Do I Need An Irish License?

Robdude

I have a valid US driver's license. I've read that I can drive for up to one year as a 'tourist'....but I'm not sure if I am one of those or not.

I'm a full-time student at UCD.

I have classmates in my same situation who drive cars here - and they are telling me it's perfectly legal as long as they go back to the US once per year. They plan to drive for the next 4 years while they are in the country (it's a 4 year program I'm in).

I thought I would need to get an Irish license.

Can someone clarify?

ProudDUB

A lot depends on what car you are driving while you are here....your own, someone else's or a rental car.

If you are a tourist, you can come and go as often as you please and drive as often as you please without having to apply for an Irish license. That is presuming that you are renting a car when you are here, and are not driving your own.

If you are actually living here for most of the year and you are getting a car of your own, you can buy, tax, insure and drive it on your US license for one year. But once your year is up, you must get an Irish DL. The clock starts ticking on that year beginning from when you first pay motor tax and insurance on the car, not how long you are in the country. You tax and insure a car for a year here. So if you buy a car and tax and insure it (on your US DL) starting April 1st 2012, you can legally drive it until April 1st 2013

Even if you leave Ireland and go back to the US for a period of time, and you are not driving here, that doesn't matter. The clock is still ticking on your year. Only way around that would be to cancel your policies and motor tax (if that's possible) and restart them when you come back. But if you are only going back to the US for short periods or holidays, that could be a problem. If they know the law, insurance companies may refuse to insure you again on your US DL if it has been more than a year since you first bought a policy.

That is the official policy. I got it from the RSA. (Have a US DL myself and am currently figuring out how to get myself on the roads here.) So I am gonna drive for a year on my US DL & get experience on Irish roads. Then when my year is up, apply for the test and get my Irish DL. I can't see it being all that big of deal. If I went over the year, and was pulled over by a Guard, the odds of him being bothered to investigate how long I have been driving here when he saw my US DL are slim. But even so, I like being legal.

Del2005

Robdude wrote: »

I have a valid US driver's license. I've read that I can drive for up to one year as a 'tourist'....but I'm not sure if I am one of those or not.

I'm a full-time student at UCD.

I have classmates in my same situation who drive cars here - and they are telling me it's perfectly legal as long as they go back to the US once per year. They plan to drive for the next 4 years while they are in the country (it's a 4 year program I'm in).

I thought I would need to get an Irish license.

Can someone clarify?

I think your best bet is to call the RSA and ask. As your a student it muddles matters up as you can't claim residency here, students don't qualify for VRT free transfers of cars when they return from abroad.

I definitely wouldn't listen to your classmates, as they could be wrong and it could cost you a lot more than a call to the RSA if something goes wrong.

daithimacgroin

but other threads on here have shown insurance to be the main problem with all this, in that insurance companies want a large amount of money to insure someone on an american dl for the year


wonder if your friends could say more about how much insurance they're paying?