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So how was he getting his cars MOT'd then? Or is that obvious as well...
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He had a good run!
So funny the police saying
Quote: Thankfully he had never had an accident, caused anyone an injury, and never made anyone lose out financially, by hitting them whilst uninsured! End Quote (sorry, apostrophes and speech marks do not work properly on this forum when typing from a phone)
How on earth would they know!
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I wonder if the police confiscated the car (and are keeping hold of it until he passes a test and gets insurance)?
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I remember a great many years ago hearing a similar case in the Shetland Isles. Where an elderly gent was stopped by the Police for some reason or other and it turned out that he didn't have a license and never had done. Of course it is a little easier to get away with this there!.
As an aside, don't know if it is still the case but certainly up to around 10 years ago, in the Island of Hoy (part of the Orkney Islands), you don't need a license, MOT, or insurance to drive. Of course there is only one road, maybe 10 miles in total. I think this may be (or used to be) the case in some of the other smaller Orkney and Shetland Islands too.
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So how was he getting his cars MOT'd then? Or is that obvious as well...
Obvious to me.
You don't need a license to have your car MOT'd. All you need is the money to pay at the garage.
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Perhaps the Chancellor can add his missing 70 years of road fund tax/ VED into this years budget?
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So how was he getting his cars MOT'd then? Or is that obvious as well...
Obvious to me - you don't need a license to have your car MOT'd. All you need is the money to pay at the garage.
And I don't suppose you need one to get insurance either. The on-screen application form asks you for your licence number but you don't have to give it - it just says it may help your premium to do so.
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The old guy was just"" unlucky"" and nice to see the police having a sense of humour about it.
He is not alone in not having a licence there are probably thousands out there, and thousands now waiting months for their test including HGVs
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and thousands now waiting months for their test
Nothing new about that. In 1974 when I learned I booked my test on my 17th birthday (June) and I got a date 5 months in advance (November).
Most people I knew were aware of this and booked in plenty of time. I was lucky, passed first time, those who failed had to wait 5 months for a re test but in the meantime all they could do was hope they could get a cancellation.
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Well in 1974 the country was in hell of a mess due to an energy crisis and 3day working Covid situation is a bit different and there have been thankfully much better times in between. Even if we do stumble from one crisis to another life goes on.
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Apparently the fine for driving without insurance is unlimited. Let us hope it is at least 70 x the average premium for an ordinary car with full no claims bonus, payable to the fund which reimburses those damaged by uninsured drivers.
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The compulsory driving test was introduced on 1 June 1935 for all drivers and riders who started driving on or after 1 April 1934.
Prior to that you just went to the post office and bought a car driving licence for seven and sixpence which also entitled you to ride a motorcycle!
Hence my dear old Dad never took a driving test, but he had a valid licence and he drove fire appliances and motorcycles as a despatch rider throughout WW2 and beyond.
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I have an Irish friend, resident in U.K, who drives' in the U.K. without ever passing a test. In 1979 25000 licences were controversially issued without a test to clear a backlog. He got one of those. As it happens he is a good driver and has had no claims.
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I have an Irish friend, resident in U.K, who drives' in the U.K. without ever passing a test. In 1979 25000 licences were controversially issued without a test to clear a backlog. He got one of those. As it happens he is a good driver and has had no claims.
Funny that, couple of weeks ago that was Jeremy Vine's solution to the current backlog, just give them a 'free pass'!
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I have an Irish friend, resident in U.K, who drives' in the U.K. without ever passing a test. In 1979 25000 licences were controversially issued without a test to clear a backlog. He got one of those. As it happens he is a good driver and has had no claims.
Funny that, couple of weeks ago that was Jeremy Vine's solution to the current backlog, just give them a 'free pass'!
Not a bad idea that with everything else being dubbed down to the lowest common denominator, Could they really end up being a worse drivers than some that you see? It seems the old guy was a good driver test or no test
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Well in 1974 the country was in hell of a mess due to an energy crisis and 3day working Covid situation is a bit different and there have been thankfully much better times in between.
The fuel crisis with queue's at filling station ended in 1973, I remember it well. The 3 day week was from late 1973 to February 1974 as a result of the Miners strike and overtime ban. Then there were the power cuts as well, happy days. All were well before I took my test. I do remember having a hair cut by candle light at the barbers in early 1974, not an experience to be repeated, looked like Stevie Wonder had done it
When I bought my first car in November 1974 it came with a book of petrol coupons issued during the fuel crisis, they were never needed.
When I bought that car petrol was about 40p a gallon, a month later it had risen to about 60p a gallon. Imagine petrol increasing from todays £1.44 a litre to £2.16 a litre by late February, it was a shock at the time.
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Well in 1974 the country was in hell of a mess......
........due to mismanagement from top to bottom.
Thankfully I was working abroad in 73/74, in Zambia - where the Kwacha, about 1.4 to the pound IIRC, was actually briefly appreciating against the pound! I see it's about 24 to the pound now.
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During my National Service training in 1959 we were asked "Who's ever driven before? Clever Dick answered "ME". I was thinking I'd get one of those new 'Austin Champs'. What I did get was an old (ex Kerenia quarry Cyprus) Commer. Huge brute, no syncro, no brakes, etc etc. My examiner was an ex Met driving instructor. After an hour of a hairaising driving through Aldershot and district we finally ended up in an big uncompleted industrial estate. Miles of roads and no buildings. Eventually we (I) ended up in a dead end. "Three point turn" the examiner said. I did it in seven! On returning he said "OK lad you did well, I'll give you it". So.....my claim to fame is that I did the 3 PT in 7 and have never passed a test on a car. As i'm 82 I'd give me a wide berth if you see me.
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So.....my claim to fame is that I did the 3 PT in 7 and have never passed a test on a car. As i'm 82 I'd give me a wide berth if you see me.
My Dad (76) passed his driving test in a truck. This was fine back then, and covered him for a car too.
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My dear departed Dad who died in 2009 aged 86, passed his test in a similar way while serving in the REME during WW2.
The instruction and test method seemed to serve him well as I don’t ever think he had an accident.
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Recently heard an account at a funeral. The gentleman concerned was posted to India post-war but before independence, as a 2nd Lt. He had never ridden a horse or driven a car, so with typical army efficiency he was made transport officer. Learned to drive by himself, no instruction, on a tracked Bren carrier, then was able as transport officer to certify himself as a competent driver and therefore got his driving licence. Never took a test.
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Learned to drive by himself, no instruction, on a tracked Bren carrier,
I could do with one of those here, given the local driving behaviour.
(I drive on an IDP, which is of doubtful legality. The local Taiwan test bears no relation to real world driving, involving low speed dressage-type manouvres on a closed course, but it is actually quite difficult to pass. I believe its only justification is as the basis for the driving schools bizniz model)
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My Dad too never took a driving test and just bought a license like others at the time.
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Driving tests were suspended during WW2, but that aside the UK driving test has been around for 87 years, so we can assume there are very few drivers around who have never been tested, and those in that category have at least had the opportunity to practise for 77 years. We would hope that any really bad drivers have been rumbled by now!
What is rather shocking, though, is that Belgium only got round to introducing driving tests in 1977. Logically, a few of the pre-1977 drivers would have taken advantage of a free swap with other EU countries, including pre-Brexit UK, so there may well be one or two in your town!
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When I used to go to see a french girlfriend in Paris, she knew i only had a uk provisional and said if yoiu get stopped say you forgot it..
Same in belgium going to see the cousins at that time.
Take the car and take your cousins off to the beach.... this from Anderlecht to ostend. That motorway was frightening then.. Flat out 5 uo in a R4l.... the good old days.
My father born 1923, never passed a test.. freebie in ww2.
Edited by _ORB_ on 22/02/2022 at 07:07
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