Driving Tests

I hadn't realised you actually sent off your old licence card and received a new one every three years. I thought you just needed to get a doctor to send a letter to the DVLA to say that you're still safe to drive, and only had to renew the card itself (as opposed to the permission to drive that it implies) every ten years like under-70s. Do they renew the photo every 3 years, or do they carry on using the one they already have until 10 years have elapsed?

When my licence was temporarily withdrawn on medical grounds after I'd had a heart attack, until the consultant sent a letter certifying that I was safe, I didn't have to return my licence. The DVLA just sent me a "do not drive" letter, and then a "you may now drive again" one a few months later. Mind you, my condition was only expected to be temporary. If the consultant had said "he's not safe to drive" then they might have asked me to return my licence.

How very odd given the legislation and the guidance. See eg

What's the expiry date (4b)?

Will it have a special marking for freemasons?

I assume that a disease-carrying 'funny handshake' isn't on the cards.

I only do because my paper licence disappeared for months - naturally it was found within a week of getting a photo licence ... tucked in a side pocket of my camera bag :(

SteveW

And with your gender included too - the 7th and 8th characters are the month of birth, but with the 7th character incremented by 5 for women. I wonder if the non-binaries have spotted that yet?

SteveW

AFAIK, renewal every three years, but no doctor's letter, just a confirmation from yourself that you aren't suffering from certain conditions.

Yes. I am pretty sure that for "short" term limitations, they do not require you to actually cancel your licence.

SteveW

I have no problem with the idea of an ID card, but don't want to have to carry one at all times - whether that be a legal requirement or a de-facto one of retailers demanding to see it.

What I can live with a the police asking me my identity and them using the details that I give to pull up my photo from a basic database that carries the minimum information needed.

SteveW

While I struggle to recall of a case of being asked to produce ID by retailers, I doubt I would mind. After all, that diligence could someday prevent my credit / debit card being used by someone who has stolen it.

I can see no issue with that.

I have practical concerns- how would the problem of fake cards be eliminated etc - but I see the idea of ID cards as a good one.

Cross check ID cards with, for example, payment of Council Tax, obviously criminal records, ..... limited access to the data could be given to employers to verify if employees have a criminal record etc.

It would also help reduce problems associated with people falsely claiming to have qualifications.

I always carry my wallet (with driving licence) and car keys - as long as I'm dressed, they are in my trousers. So I can produce photo ID whenever I'm asked for it. It's needed for registering to open an account (bank, library ticket, etc) and to collect parcels from a post office or Amazon collection point (the sort of over-the-counter thing that Asda offer). I was even asked once to produce ID to prove my age when buying alcohol in a supermarket, despite being in my 50s so definitely not looking under-age. In that last case, the supermarket were having a check-everyone blitz and could see the funny side of challenging someone as old as me.

dvla ask if your passport photo may be used, if you have one.

That's what I meant by 'share the photo'.

This can be confusing, though. I changed my car for the same model, in a similar dark colour (there was a reason).

About three months later I visited the university to meet ex-colleagues for much. We walked back to the car park together and I tried to get in the wrong car. My old one.

They do now - when I renewed a year or so ago I was given the option. They didn't when I renewed my licence 10 years earlier than that.

That's not right for the UK. Once you are over 70 you have to renew every three years (I just did mine at 73). ... or is that only if you retain the 'extras' like 7.5 tonne, trailers etc.?

I've never done that, mainly because I don't think I've ever had two consecutive cars of the same make/model and the same/similar colour. What would have been scary is if the key for your new car had fitted the old one: I gather that the number of different keys for old Mark 1 Ford Escorts was very limited so there was a high probability that your key would fit someone else's car.

I did see my old car parked at the side of the road a few cars away from my new car. I wonder what the chances are of the new owner of my old car happening to live in the same place that I had moved to, when I had sold it near my old house some 50 miles away. But that was only a year or so after I sold it.

Seeing my very first car 10 years later was more of a surprise. It was one of those occasions when I had to look carefully to be certain that it really

This was keyless entry, so it would have had to be 'in phase' too.

Partly this happened because I tend to look for cars by registration number. I can still remember nearly all of them back to my first car in

That would just encourage employers (and petty officials) to check even if they don't need to or aren't entitled to. Happens frequently with the pointless DBS system.

Ditto. I can remember my own car numbers back to my first in the mid 80s, and I can remember my mum's cars back to her 1960 Morris Minor which she got in 67 when she passed her test. My dad changed his cars quite frequently because they were company cars and he did a high mileage, but I can remember some of them. When I was little I had a row of his numberplates on the wall of my den in the loft, from the caravan that they used to have.

Somehow my brain can remember numberplates, phone numbers and my national insurance number, but I can't remember what I was doing half an hour ago if I get interrupted and then want to go back to what I was doing.