British drivers 0 polish drivers1

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

Mike-C:

mrpj:

ROG:
Has the UK legal system the right to do anything in law if they are on non UK licences?

They cannot endorse a non-UK licence but an outright ban can of course be imposed if they’re resident.

Are you sure about that? I’m under the impression that since the implementation of the new fixed penalty regime it co incided with a change in the courts powers

You can’t accept fixed penalty if you don’t have British Counterpart to your license - in that case you are either given one month to do one, or called to appear in court.

22

Paulc:

i must admit in my younger days i had 2 license’s … one full of points and one empty, when you have a clean license apply for another claiming first one is lost, then if you rack up points put them all on the same license and keep a clean one. :confused: :confused: :confused:

:smiley: :slight_smile: :smiley: :slight_smile: :smiley: :slight_smile: :smiley: :slight_smile: :smiley:

WAYYYY back before the EU was formed, when Britain was still an independant country, I went to my local Belgium police staion with a UK provisional licence and a Belgium residence permit, and walked out 10 minutes later with a full belgium licence with all categories! :smiley: Not sure why i got all categories, maybe something to do with the bottle of Johnnie Walker Red label… :wink:
Drove all over europe including UK for 7 years plus 1 year full time in UK on that licence before i had to do a UK test!

23

Eeee by gum coco,

who wud ov thunk that the day big gloss kicked you oot the yard fur being the laziest runt evva to sit in the seat of a V8 he wiz doing you a favour, lucky. you got oot when you did, rekon he,s in the q at the venlo post office rite noo…

Pj will be next, cannae wait to c the posts on here when that happens…

Lrm

24

The strange thing is two of the polish drivers still there are among the longest serving with the company and have been working there for over five years!! So can someone please tell me why they were excluded from the enquiry when both speak very good english? A third who now works for another scottish fridge company was also there at the time of the enquiry so why only prosecute brittish drivers! I was under the impression that non uk resident drivers working in the uk for this lengh of time must have a uk counterpart licence or maybe i am mistaken?

As britpete says it must be worth a ring to the daily papers to see what they think especially after the gordon brown fiasco yesterday?

25

knock10:
I was under the impression that non uk resident drivers working in the uk for this lengh of time must have a uk counterpart licence or maybe i am mistaken?

Unless you are over 45, you can drive on your Polish license as much as you want.

A valid community licence issued on the strength of a driving test within the EC/EEA, will allow you to drive in GB for a set period.(…) Lorry, minibus, bus driving licence holders (vocational driving licence):

  • until aged 45 or for five years after becoming resident, whichever is the longer period
  • if you are aged over 45 (but under 65) until your 66th birthday or for five years after becoming resident, whichever is the shorter period
  • if you are aged 65 or over for 12 months after becoming resident

Althouth, on the other hand, the law says something else:

Holders of community licences with vocational entitlement who live in GB must register their details with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). For further information you can contact them on 0300 790 6801.

The question is: is there “registration with DVLA” the same as “applying for British counterpart”?

(source: direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr … DG_4022556 )

I just wonder about one thing: How you know that they weren’t called to court? Should you be informed about that?

And is this possible that they simply didn’t had any major breaches in their history?

26

Hi Orys

They were not called to the enquiry and one of the first things asked by the lawyer for the uk drivers was why are the foreign drivers not here today to answers charges? Easy option for the commissioners is to keep it in the proceedings under the control of the scottish traffic office that way “dear joan” can use the excuse that the foreign drivers do not fall under her control. therefore she gets a collar , a quick headline about another rogue operator brought to task printed in the press. then the same scenario as last time happens ie, the gentleman in question then turns up at the post office in breda to apply for another dutch “O” licence, Then expands his fleet two fold just like the last time he had his licence revolked for several years, and his drivers got a 2/6 week ban.HEY HO, well done the scottish traffic office for making yourself look good for 10 minutes and in the same respect achieving absolutely nothing against the haulier.

27

So Orys after 5 years of residency you need a UK licence, simples. And until then a counterpart, or am I wrong?

So who is kissing your arse over it lol!

28

knock10:
Hi Orys

They were not called to the enquiry and one of the first things asked by the lawyer for the uk drivers was why are the foreign drivers not here today to answers charges? Easy option for the commissioners is to keep it in the proceedings under the control of the scottish traffic office that way “dear joan” can use the excuse that the foreign drivers do not fall under her control. therefore she gets a collar , a quick headline about another rogue operator brought to task printed in the press. then the same scenario as last time happens ie, the gentleman in question then turns up at the post office in breda to apply for another dutch “O” licence, Then expands his fleet two fold just like the last time he had his licence revolked for several years, and his drivers got a 2/6 week ban.HEY HO, well done the scottish traffic office for making yourself look good for 10 minutes and in the same respect achieving absolutely nothing against the haulier.

Hmm… Ok, I was just asking. I am not going to defend anyone, as I don’t know nothing about the case. I just wonder if there is any relevancy between the offences made by Scottish chaps and not prosecuting of Polish chaps. For example: if I will steal something and someone else will steal something, is that, under the British law, suffiscient excuse to do not prosecute me for what I did only because they did not prosecute the other person?

29

zippy!:
So Orys after 5 years of residency you need a UK licence, simples. And until then a counterpart, or am I wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. :stuck_out_tongue:

On my British counterpart (which is slightly different to the one you have) it’s written that I have to exchange my license in 2025. Because it’s “5 years after arrival or when I turn 45, whichever is longer period”. In my case, longer period is “before I turn 45”. Simples. And this is not European rule, this is a British law and it’s because you need your medical done when you are 45, and off course they can’t do any medicals to Polish license.

30

orys:

zippy!:
So Orys after 5 years of residency you need a UK licence, simples. And until then a counterpart, or am I wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. :stuck_out_tongue:

On my British counterpart (which is slightly different to the one you have) it’s written that I have to exchange my license in 2025. Because it’s “5 years after arrival or when I turn 45, whichever is longer period”. In my case, longer period is “before I turn 45”. Simples. And this is not European rule, this is a British law and it’s because you need your medical done when you are 45, and off course they can’t do any medicals to Polish license.

Doesn’t your Polish licnece expire after 10 years? And you have a Polish address on it so theoretically if you renew it then its not being done honestly?

31

zippy!:
Doesn’t your Polish licnece expire after 10 years? And you have a Polish address on it so theoretically if you renew it then its not being done honestly?

No, my Polish license is valid for unlimited period of time. And I have my British adress on my British counterpart so as long as DVLA is concerned I am registered under fixed British adress, so everything is OK as for the law. As for Poland - by law is impossible to register yourself under non-Polish adress, so in all documents you will have your “last known adress in Poland” (and on some you can have added that you are now living in such an such country, but it does not apply to the driving licenses).

So I am sorry to spoil your great Victory over me, but I am perfectly legal in both countries :wink:

32

orys:

zippy!:
Doesn’t your Polish licnece expire after 10 years? And you have a Polish address on it so theoretically if you renew it then its not being done honestly?

No, my Polish license is valid for unlimited period of time. And I have my British adress on my British counterpart so as long as DVLA is concerned I am registered under fixed British adress, so everything is OK as for the law. As for Poland - by law is impossible to register yourself under non-Polish adress, so in all documents you will have your “last known adress in Poland” (and on some you can have added that you are now living in such an such country, but it does not apply to the driving licenses).

So I am sorry to spoil your great Victory over me, but I am perfectly legal in both countries :wink:

No victory required from me mate, just don’t have a Polish licence to refer to right now, I see plenty but was sure they had an expiry date 10 years after the start date. I also don’t have a counterpart as you need, I don’t need one, again I see them but not often and they don’t hold much info. Question is, what stops you from getting a UK one if you are settled here, is it just sentiment or a way of getting around loopholes? I don’t know the Polish system so…

33

I wonder, if the dcpc is done in the uk, does it become difficult to issue a DQC if the driver does not have a uk licence :question:

34

ROG:
I wonder, if the dcpc is done in the uk, does it become difficult to issue a DQC if the driver does not have a uk licence :question:

Well it could be possible as you get a UK driver number with the counterpart, plus, you can have a UK digi-tacho card with a foreign licence so it could well be a possibility.

Plus I can only just pronounce Prawo Jazdy, and nearly Karta Kierowcy (I think) I have no idea how to say dcpc card in polski… Orys!!! More Polish instruction required…

35

zippy!:
No victory required from me mate, just don’t have a Polish licence to refer to right now, I see plenty but was sure they had an expiry date 10 years after the start date.

I can explain that:

On your medicals the doctor can decide and give you a licence for a year to 10 years or unlimited. When I was doing my lorry license Poland and Croatia was the only two countries who did that and as far as I know they are going to scrap this or scrapped it already…

Off course even when it was possible to get unlimited license, not everyone was healthly enaugh for doctor to say that he will be same health when 95 years old :smiley:

But this wasn’t a problem, as to WORK AS A DRIVER in Poland you need for years now a kind of CPC and you have another regular medicals on that one.

I think it’s a good idea, I can work as a lorry driver all my life and then, when too old to work, I have my right to work withdrawn from me due to poor health but I can buy myself a vintage Jelcz and go for truckfests, as that driving would not be for hire or reward… Or I can buy myself a 18 ton camper when retired and drive it :wink:

Question is, what stops you from getting a UK one if you are settled here, is it just sentiment or a way of getting around loopholes? I don’t know the Polish system so…

Too be honest: I wasn’t sure if I wont’ go back to Poland at the begining and I don’t wanted to loose my unlimited entitlement, because if I swap mine for UK one, I will have it for limited period and then when I swap it back, they will not give me my old Polish back, but simply make my UK one Polish one.

The other point is if I don’t need to, what’s the point in spending 50 quids for exchange, if you can have your British counterpart for free? And, last but not least, I am allergic to DVLA, this is the most useless bunch of muppets I ever encountered (and I was dealing with beaurocracy of such “wild” countries like Turkey or Bulgaria… )

36

zippy!:

ROG:
I wonder, if the dcpc is done in the uk, does it become difficult to issue a DQC if the driver does not have a uk licence :question:

Well it could be possible as you get a UK driver number with the counterpart, plus, you can have a UK digi-tacho card with a foreign licence so it could well be a possibility.

I think this is a case. I am considered as “Full UK license holder” by all insurers for example…

Plus I can only just pronounce Prawo Jazdy, and nearly Karta Kierowcy (I think) I have no idea how to say dcpc card in polski… Orys!!! More Polish instruction required…

Hi hi :slight_smile: I think that will be “ZaÅ›wiadczenie o ukoÅ„czeniu kursu uprawniajÄ…cego do przewozu towarów w ruchu krajowym i miÄ™dzynarodowym” :smiley:

Polish language is on occasions stupid :wink: That stays for “certification of completion of course entitling to carrying loads in national and international relations” :slight_smile:

37

So back to topic of why no foreign drivers were took to task for their actions the same as their brittish counterparts. Here is a quote in answer to that taken from the letter posted to the drivers who have been banned by lovely old JOAN who has seen fit to give every haulier with foreign drivers in scotland scope to do as they please as far as the regulations go because the drivers wont be punished! QUOTE “GIVEN THAT I HAVE NO Jurisdiction over foreign drivers, there was no comfort i could give to that observation”.

Well if that aint a quote to make every foreign driver working in scotland happy i dont know what is?

38

A mate of mine got done for DD last year and he reckoned he was still legal to drive continental and was planning to do that but his medical was due and that was what stopped him from renewing his license?

39

44 Tonne Ton:
A mate of mine got done for DD last year and he reckoned he was still legal to drive continental and was planning to do that but his medical was due and that was what stopped him from renewing his license?

Load of [ZB] if his licence was revoked on a DD charge
He would need a current valid licence for driving in the UK & other countries

40

ROG:

44 Tonne Ton:
A mate of mine got done for DD last year and he reckoned he was still legal to drive continental and was planning to do that but his medical was due and that was what stopped him from renewing his license?

Load of [ZB] if his licence was revoked on a DD charge
He would need a current valid licence for driving in the UK & other countries

This is the difference. If I drive on my Polish license in UK, I can be banned from driving in UK, but it’s still clear for everywhere else. If you drive on your British license in UK and you are banned, your licence is taken away from you.