I second the question abou the necessity of the counterpart’s existence. How much relevant ancillary information could there be to make a counterpart even necessary? American licenses have everything that should be relevant (restrictions about vision correction, organ donot status, etc). Could someone enumerate the data on the counterpart? Thanks.
For one thing it lists any periods in which you are banned from driving due to offences, which could be as short as one month. It also lists your offences, which expire after a few years, generally well before the licence itself expires (i.e. if you get a new counterpart it only lists the recent offences).
With this link, you can see the front and back of the photocard, plus scroll down and click on the image to see the counterpart. The photocard reverse just shows your entitlement to drive different vehicles, but doesn’t show any endorsements – personally, I don’t see why they couldn’t do this in a smarter photocard and dispense with the counterpart, but, hey, this is government we’re talking about.
From the OP: “However, the Counterpart is an A4 sheet of quite thick paper that would really not be convenient to carry all the time”
Seems to suggest that it would be thick and bulky to fold it up and carry in your wallet/pocket/purse, besides it would get battered and dogeared eventually. So you’ll want to keep the original safe at home, while carrying a photocopy on thinner paper, folded up. But will that be good enough when the cops come asking?
Well, my American-born wife was pretty confused by them when she first encountered them in Britain. I know they do exist in the USA, but I think they are pretty rare in most parts still.
They’re becoming more & more popular, I guess because they’re so much more efficient than an intersection. I still however insist on calling them** a traffic circle!** ‘Roundabout’ sounds like a carnival ride. 
So in the UK lefts on red are not legal anywhere? How come? They’ve become almost ubiquitous in the US…
Yes, ISTM they are becoming increasingly fashionable in the USA, as newer residential subdivisions seem to have them more commonly. The city I live in has many, in the newer areas. I agree with Hail Ants that they provide an efficient way to deal with intersections. I like them.
Note, there is apparently a technical distinction between “roundabouts” and “traffic circles”, but I doubt this is sufficiently well-understood (by me, certainly). In one, there are stop signs at all entrances, and in the other, there are not (so you can enter without stopping if there is no traffic already there). But I can never remember which is which, nor do I need to care, since I can see for myself whether there is or isn’t a stop sign there. The ones I prefer, as one might expect, are the ones without stop signs.
There is an especially large circle (or roundabout) in Berkeley, CA., called the Arlington Circle, with many surrounding streets (some of them on steep hills) feeding into it. Not only that, but it (and some surrounding houses) are all built on top of a tunnel, which carries a separate major thoroughfare underneath!
In a “modern roundabout”, the traffic in the roundabout has priority over entering traffic. That’s the main distinction.
First world problems.
or a YES song!
And why do you think that is? :smack:
They are legal at some junctions, but only those with signs that specifically allow them (typically an illuminated green arrow on the side of the traffic light). So not very different, in fact, from the US – where right-on-red is allowed except where prohibited – just approaching the issue from the opposite direction, as it were.
It makes sense to me that it would be that way: US towns and cities are typically laid out on a grid pattern, with regular, uniform road junctions, but UK towns and cities generally aren’t. Often the very reason that a junction in the UK has traffic lights in the first place is because its odd shape makes it difficult to judge oncoming traffic.
I suspect that, if we did have a US-style left-on-red rule, most light-controlled junctions would end up with signs prohibiting it, and the only difference to the day-to-day driving experience would be a lot more signage cluttering up the place.
Nah, the paper’s no thicker than standard photocopy paper, but I guess it could get scruffy. They used to provide a plastic wallet for it but I haven’t seen one of those in years. If the police want to see the counterpart I doubt they’d accept a photocopy – too easy to forge. The original includes security printing measures such as watermarks.
Photocopy the counterpart and throw it in your glove box.