[Closed] UK driver's license--logistical questions for immigrant

Do you actually need to go through the whole process of taking driving tests? Can't you just swap your US license for a UK one?

Just checked - wow, you do have to do the tests again! That is a pain. Pity you didn't have a Canadian license which you could have exchanged!

Do you actually need to go through the whole process of taking driving tests? Can’t you just swap your US license for a UK one?

The USA isn't one of the countries the DVLA have an agreement with, unfortunately. My Dad is in the process of swapping his Cypriot one and I noticed no USA on the web page.

So yeah, need to take a test, which is all impacted by COVID 👎🏻

The test has to be sat before you can drive, and it's worth getting some lessons just to make sure you're doing everything the way you should. My wife passed her UK test 8 years ago and said that a lot of the stuff was way out of her realm of experience from driving in the US. Also, are you sure you can do things like the reversing around a corner to UK driving test standard (given that nobody does it in real life)?

So, it looks like you're out of luck on the theory test but you could always get a provisional license and use the time to get some lessons and drive with someone with a valid license in the car as a learner (if, for example, you wanted a day out with your partner somewhere and they didn't want to drive).

are you sure you can do things like the reversing around a corner to UK driving test standard (given that nobody does it in real life)?

this is just a british eccentric quirkyness - we like people to prove they can do stuff you'll never actually do. However, that said i have had to do this a few times, so hey i'd proved it could be done.

Plus, next to the Scandi's, the UK driving test is one of the most thorough, and next to the US, it's like taking a blindfold off.

My daughter's fella has just had to go through this despite being an experienced driver who has held a full US licence for years. He did find having a few lessons useful, to learn how to pass the test, not to learn how to drive.

Agree with getting a few lessons on how to pass the test. I reckon most of us would fail a driving test if we took one today - the examiners are very particular about how things are done.

For example you need to put your handbrake on during each part of a 3 point turn and if you don't that'll count as minor infringements which soon tot up. No touching the curb at all on any manoeuvre or it's an instant fail. No cutting sharp angle junctions, turning right for instance where in real life you'd cut across the left hand lane for example etc.

They do not (in my experience from taking my HGV test) give any leeway to otherwise experienced drivers. It is a tick box exercise and you need to do everything as per the book.

Also, are you sure you can do things like the reversing around a corner to UK driving test standard (given that nobody does it in real life)?

...and isn't part of the driving test anymore! 🙂

Front and reverse bay parking and parallel parking is. The things you do everyday.

My daughter has just passed her test and from what I saw a lot of the useless stuff is now gone.

Can you swap USA licence for Canadian and then Canadian for UK - might be quicker! 😉

Thanks, all--it sounds like I do understand my predicament right. I've driven a few hundred miles here on my US license, and I do find it quite tricky/unintuitive. I expect to need a few lessons. But the covid-era appointment situation is going to be the biggest hurdle, I think.

I've put in close to 4,000 miles on a road bike since getting here. So being on the left side of the road has become habit...but I still walk to the wrong side of the car almost every time I try to get in the driver's seat.

Hand brake during a three point turn.

I'd have to rent another car as it's at the far end of the bonnet in my volvo.

I failed my test having driven for over a decade when I needed to swap my licence. Then got one lesson with an instructor who said there is no reason I should have failed, and got me to re-book straight away. I then passed with one minor - it's almost like the marking is subjective....

If you turn up in your own car, make sure you have everything you need: https://www.gov.uk/driving-test/using-your-own-car

On the theory test, keep checking for cancellations - they do come up if you can be bothered to keep checking - friend’s son just got one. They will be short notice though.

I think there used to be a list that you could join to get emailed when cancellations come up.

No cutting sharp angle junctions, turning right for instance where in real life you’d cut across the left hand lane for example etc.

so no driving on the wrong side of the road where nobody should expect you to be then?

Plus, next to the Scandi’s, the UK driving test is one of the most thorough, and next to the US, it’s like taking a blindfold off.

I have an (expired) US driving license. I thought it would be "drive to the end of the road and back again" and it was actually quite difficult. Took two attempts. 🙄

Personally I think there are bigger things to worry about. Your lack of a UK driving licence doesn't invalidate the third party component of your insurance, but it might make you liable for the entire bill.

Re test bookings in Scotland.

We went on daily until a cancellation came up. He had two week notice, his test is Thursday.

Fingers crossed.

Good to know about the possibility of cancellations, thanks!

And yes, agreed, the insurance situation seems sketchy.

My daughter’s fella has just had to go through this despite being an experienced driver who has held a full US licence for years. He did find having a few lessons useful, to learn how to pass the test, not to learn how to drive.

Yeah I learned to drive in the US, drove for years, came back here and failed my test.

Personally I think there are bigger things to worry about. Your lack of a UK driving licence doesn’t invalidate the third party component of your insurance, but it might make you liable for the entire bill.

I'm not quite sure what you are implying there? if you mean that someone who does not hold, and is not entitled to hold a full UK driving license is still insured under the road traffic act you are almost certainly wrong. 6pts isn't a great start to a provisional license. [it may be that if you were involved in an accident that the MIB would expect the policy provider to pay up even if you were not insured - but that is not quite the same thing; and with many countries either not requiring insurance by law, or it being attached to the car rather than the driver - its probably not a good idea to suggest it would be ok]

I expect to need a few lessons. But the covid-era appointment situation is going to be the biggest hurdle, I think.

keep in mind that driving instructors weren't teaching during lockdown so have quite a backlog too - if you get an appointment in a few weeks you may not be able to get any instructor time. Also worth keeping in mind that most of the theory test is straightforward if you revise for it, but plenty of people still manage to fail by thinking it'll be dead easy - the pass mark is very high; and it will ask some obscure things you may never have seen in real life in the UK, and that may be different in the US. However the thing that apparently catches out experienced drivers is the hazard perception test - either because we've become complacent and don't really think everything is a hazard, or we become paranoid everything must be a hazard click like mad people...

I always feel a bit sorry for American tourists when they get a hire car and come up here. One I spoke to said the whole A82 (ie both lanes) was narrower than a single lane on the roads he was used to - and you come round the corner to find heavies coming towards you at 40mph. They get through a lot of near side tyres.