I don’t know if this is in the place but here goes:
Three weeks ago I was pulled over for speeding (40-45mph) in a thirty limit. The police asked to see my details but I don’t carry them on me so I was told to hand them into a police station within seven days.
A couple of days later I take my driving licence out of the safe place I put it and discover my test pass certificate with the licence. It said send this off within two years or you have to take your test again. I passed in Nov. '99 so I realise I’ve been driving for 18 months without a driving licence.
Basically I go to the police station and they charge me with driving without a licence and insurance. I asked what happens now and they said I would get a letter in about a week explaining everything.
Two weeks later and I’m wondering when the letter is going to arrive. People at work who I’ve told about this are telling me lots of different things so I’ve come here for the straight dope.
What are the penalties likely to be?
What should I do with my car? (Take it off the road? send in my tax disc to get the money back? etc.)
Is there a maximum length of time in which they have to send me a letter and if they don’t I’m not being charged?
What is the process (letter then court?) going to be and how long is it likely to take?
Should I try and take my driving test again or if I do and I get a ban would that mean I have to start all over again?
IIRC you are valid to drive once you have passed your test and got the piece of paper. You used to have something like ten years to get round to sending it off, though I think this was shortened to two about the same time I started to drive.
As it’s now Janary 2003 you have been driving for longer than two years, so they may be able to charge you with no licence.
However I would imagine a magistrate would look fairly leniently on this as your “crime” is only one of absentmindedness at worse.
The insurance thing is another matter. Didn’t you have any?
You might be best of spending a couple of hundred quid talking to a solicitor, that way you could get quick and accurate advice.
I am not a solicitor, and I suggest you talk to one ASAP.
Do not drive the car without valid insurance, whatever you do. Check with your insurance company whether the fire and theft thing are still covered despite your error. If not, get it off the road and leave it there. I wouldn’t cash in your policy and tax yet, in the small chance that you get let off the charge.
Remember that ignorance of the law is no defense (though it might mitigate your punishment, and admitting your error might help).
AFAIK, the late arrival of your letter is unlikely to help - I think the Statute of Limitations is 10 years or something.
my friend was stopped by police for some item
at the time his licence needed renewed
i cant remember the conditions but it was in 1963 in the uk
in effect he had no licence having omitted to renew it
he was told the info would be sent to the authorities who did nothing
if you cant drive put the car on private land
inform the tax people
get a refund
and as for insurance
if you had it put it on hold either for future or ask for a pro rata refund
i never got this but suspended cover on one of my policies till i took it up again
hope it goes well
and the truth is paramount to getting a fair shake from the magistrate if you go up for a hearing.
If his license isn’t valid, then his insurance (if he has any) wouldn’t cover him - therefore he could be charged with driving without insurance.
I seem to remember it being possible to get points on your license for driving without a license (nonsensical as that may sound) - so that may happen. When I was in school, a friend of a friend (of a friend… - or possibly it was just made up) apparently got sufficient points to ban him from driving before he’d even had a lesson…
It is possible to get points on your (as yet non-existent) license before you are even old enough to hold one. Juvenile joyriding offender often get them, IIRC the points then get added to their provisional driving licence, if/when they apply for one at the age of seventeen.
It is also possible to get points on your (car) driving licence by speeding on a bicycle. So I have heard. Anyone who manages to break the speed limit on a pushbike deserves a huge reward IMO, both for their athletic achievement and making the point that there is a green transport alternative to the internal combustion engine.
(World’s easiest place to speed on a bike? Down Leckhampton Hill in Cheltenham, England, where the speed limit is suddenly cut to 30mph half way down the steepest incline of the hill, with speed cameras immediately afterwards. Also arguably the world’s most lucrative speedcam).
