Penalties for using your U.S. driver's license

Coffeebean, does your husband's EU license expire next year? You probably know this but a valid EU license does not have to be exchanged for a UK one, you can choose to simply keep using the EU one, until you are 70 years old I think. This applies to any EU license, including the ones that were issued in exchange for a US one.  The origin issue becomes important only when you try to exchange for a UK one. My husband has a German license which he lost, and I spoke at length to the DVLA on this matter. 

Paul, about the petition..I just had a thought - I'm currently not a UK Citizen (yet) and so therefore cannot vote.  In your view, would I still be able to organize a petition with the help from my fellow UK Yanks (Ahem!) and get these views heard by the government?

I don't see why not.  You're living here, paying U.K. taxes, and having to obey the same rules as British citizens (plus some which don't apply to us). 

I forgot to add that a letter (and a copy of any petition) to your local M.P. would also be a good idea.   Even though you might not be a U.K. citizen yet, he should realize that you are a potential future voter.  I'm imagining a reply along the lines of "Not enough of a problem to warrant changes" or some similar response, but at least it would raise the issue.

Coffeebean, does your husband's EU license expire next year? You probably know this but a valid EU license does not have to be exchanged for a UK one, you can choose to simply keep using the EU one, until you are 70 years old I think.

As I understand it, you can drive on a license from another EU country for as long as that license remains valid.  I'm not sure which countries, if any, still issue licenses up to one's 70th birthday though.  U.K. licenses are currently issued for 10 years.

I'm not too fond of the EU,

Join the club.......   

As I understand it, you can drive on a license from another EU country for as long as that license remains valid.  I'm not sure which countries, if any, still issue licenses up to one's 70th birthday though.

My problem with this is that the DVLA website says "licences ISSUED in the EC/EEA", and if you exchange your non-EU/non-designated licence for an EU one, that means it has been issued ON THE STRENGTH OF/IN EXCHANGE FOR xxx licence, which means it is NOT the same thing.
The wording is not clear, but it is spelled out very clearly here on a form:

Community Licence – A Community licence is one issued in any country of the European Economic Area as a result of taking a driving test there.

Source: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/forms/pdf/INF38.pdf

Now, I realize that Britain is notorious for providing different information in different places, but surely the DVLA forms provide accurate information?!?
Unless, ncny, your husband is from a DESIGNATED country.

Yes, DVLA can often give misleading or even conflicting versions of the rules.   

I'm not sure if it's been changed now, but a while ago they were still issuing one of the leaflets which stated that EU license holders must swap for a U.K. license after one year (or was it 3 years?), even though a different leaflet clearly echoed the new EU regulations which mean that we are obliged to honor an EU license until it expires.    (And that's just a "normal" EU license, nevermind adding complications about one issued on the strength of a non-EU/non-designated country license).

but a while ago they were still issuing one of the leaflets which stated that EU license holders must swap for a U.K. license after one year (or was it 3 years?)

Yeah, I remember that one--it was 3 years. I almost fell off my chair when I revisited the website a few years later and it had changed!

It's very frustrating trying to figure stuff out when you can't really trust anything or anyone. It's also unacceptable to have conflicting information everywhere--who's going to compensate if my husband goes through the licence process in a year's time and it wasn't necessary after all? Or who's going to compensate if he drives on the EU licence, gets in an accident after the year is up and it turns out he was supposed to go through the replacement hoops after all?

Gah.

Ok, rant over.
I guess I'll just keep researching this more. Fortunately we still have almost  a year before this becomes an issue.

U.K. licenses are currently issued for 10 years.

Actually, it's only the photo license that is issued for 10 years - the paper counterpart is still valid until your 70th birthday.

Hmmm......   I'm not sure about the legal position on that.  There's no expiry date as such on the counterpart, but it does say that both the photocard and the counterpart comprise the license and must be produced on demand, so without the card the counterpart is of no value.    You'll receive a new counterpart whenever DVLA issues a new photocard license (change of address, renewal, etc.).

My counterpart does show provisional entitlement for other categories (motorcycle etc.) up to 2036, but again, that would not be valid without the card.

When the idea of photocard licenses was first mentioned here I thought it was a good one -- Do away with the awkward, giant sheets of wallpeper which had been in use since the 1970s and get a nice neat, credit-card sized license.   Then (as usual) DVLA messed the whole thing up by introducing the present system which has the card but still requires a separate document.   

(Actually I'm not sure if it might have been EU regulations:  The actual card format is laid down as an EU standard; I don't know about the counterpart.)

I understand what you're saying but appearances change and that would explain why you need to get a new photocard license every ten years, (same with passports - 5 years validity for those under 16 and 10 years for those over 16).

Makes sense to me.

I wouldn't risk it. It's not worth having a criminal record if you got into an accident. Take lessons. I took two lessons with BSM for 6 weeks until it was time for my test. They require you to do very specific things for the test that you don't do in normal every day driving. It totally paid off; I passed the first time and one day before my American license expired.