Driver's license

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First German driving school in 1906, Aschaffenburg

Current EU driving licence, German version - front
1. Family name
2. Given name(s)
3. Date and place of birth
4a. Issuing date
4b. Expiry date
4c. Issuing authority
5. Licence number
7. Signature of bearer
9. Categories

German version reverse
9. Licence categories
10. Issue date of the category
11. Expiry date of the category
12. Restrictions (number coded)

A driver's license (U.S.), driving licence (UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malta), driver's licence or driver licence (Canada, Australia^†, New Zealand), or operator's licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck, or a bus. In some jurisdictions, driver's licences are issued after the recipient has passed a driving test, while in others, a person acquires a driver's licence before beginning to drive. (This is largely a matter of nomenclature - generally an official document by some name is required to undertake practical driving in either case.) Different categories of licence may exist for different types of motor vehicles. The difficulty of the driving test may vary considerably between regions, as do prerequisites such as age restrictions and the required level of tuition.

[edit] History

France and Germany were among the earliest countries to require mandatory driver licensing, right at the start of the 20th century. As automobile-related fatalities soared in North America, public outcry provoked legislators to begin studying the French and German statutes as models.^[1]

On August 1, 1910, North America's first driver licensing law went into effect in the U.S. state of New York, though it initially applied only to professional chauffeurs.^[2] In July of 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before receiving a licence.^[3]

[edit] Identification

Because a large number of countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have no national identification cards and because of the widespread use of cars, driver's licenses are often used as a de facto standard form of identification.

These U.S. states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin require licenses and ID cards issued to those under 21 to have a vertical orientation instead of the usual horizontal one in order to aid in determining whether one is of legal drinking age. California and Oregon have adopted a similar system for its licenses, having the picture appear on the right for drivers under 21 and on the left for drivers 21 and older. New York, on the other hand, prints "Under 21" in red bold letters on the licenses of minor and young adult drivers, but otherwise these licenses look identical to those for older adults. North Carolina recently started a color program for varying age groups: A red border indicates the driver is under 18, a yellow border for ages 18-20, and a green border for those 21 and over, as well as "Under 18" or "Under 21" written down the right side of the driver's picture if they are under 18 or 21. Many states also add information to their licenses, such as "Under 21 until 08-15-2007" to aid in enforcing the drinking age and age of majority of 18 (for tobacco and lottery in most states).

Many European countries and Canada require drivers to produce their licence on demand when driving. In such countries, the driver must always carry their licence on them when driving. In the United Kingdom, when required to produce a driving licence, the driver may have up to 7 days to produce the licence at a Police station.

Many European countries also require adults to carry an ID card at all times. Citizens of EU countries which have no national ID cards also have to carry their passports when traveling in these countries, whether driving or not.

In the People's Republic of China, the driver's licence number is synonymous with the citizen's ID number (which is up to 18 digits long).

Similarly, Saudi Arabia requires all drivers to carry an ID card in addition to a licence, and present them whenever requested. Using a driver's licence instead is only permitted if the request is made for on-site inspection/identification purposes, especially at check points. Expatriates may be requested to present their visas as well.

Many countries have established a driver's licence exchange arrangement after reviews of the foreign jurisdiction's licensing processes. Where standards in the other jurisdiction are comparable in areas such as medical standards, minimum driving age, and knowledge and road testing, an exchange (or honoring) of the foreign jurisdiction's license may occur. [1]

In Hong Kong the driving license has the same number as the HK ID card, yet is without a picture and is always given along with the ID card when being inspected.

[edit] Organ donations

Licensing bureaus in many countries add an organ donation option on license forms. Sometimes a small picture of a "heart" or the term Organ Donor is printed on the driver's license to indicate that the holder has agreed to donate his or her organs in the event of sudden death in a car crash or other accident.

In the United States, this is governed by the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. In the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Ireland, willingness to donate organs for transplantion is also listed on driving licenses. In Australia, the system of notating organ donation requests on licenses was replaced in July 2005 with a national registration system and the issue of special cards.

[edit] Driving licence by region

[edit] Africa

[edit] America, North

[edit] Canada

Main article: Driver's licence in Canada

[edit] United States

Main article: Driver's license in the United States

[edit] America, South

[edit] Asia

[edit] Europe

See also: European Driving Licence

[edit] Oceania

[edit] Australia

Main article: Driver licence in Australia

[edit] New Zealand

Main article: Driver licence in New Zealand

[edit] Special licenses

In the United States and some provinces of Canada, persons who drive commercially (especially truckers and taxi drivers) are required to have special licences. For taxicab drivers, these licences are usually called Chauffeur Permits. In most cases, commercial truckers must hold a commercial driver's license or CDL. In India, a commercial driving licence is valid for 5 years while an individual licence is valid for 20 years. In the United Kingdom, one must hold a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) licence to drive a vehicle with more than eight passenger seats for hire or reward, or a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) licence to drive a vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight (Maximum Authorised Mass) in excess of 3500 kg. Special licences can also be required in order to transport hazardous materials. The cost of taking the series of tests and examinations to obtain these licences usually means that an employer would subsidize their drivers.

In India, people aged more than 50 years have to undergo strict medical tests in order to obtain a licence. The licence validity is 5 years and requires renewal every 5 years.

Physically Disabled Permits, are given out to those who are under the age of 13 years. These permits are given out from the State Government to those minors whom live with someone who has a physical disability and is unable to drive. These licenses are rare, and only 10-20 are given out each year in the United States.

[edit] International considerations

The holder of a licence from any European Union member country can drive in any other EU country. Most countries worldwide will also recognize the licences of citizens of foreign states wishing to drive as visitors. All EU member countries now issue licences in a standard format, regardless of the language of the licence.^[4]

The International Driving Permit (IDP) (sometimes erroneously called the International Driver's Licence) is a booklet which is an authorized translation of a driver's home license into many languages (especially languages with different scripts such as Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.). In some cases, it is obtained from a motoring organization such as the Automobile Association or the equivalent in the driver's home country. In other cases, it is delivered by the same government services that deliver ordinary licences. The IDP has no validity except when used in conjunction with the driver's own licence. The existence of the IDP is necessitated by many countries refusing to recognize driver's licences written in foreign languages without accompanying translations.

The People's Republic of China at present does not recognize IDPs (although Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan do) and requires drivers to get an additional PRC license before being officially allowed on all roads.

[edit] Issues when moving permanently from one country to another

Most licence-issuing authorities require holders of "foreign" licences taking up residence in their jurisdiction to obtain a local driving licence within a limited time (typically 6 months or 1 year). In most cases, the driver must follow the full local procedure for obtaining a licence, but some jurisdictions have mutual recognition agreements and will exchange the foreign licence for a local one without the need to undertake an additional driving test.

An exception is the EU, where licenses do not need to be exchanged since the introduction of the common EU-driving-license scheme.

[edit] Canada

Ontario has a reciprocal licence exchange scheme ^[5] for :

• Canadian provinces and territories;

• Canadian Forces Europe;

• United States (applicants from Illinois, New Jersey and Vermont must provide a driving abstract dated within 6 months)

• Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Korea, and Switzerland.

[edit] Great Britain

It exchanges full licences issued by^[6] :

• Northern Ireland,

• European Community/European Economic Area,

• Jersey,

• Guernsey ,

• the Isle of Man,

• Gibraltar,

• One of The Designated Countries: Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Zimbabwe.

[edit] Hong Kong

As stated on the application form for direct issue of full Hong Kong driving licence^[7](Rev. 7/2006), one can be eligible to direct issue of a Hong Kong driving licence provided that he or she must satisfy the Commissioner with documentary evidence that:

• one has a full driving licence (but not an International driving permit) during the past three years issued by one of the following countries or places : Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, People’s Republic of China (includes: The Mainland, Taiwan, Macau), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Republic of South Africa (together with S.W. Africa), United Kingdom (together with Alderney, Bermuda, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey), United States of America.

• the driving entitlement(s) for which one is applying must be equivalent to the class(es) which are authorized to drive by the issuing country or place; and

• one's driving licence was obtained by passing the relevant driving test(s) in the issuing country or place; and

• satisfies one of the three requirements below:

• the licence was originally issued on any date during a period of residence of not less than 6 months in the country or place of issue (one may prove the

six-month residence with the entry and departure stamps on your passport, school transcript or employer's testimonial with employment period specified.); or

• the licence has been issued for not less than 5 years immediately prior to the application; or

• hold a passport or an equivalent travel document of the country or place in which your licence was issued.

[edit] Consecutive Licenses Exchange

Theoretically as seen from the above exchange arrangement list, this kind of reciprocal license exchange scheme might become a backdoor for a person with a driver license issued by a country with less stringent driving test system (or even through purchase or bribery) to exchange for a license issued by a more reputable country without the need of any driving test.

For example, subject to fulfilling the other license exchange requirements, a Pakistan or PRC driving license holder can exchange for a Hong Kong driver license^[8] first. Then exchange for a United Kingdom full license and in turn convert for an Ontario province license in Canada.

[edit] See also

• Commercial driver's license
• Driver's Education
• Road-traffic safety
• Learner's permit

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Information from the European Union in driving licences throughout the Community
• New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority