Speeding Offence - UK provisional license holder with International Driving Permit

[jeraje]

I am a resident of UK.

I came to UK from India 2 years ago in April 2012 on work Visa.

 

 

I work for a car manufacturing company in UK.

 

 

On 14th Dec 2014 I was driving my company car and caught speeding

by a speed camera for exceeding 40MPH speed limit(Recorded Speed:51MPH).

 

 

The police contacted my company to get the driver details as the car was registered on my company

and they got my address from my company and sent me the “Notice of Intended Prosecution”

 

I have my Indian Driving License;

I got the International Driving Permit during my last visit to India in March 2014 which is Valid for a year from March 2014 to March 2015.

I have a UK provisional license issued on 11th Nov 2014.

Hence during the offence I have the UK provisional license and the international driving permit.

 

I read from DVLA website that the Indian Driving license or the International Driving Permit is valid only for 1 year from the initial entry into UK.

I have crossed 2 years as a resident in UK so I don’t know whether my International Driving Permit

which I have validity till March 2015 is valid to drive in UK after I crossed my 1 year of stay.

 

I drove the car without learners “L” plate

(I believe the speed camera would have caught the picture of my car which is an evidence of not having “L” during driving)

which I feel as another offense, also I came to know that the UK provisional license will overrule my International Driving Permit or Indian Driving License.

 

In the NIP I was asked to provide my UK driving license details such as driver number and current number of points.

I have given to choose from below options

 

Part 1. If eligible I wish to be considered for a driver awareness course at a cost of £110

 

Part 1a. I wish to be considered for the fixed penalty procedure

OR

Part 1b. I would like the matter to be dealt with by way of a court hearing.

 

Now I wanted to know the below queries please in filling and sending back the NIP,

 

1. Whether I can provide my International Driving Permit only and opt for a course if eligible or fixed penalty.

I don’t want to give my UK provisional because they will raise another question

whether I drove the car with an L plate on it which will be another offense.

 

2. If I am not giving the UK provisional then,

 

a. I need to know whether they will enquire and find out my date of first entry in UK.

 

b. I need to know whether there are chances that they may find out I have a UK provisional

 

3. If I give the UK provisional license along with the International Driving Permit (though it is overruled by UK provisional)

and claim guilty then are there chances to punish me for speeding offense as well as driving without “L” plate offense.

 

4. On top of all the above,

If I give the UK provisional then I need to know whether the police will contact my company

and inform them that I was driving the company car with a provisional license

which is an offense and got a speed fine as well.

 

 

This may affect my job as my company may take action against me since I did something against law.

 

I am bit nervous and worried as I am confused to take a right decision.

 

 

I kindly request your opinions and suggestions on my above queries

please which will be really helpful for me to take a decision and respond to the NIP.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Aretnap]

It's incorrect to say that having a UK provisional overrides your right to use your Indian licence.

 

 

You can use your foreign licence to drive here for a year,

and then you either have to stop driving,

or get a UK provisional and take a driving test.

 

 

If you get a UK provisional sooner than (say, after 6 months) that it doesn't mean that you have to start using L plates

and have a supervisor in the car with you (it would be rather silly if it did - it would just put people off applying for a British licence)

- you can keep driving without L plates until you've been here a year,

at which point you have to start driving as a learner unless you've already passed your test.

 

As I understand it

an International Driving Permit does not by itself give you the right to drive in Great Britain

- it's just a document which gives the details of your foreign licence in a standard format.

 

 

The key thing that allows you to drive in the UK is the fact that you have an Indian licence

and that you've been resident for less than a year.

 

 

How long you've been resident for is a slightly fuzzy question,

but a brief trip back to India would not count as a break in your UK residency,

so it sounds like you've been resident here for longer than a year,

so you can no longer use your Indian licence to drive here

and you really should be abiding by the terms of your provisional licence.

 

 

Failing to do so is an offence which would get you 3-6 points and a fine.

 

What to do now?

 

 

I'm not really sure what's best,

but in your position I'd be inclined to send the details of both my UK provisional

and my Indian licence

(they'll probably find out that you have a UK provisional when they put your name and date of birth into the database

, and there's nothing in itself wrong with having a UK provisional),

 

 

and hope that they don't make too many inquiries into when you became resident.

 

 

It's a minor speeding offence,

so they may not make too many investigations,

but you can only cross your fingers and hope really.

 

 

Oh, and of course you should try to arrange a British driving test as soon as possible.

 

They would not contact your company to tell them that you'd been speeding,

however if you get points for speeding (and, potentially, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence)

then they'll appear on your driving licence

so your company will find out about them if they ever ask to see it.

 

 

Being caught speeding in a company car, at least, is something that happens every day

and would not be likely to affect your job so long as you don't make a habit of it.

[jeraje]

Thanks for your informative posts on my query.

Your suggestions are really helpful for me.

 

Can you please help me in the below queries

 

1.I need to decide either one from the below three options as my response to NIP;

 

a) Submitting all my three licenses;

UK Provisional,

Indian License and IDP

(which shows validity till March 2015).

I feel submitting IDP may be an added advantage for me

since it was taken during my last visit to India in March 2014

and has validity till this March 2014.

 

b) Submitting my UK provisional and Indian License

 

c) Submitting my UK Provisional license only

 

2. I would also like to know whether to opt for a Speed awareness Course

or fixed penalty procedure on my response to NIP.

 

I am planning to apply for the test immediately once I get a response from police for my NIP,

also I will make sure that I don’t drive until I get the full license.

 

Thanks once again.

[citizenkain]

you seem to think you've got a lot of options to choose here,

 

 

the police will run your name

,date of birth etc through there computer systems

so it doesn't matter what you do regards the NIP.

 

 

If you don't have a proper licence and insurance they will probably throw the book at you anyway.

 

 

You should send an explanation in with the NIP.

[jeraje]

Hi All, Thanks for your valuable suggestions, I have decided to respond to the NIP with my UK provisional details and opt for the SAC. I will not provide my IDP details. I will give an update once I get a response from the police. Hopefully all should go fine. Fingers Crossed.

[pespes]

Hi Jeraje. Any word on what happened in the end? I'm in almost the exact same situation (but with a US licence, not an Indian licence).