You can't retain certain classes on your license without specific CPC courses been accrued. Such as for lorry & bus driving, just because you 'did' have these (I'm guessing) doesn't mean you will still have them as they run out of validity.
Update. Got through to the DVLA. They said I can send the results of the test in, but there is no guarantee they'll accept it as "evidence". I've told them it will be the DVLA test I'm paying for, their test, the very same. I was met with an absolute brick wall from a very unhelpful member of staff. I've explained that my loacl Specsavers who deal with the DVLA tests are open for business and got the reply "It's not that easy". My reply was that it is that easy. They have basically told me I'll have to wait. Unbelievable All I can do is contact them every few days now and not let it drop.
it recognises me (which puts paid to the DVLA pretending to not know me, but says that I have no current driving entitlement. I've written one stroppy letter to them which they will get today (although they will pretend that they haven't) and I'm completing the forms that they sent to apply for a new licence (you stanger). After we needlessly go around the block a few times, I'll report back. What fascinates me, is I reckon that it would be easier to get my licence back if I had been banned for drunk driving. To be sure, they couldn't make it any harder.
It would make Specsavers good fun if people were kicking off after being told that they can't drive! They could charge spectator fees (and if you missed anything then they could flog you some new glasses!).
But you haven’t any entitlement Perry, you gave it up. Just apply and see what happens and save the stress
I am corresponding with the Medical Group at DVLA. I'm posting back the forms that they sent today. What confuses me is that they have one form (that they sent) that does everything. From a 15 year-old applying for their first licence, to somebody who has been banned and had their licence taken away, to me - a purely medical issue (although that includes someone who has just got one arm, or leg, to me!). They really need to lose this one form fits all approach. The conclusion to the form is , "Well, there must be something wrong with you, else why are you completing this form?". As I say in my covering letter (that will really jack them off) I am just being openly penalised for being honest. The system makes it far easier ti be dishonest and that is what I wish I had been.
I've sent the three forms plus a covering letter back to DVLA Medical Group. I now await with interest to see what happens next. Interestingly, the form ask if their is anything wrong with your eyesight and can you read a number plate @ 20 metres. I answered (honestly) that I don't think that here is anything wrong with my eyesight and I can read a number plate at 20 metres. I resisted the temptation to answer, "what am I, an optician?". If they write back and say that they don't believe me, then it begs the question of why did you ask, then? Fascinated to see what DVLA come out with next. BTW, when I got back, someone had put the local freebie mag through the letterbox. It has an article about job interviews and it tells you to be polite to everyone, including the receptionist. I never realised this and didn't get that after the interview, they would get the receptionist in to see if you were rude. if the receptionist was a women and staring at her tits might be where I was going wrong....
Too late. I've posted them! I not really bothered about how long they take to get back to me. I haven't got a car to drive and my remaining bikes are all SORNED - I couldn't ride them, anyway. I don't trust that my leg is strong enough and I've got no kit (except one glove!). I can't replace kit until my insurance claim is settled and my sol is not expecting anything soon. She won't settle, anyway, because we need to see what my eyesight outcome is. My sol is pretty sure that she will need to get Hastings in court, dragging and screaming, before there is anything of a settlement. I presume (but don't know) that the case would be heard at Bristol Crown Court because that is the court covering the area where the crash happened. I would go, definitely. I could exaggerate my limp and may even take my electric wheelchair! If we could drag it out for a few days then the costs would go though the roof! Oh, fun!
The DVLA are civil service. Rarely has being straight and honest with any government body made things better. for the end user That's not to say we should lie, but just do not volunteer additional info if not asked for it directly. I learned the hard way.
This Brain bleed/Seizure thing is a minefield and it seems that very little is understood about it. I had a brain seizure when I got thrown off a horse about 14 years ago and then I have a brain bleed last year from getting knocked of my motorcycle. If either where to just randomly happen again. then that would be a big worry.. But it doesn't and I'm more worried about if I've enough milk in the fridge rather than having a seizure. I had trouble with the focus of Headway when I went to see them some years ago (because people told me that I should). The focus was, "let's dwell on your brain injury, your poor brain dead person you". Didn't suit me and I moved on.
1) Different for all, I guess. My first was getting thrown from a horse and second getting thrown from a bike. As I got through both with no lasting effects (with the exception of stopping running when I can walk, and this is down to my choice) I'd rather just focus on recovering and returning to normal life than dwelling on the past. A friend had a head injury not long after my first. He goes to Headway and must get something out of it as he doesn't have to go. Each to their own, I say.
The irony is that I have told my Doctor about all the stress this sh1t with the DVLA is giving me. I've asked directly if they have any problem with me driving. They look at me bewildered as in "why the f*** should I have any problem and WTF if DVLA think that it's such a big deal, do they not just send a form to my Doctor. "Should this person be driving in your opinion? Yes or No". Simple. Far too simple for the DVLA. They insist on knowing who your GP is, so why not take me out of the loop and ask? In fact, I think that they do ask, but just enjoy sh1tting you around for a few weeks first.
I really, really do not understand what they find so difficult. They MUST keep records (I know they do), so all of that 'never heard of you' sh1t was just them frigging me about. A 5 minute look at their records will show that I didn't do the driving assessment because I failed an eye test at my local optician in January. Then I wrote to say that I had seen an opthalmologist @ Cheltenham Hospital and she thought my vision had improved sufficiently to try the DVLA Sight Test. I had done it but I need DVLA to send me as only DVLA can look at the result and judge if I passed. So, easy, arrange for a Sightsavers DVLA test, and see if I pass or fail. 10 minutes at most and that is their job done. But no, let's go back to first principals (who are you, again?) and make you apply for a new licence as though you are a 16 year old. On top of their normal unhelpful attitude, we have the pandemic to add to the fun. So they will complain about how busy they are are and , "oh,what a tough World it is", but they are making life tougher for themselves than it has to be. Sight issues? Easy. Just arrange for the punter to do the DVLA test at Specsavers. If they pass then job done. If they don't, write and tell them they've failed and it's back on the client. Easy - until DVLA complicate it unnecessarily!
DVLA have rejected my driving licence application. Not due to any concerns about my eyesight but now we are back to the old game of "who are you?". I did not send them new photographs because I told them that I know that they still have my licence on file and therefore my photograph. But they are still playing the "never heard of you!" game. So, I'll play along and get them a photograph whilst sending a covering letter saying that this is getting ridiculous. More than anything, I am fascinated to know what they will do next! Fully confident that if they do send me a new licence, it will be provisional.
And I can't reach them! I've driven past their tall building on the way to The Mumbles to learn sailing, years ago. It's a high rise block. Got done for speeding nearby and so it all brings back bad memories! Although, to be fair, the sailing was good!
