Dear LPG,

Here is something that may have a bit of an effect on some of the LPG readers in our borough and many others in the UK for that matter.

Before retiring I was a London Bus driver for a while, and one thing that they are told to do is have their UK driver’s licences with them at all times and, even though I have not driven a bus for at least 10 years, the habit has never left me.  It comes in handy when you are asked for proof of identity and I found myself in that situation one day not so long ago.  I wanted to take a relatively large amount of my money out of the bank in preparation for my attempt to Christmas shop this year.

To my horror the bank teller told me that he could not accept the document as proof of identity because it was out of date.  My first thought is I am only 66, I have at least two years to go before I need to be reassessed.

The bank teller was right; it had become out of date on my last birthday about two months earlier because of a decision that I made at that time. 

PCV  (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) licences have to be renewed every 5 years no matter how young you are (and every year if you are over 65), and we all know about the ‘70-year-old every three years’ car driving licence rule’.  Renewing any licence is a costly business as I found out five years ago; the first time that I decided to renew my right to drive a bus.  It was a case of paying some £200 to my GP so that she could ask me a list of health related questions which I could have easily answered myself.  So I decided that, as I was not really ever going to need to drive a bus again, I would not bother when I got the reminder this time.

I consequently ignored the reminder letter but did not realise that I would need to still complete a D2 form to this effect.  I telephoned the DVLA who told me that there is no need to send your picture licence to the DVLA with the form and there is no charge incurred. 

So if you have been an HGV or PCV driver in the past, and decided it is not worth renewing your right to drive bigger vehicles again, it is worth making sure that your licence to get behind the wheel of your little car is still valid just so you can avoid the embarrassment of being told it is out of date so publically. 

 JB Lewisham.

LPG has found out that this is also the form which professional drivers need to complete to apply for the licence in the first place, and can possibly be downloaded and printed without a trip to the post office although the printed version will have to be posted.   

The DVLA enquiry line is … 0300 790 6801.

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