get her licence. The wonder of modern communications. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/9 "2014-06-03T04:12:51Z")
Wonderful! ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/10 "2014-06-04T14:29:17Z")
> [@scruffycat](#): > > UK Driving licenses have a photo on them in any case, so I wouldn’t imagine it could be much use as a fake ID really. New ones do, but there are plenty out there that don’t. My Dad only recently got his because he turned seventy. > **[Driving licence in the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_the_United_Kingdom#History)** > > £34/£43 (online/postal) (GB), £62.50 (Northern Ireland) > > Renewal: > In the United Kingdom, a driving licence is the official document which authorises its holder to operate motor vehicles on highways and other public roads. It is administered in England, Scotland and Wales by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and in Northern Ireland by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA). A driving licence is required in England, Scotland, and Wales for any person (except the sovereign) driving a... > [@](#): > > Until July 1998, driving licences outside Northern Ireland did not have photographs. Anyone who holds a licence issued before this date may retain their photo-less licence until expiry (normally one’s seventieth birthday) or until they change address, whichever comes sooner. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-uk-drivers-licence-last-night/689740/11 "2014-06-04T15:12:34Z")
> [@scruffycat](#): > > UK Driving licenses have a photo on them in any case, so I wouldn’t imagine it could be much use as a fake ID really. So do passports, and people are more likely to check them, but they still get stolen and used on the black market. > [@Cunctator](#): > > I’ve just received a message that the driver’s licence has been collected. The NSW police got in touch with the police in Scotland, who contacted the family, who contacted the Briton in Australia, who went to the police station here in Sydney to get her licence. > > The wonder of modern communications. That’s pretty awesome. 😃