Stopped for using phone while driving - expired License

boogerballs

Just looking to see if this has happened to anyone before and what was the outcome.

My fathers driving license expired yonks ago (at least 20 years) and he just never renewed it. He has always had the car taxed and insured so anytime he would have been stopped for anything the Guards just let him on.

Problem is he was stopped for using his phone while driving and the Guard asked him for his license, he said he didn't have it on him and the Guard just asked for another form of ID which he provided.

He received the fine in the post but the form is asking him to provide his driving license number (presumably for the points to be applied). He has his old one, should he just put that down and deal with whatever they come back with, will they be able to process the fine payment with the old license number?

He has since applied to do this Theory test but the next available date is Nov.

GerardKeating

boogerballs wrote: »

He has since applied to do this Theory test but the next available date is Nov.

He should stop driving imeadialty, unless he wants his car imponded.

Once you do the theory test, you have six months of lessons before you can apply for a full licence, and then 2 years of N plates.

Renewing 20 (or even 10) years ago was much easier.

spaceHopper

Probably bet to see a solicitor first but I'd say go see the local superintendent and fess up get it sorted, he's 20 years of being a good driver under his belt hopefully they will go easy on them.

Dognapper

I hope they throw the book at him , not only does he not have a licence but he was on the phone ? Scumbag

Mod
Warning. Pls relax. This is just a discussion thread

boogerballs

Dognapper wrote: »

I hope they throw the book at him , not only does he not have a licence but he was on the phone ? Scumbag

Good man yourself. You have a different view of what a Scumbag is to most people then. These type of threads always bring up clowns like you up.

Gatling

Surely he would have had to produce his license within ten days , Also the new handhelds devices would have shown he was not licensed at the time .

Kinda not buying

MrStuffins

Dognapper wrote: »

I hope they throw the book at him , not only does he not have a licence but he was on the phone ? Scumbag

Bit harsh, no?

Mod
This is Legal Discussion. Pls be polite

boogerballs

MrStuffins wrote: »

Bit harsh, no?

There's always one - best to ignore him.

boogerballs

Gatling wrote: »

Surely he would have had to produce his license within ten days , Also the new handhelds devices would have shown he was not licensed at the time .

Kinda not buying

Not buying what? I'm not trying to justify or excuse the situation, I'm just stating the facts of it and asking if anyone has any experience of it.

Does every Guard have access to a handheld device that is linked back to central database? I doubt it given that not every car has the ANPR for detecting untaxed cars. Are the Guards funded enough to provide that technology to every member?

If they are then he didn't use it on that day.

BobMc

would insurance also not be valid as they would ask on renewals what licence was held ??

boogerballs

BobMc wrote: »

would insurance also not be valid as they would ask on renewals what licence was held ??

I've looked into this and apparently it does not void the policy - it would still cover third party but not him so insurance is not the problem.

By the sounds of it, it seems like he may be fined for driving without a valid license but that only carries a fine - its not a penalty point offence.

Its the three points for holding the phone is what I'm not sure of - if he has no license what will happen to them.

amadangomor

More than a bit rough calling him a scumbag but it shows we are still a Mickey Mouse country when someone can drive on an expired licence for that long.

Plus getting caught for a motoring offence and no repercussions for having no licence.

big syke

BobMc wrote: »

would insurance also not be valid as they would ask on renewals what licence was held ??

Wording on insurance policies generally states "either holds or held a valid driving licence

alanhiggyno1

this has to be a joke.first of all when getting insurance they have to do a background check using your driver number.there is no way he would have gotten insurance especially for 20 years

ohnonotgmail

boogerballs wrote: »

I've looked into this and apparently it does not void the policy - it would still cover third party but not him so insurance is not the problem.

By the sounds of it, it seems like he may be fined for driving without a valid license but that only carries a fine - its not a penalty point offence.

Its the three points for holding the phone is what I'm not sure of - if he has no license what will happen to them.

the points will sit on file until he does have a licence.

boogerballs

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

this has to be a joke.first of all when getting insurance they have to do a background check using your driver number.there is no way he would have gotten insurance especially for 20 years

Do you just randomly throw words together and hope they make sense?

Lenar3556

Firstly this is a minor road traffic matter, but it needs to be dealt with and his situation regularised.

A fixed charge notice is likely to issue in respect of the mobile phone use. If he decides to pay it, which I think he should, he should enter his licence number on the form, and make payment.

The penalty points will be allocated to his driving record by the RSA however my understanding is that the clock is effectively stopped on these until he holds a licence or learner permit.

He would hope that is the end of the matter, unless the Garda are to prosecute him for driving without a licence which remains a possibility either prompted by fixed charge notice process or otherwise. Again it’s a minor offence, but he may be summonsed to the district court.

The biggest challenge at this point is getting a licence - if it’s expired greater than 10 years he is effectively starting from scratch. Theory test, 12 lessons & driving test.

What age is he?

Sebastian Dangerfield

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

this has to be a joke.first of all when getting insurance they have to do a background check using your driver number.there is no way he would have gotten insurance especially for 20 years

My old fella and an uncle bought their licenses off someone dodgy in the dept in Shannon about 20 years ago for 70 quid. He doesnt drive anymore, but was fully insured for at least 15 of them. To the best of my knowledge it was just a paper license, it didn't exist in records, but it caused him no issues whatsoever.

He also insisted on paying extra for fully comp every year, despite us telling him his own cover would be void if caught. You can only advise people...

boogerballs

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

My old fella and an uncle bought their licenses off someone dodgy in the dept in Shannon about 20 years ago for 70 quid. He doesnt drive anymore, but was fully insured for at least 15 of them. To the best of my knowledge it was just a paper license, it didn't exist in records, but it caused him no issues whatsoever.

He also insisted on paying extra for fully comp every year, despite us telling him his own cover would be void if caught. You can only advise people...

You hardly have a number for that chap in Shannon do you?? (that was a joke before any previous posters get upset)

FintanMcluskey

Realistically this is at the minor end of the scale of road traffic offenses, if he has a good record chat to the local district superintendent and plead his case.

Hes sounds to have a clean record, apart from the phone use, hopefully he will have no issue.

Sounds like hes from the era of ficticous truck licences issued by Shannon!

6541

When I lived in Sydney 10 years ago you could buy genuine Irish licenses of people with connections back to Shannon.
I must have seen hundreds of young Irish getting licenses for various categories and then swapping them to Australian licenses for mining and construction.

Baseball72

Sound advise. Pay the fee for using the phone. He needs to get a hands free kit for the phone - its incredible the number of drivers I see each week on their phones - no excuse these days with technology to assist.

Technically, can he drive now?

Either way, I would be restricting my driving until the matter is sorted. I would stress if my tax/insurance/licence /NCT were an issue.

IAMAMORON

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

My old fella and an uncle bought their licenses off someone dodgy in the dept in Shannon about 20 years ago for 70 quid. He doesnt drive anymore, but was fully insured for at least 15 of them. To the best of my knowledge it was just a paper license, it didn't exist in records, but it caused him no issues whatsoever.

He also insisted on paying extra for fully comp every year, despite us telling him his own cover would be void if caught. You can only advise people...

My cousin got his truck drivers the same way. I think he was 15/16 at the time.

Cost him a few bob more than 70 lids though.

Op, yer aul fella has some neck on him. Crazy he never got pulled in 20 years.

I presume he will have to resit now? ( Or contact yer man in Shannon:P)

3DataModem

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

this has to be a joke.first of all when getting insurance they have to do a background check using your driver number.there is no way he would have gotten insurance especially for 20 years

Not true.

Some insurers up to very recently don't ask for licence number. I was driving on an Isle of Man licence until fairly recently (originally Irish), and sought out insurers that didn't ask for a licence number, just whether you held a full Irish clean licence.

Doesn't seem to be the case anymore, but irrelevant to me as I exchanged before the brexit deadline.

GerardKeating

Baseball72 wrote: »

Technically, can he drive now?

No, he has no valid licence or Learners Permit.

Once he has done the Theory test, he can drive (while accompanied by a driver with a full licence) and is required to display L plates.

After passing the test, he will need to have N plates for 2 years

Bikerman2019

Dognapper wrote: »

I hope they throw the book at him , not only does he not have a licence but he was on the phone ? Scumbag

What an incredibly nasty post. You really need to get a life.

Samuel T. Cogley

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

What an incredibly nasty post. You really need to get a life.

Aye exactly right, just like them stopping you having a few scoops and driving home.

boogerballs

This is just to follow up as some people said they would be interested and it might help someone in the same boat.

All sorted in the end, he applied to do the Theory test and got a slot for two weeks after the fine arrived. Passed that and got a learner driver permit - was able to pay the fine against that license number.

Spoke to a Garda and told him the situation, he said just keep the expired license with the learner permit and if he is stopped just say he is waiting to do the full test. He is currently doing the 12 EDT lessons as required to apply for the test - the wait is currently 48 weeks through we think.

So sorted in the end and lessons learned.

Claw Hammer

boogerballs wrote: »

This is just to follow up as some people said they would be interested and it might help someone in the same boat.

All sorted in the end, he applied to do the Theory test and got a slot for two weeks after the fine arrived. Passed that and got a learner driver permit - was able to pay the fine against that license number.

Spoke to a Garda and told him the situation, he said just keep the expired license with the learner permit and if he is stopped just say he is waiting to do the full test. He is currently doing the 12 EDT lessons as required to apply for the test - the wait is currently 48 weeks through we think.

So sorted in the end and lessons learned.

What about the Clancy amendment? What if he drives unaccompanied? I think there are a few more lessons to be learned.

boogerballs

Claw Hammer wrote: »

What about the Clancy amendment? What if he drives unaccompanied? I think there are a few more lessons to be learned.

Righto.

10pennymixup

Gatling wrote: »

Surely he would have had to produce his license within ten days , Also the new handhelds devices would have shown he was not licensed at the time .

Kinda not buying

The last three/ four weeks the AGS have conducted a near constant check point on the one stretch of road local to me. I pass through it twice daily, five days a week with no real delay.

Only one did they use an ANPR type device.

I guess that there might be a limit to the devices availability per area/ shift.