Never passed a test but can still drive on the roads?

Hi folks,
Ive been reading the verious comments members have said ref insurance and how they feel and also what the insurance people have to say when you tell them you've found a cheaper quote.
I thought some members may like to know how here in france you can still drive even if you've never passed a driving test or had your licence taken off you for the likes of drinke drive,

Dont believe it!!!! Read on.

Yes it's 100% true that here in france you can still have a vehicle to get you about, and living deep in the countryside you dont always have the shops Banks or Postoffices near to the farms or a lot of hamlets,

The post office plays a very big part of the older peoples lives here.

So it was decided some years ago that a post office licence was available to anyone who needed transport but did not hold a full licence,

The post office licence was for a purpose made small engines vehicle that had a max speed of 45 miles per hour (70km per hour)
the cc of the engine was very small not much bigger than a lawn mower
but the vehicle has to show the road tested sticker & the insurance sticker on the windscreen as all cars here in france do.

These vehicles are for road use and not the pavement, they have lights and indicators, horn etc everything a normal car would have and are mainly used by the old people or those who do not hold a full licence, you are not allowed to carry anyone as a passenger in these cars,

And to be honest most people on seeing one of these on the roads keeps their distance because they know the drivers going slow, may not be fully road trained!

"But im told by my french friends" that these drivers dont get into any trouble because we are aware of their non experience and also a need to be able to be independant,
A bit like when you see a tractor on the roads you'd never think or expect the driver to be speeding as the tractors also can't do a high speed.

As far as drink drive users go they are full of guilt having to be seen using these vehicles and their insurance is high even for such a slow speeded vehicle.

If i go to the weekly open market in our nearest village on a friday i'll see the sales team selling these vehicles and they're not cheap "around 11,000 euro for a new one.

So if the day comes and i decide to give up my beast of a car with its 8 sparking plugs and i can at least still drive about in one of these golf buggy type cars and their 2 sparking plug engine.


"Oh i should have said your not allowed on the motorways in one of these And they do apprx 80 mpg"

The newer models look a lot better than the first ones i ever saw approx 11 years ago they've really got nice paint jobs, radio and now no more wooden bench seat, no its a padded one but only one person allowed on it.

(still no go faster tripe's).

Even the new models sound just like a ride-on-mower when they start the engine but these new models go on unleaded fuel, the older ones are two stroke engines.

Well hope this has given some interest as to how to get about deep in the french countryside "even if the snails over take you"

 

I like to tongue in cheek poke fun at france from time to time, but the fact is they get a lot of things right. Probably a lot more than we do here in the UK to be honest.

Ok, I'm not advocating the use of motor vehicles by people who haven't passed or test or have had their license withdrawn, but the rest of what you said sounds all good to me.

I love the idea of small vehicles for pottering about in. If you don't regularly use the motorways and dual carriageways and don't have a lot of people or things to haul about everywhere, then 45mph in a small vehicle that does 80mpg sounds ideal to me.

 

Any chance of a piccie please Moonraker?
France is vast, you can drive for ages without seeing another vehicle when in deep rural areas. I think our problem in UK is that we have about the same number of people but in a quarter of their space.
It always makes me chuckle though when you see him and her turn into the Centre Ville market square. Him in his cap and blue boiler overalls with a Disque Bleu dangling from his bottom lip,her in the apron/pinny frock and that old shopping bag she got handed down to her my her mother.... both with the fixed grumpylook face on...

 

Hi Jenny, I'll tell you what i'll do next friday i'll take a trip to the market (camera in hand) and see if i can take a few pics and put it on here for you to see,

Now what clueless 1 said about the french is in some ways is correct

ie your car must show in the windscreen proof you have insurance and when the vehicle was last tested and is due for the next test (like your mot but it last 2 years here & not 1 like the mot.)

The french are very keen on drink drive, the police are in 3 sections,
riot police/motorway police / local police now the local countryside police are part time and reguarded by the locals a bit like the T.A. ARMY in the uk, and its these that do most of the country roadside vehicle checks, and they insists you have all documents with the vehicle and proof of I.D

The windscreen info is a good idea and if pulled over they will check all info docs and windscreen through the centrial computer data base. so if your insurance is invalid they'll soon find out.

But i must say one thing the french really are snowed under with paperwork "red tape" for this that and the other,

Ive said to my wife i'd have thought they'd have made loo paper with goverment issue please us both sides on it,
"they really do go over bourd with anything to do with paperwork.
Now ref as a few people may think "driving without a licence!!!!!! what kind of safe issue is that!
Well in the UK you can drive a tractor between fields from one field to another for up to 1 mile without a licence because to hold a uk driving licence you must be 17 years for a car, a tractor can be driven from under 17 without a licence, so we're all as daft as each other really,

Anyway glad you enjoyed the thread.

 

Ah yes, the french coppers I believe Spain has a similar system, with the 'proper' police being military, but only coming out for very serious stuff, working down to the Policia Local or something, that are, as I understand, regarded much like part timers. I think its a good system.

As an aside (but its a good 'aside' I think), I only have one first hand experience of the french coppers. When I was a kid (9 or 10 years old) my I was on my way to Spain with my family on our hols. We went by coach, obviously going through france, and our coach burst into flames.

It was my dad that first spotted the fire, and being a man familiar with 'protocol' he did nothing to cause panic, and calmly summoned the stewardess and whispered to her to tell the driver to pull over immediately because the coach is on fire. She panicked of course, and then everybody else started to panic. We all got out ok, including the driver who bailed out and ran for it

My dad returned to the coach for the fire extinguisher and between him and a french wagon driver who pulled over to help, they fought the fire.

The french coppers came, and saw a coach load of British holiday makers standing on the bank side by a motorway, near a badly fire damaged coach. What happened next will stay with me forever as an act of human kindness.

The coppers could have just made sure we nobody was hurt, and then left us to it. They didn't. These two coppers tried in very bad English to explain that they would help us, and were so very organised and professional. They quickly identified one or two semi fluent french speakers in our group to help them explain what was going to happen. They explained (with a bit of help) that they were from a small, local force with limited resources, but they'd find a way to sort us out. Then one got on his radio. About 15 minutes later, a police minibus arrived, and that was filled with some of our party. They were careful to ensure that families were kept together. A few minues after that a local taxi company minibus arrived to collect some more of us and between the two, they made several trips until they'd collected us all.

They didn't simply take us to the nearest town. They took us to the only place they knew they could look after us, their cop shop. Their colleagues were still making arrangements for us when my group arrived (I think we were on the second bus). The only way they had room for us all was to put us in the cells

So I can say I've been in a french police cell. However to help us feel at ease, they had left all the cell doors wide open and had put tables and chairs in there. They'd supplied tea and coffee and biscuits. Not enough to go around, but they'd done their best with what they had. One copper even found a sheet and was tying it to the big steel door presumably to make it more homely and less like jail. They made sure were alright, and went beyond the call of duty to look after us for the few hours it took our coach company to get a replacement coach to us to continue our journey.