Changes To Driving Licences

Driving Licence Changes

As of the 19th January 2013 a European Directive will come into force in the UK, meaning that those who drive motorcycles, lorries, buses, minibuses and those who tow trailers will see their licenses change.

Dates and the way that new licenses are set out will be changed, to make it clearer what vehicles the holder can drive, and expiry date will be shown clearer. Also the expiry date of your license will be shown on the front of your license, and the expiry date of your entitlements will be shown on the back.

With the new directive you will only be allowed to drive vehicles that are listed under your entitlements on the back of your license. However, if you passed your test in a larger vehicle then you may be allowed to drive vehicles that are smaller than the vehicle you passed your test in.

On the front of the licence the changes which will occur will be as follows:

• All dates will be shown as DD.MM.YYYY
• Categories shown will be separated by a slash
• The date in 4b will show the licence expiry date

From the 15th October 2012 to the 18th January 2013 drivers will be issued with either a photocard licence as shown in Example A below or example B which is also shown below. From the 19th January 2013 you will only be issued the type of licence shown in Example B only.

Example A – issued from 15 October 2012 to 18 January 2013 1 – New design showing full table of categories, pictograms, start and expiry dates and any codes that apply 2 – Legend containing explanation of each field’s contents 3 – Overflow of information/restriction codes

Example B – issued from 15 October 2012 to 18 January 2013 1 – New design showing full table of categories, pictograms, start and expiry dates and any codes that apply 2 – Legend containing explanation of each field’s contents 3 – Overflow of information/restriction codes.

The expiry date shown on your licence will be on the front of the photocard shown in section 4b and the expiry date of your entitlements will be shown on the back on the driving licence. The new style licence will look different to the current driving licence. All vehicle categories that you need to have a licence to drive, will be shown on the back of the driving licence with the dates next to those that you are entitled to ride or drive.

You will not be able to drive any other type of vehicle which does not have dates next to the category of vehicle. The types of vehicle that you are not entitled to drive will have a line next to it instead of dates.

However if you have passed in a larger vehicle you may still be entitled to drive or ride smaller vehicles of that type. For example holders of a full category A licence would be able to ride a category A2 vehicle.

License counterparts will list your provisional driving entitlements, any driving offences and other relevant information. For those who pass their lorry or bus tests on or after the 19th January, their license will be valid for 5 years after which time it must be renewed. To renew this you will have to fill out a form and medical questions. For those who passed before this date, the new rules will apply to them when they next need to renew their license.

New Categories and Category changes from 19th January 2013 can be shown in the table below:

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