Is a Singapore driving licence recognised in England

[socrates]

Is a Singapore driving licence recognised in England? Planning on renting a car there to travel around. thanks

 

[raptor1988]

this one must ask meh meh..

 

[kelccm]

Yes. Well at least I didn't have any problems renting a car when I was in London.

 

[GoheadGostern]

hi

if im not mistaken. we must apply for a permit to make our license recognise internationally. this AAS website might help you abit. http://www.aas.com.sg/index.php?show=content&showview=133&val=135

Cheers

 

[tSkye]

apply for international driving license card, only $25/yr

 

[Ola]

hi

if im not mistaken. we must apply for a permit to make our license recognise internationally. this AAS website might help you abit. http://www.aas.com.sg/index.php?show=content&showview=133&val=135

Cheers

It is not a must but recommended to apply for IDP for peace of mind when driving overseas especially in country where English is not commonly spoken.

 

[night86mare]

no need

but i suppose it depends on rental company, i have never needed to do anything

 

[matthew]

no need

but i suppose it depends on rental company, i have never needed to do anything

It's not the rental company you have to worry about - the big ones won't care, especially if you already have a 'record' with them back home. They type your name into their computer, pull up your record and know they can get your money.
Avis in France and the UK haven't even asked to see my licence - they put my name into the computer and all my details appear, including my drivers licence number. The most i've done is show them my avis 'wizard' card so I don't have to keep repeating the spelling of my name. They just type the 'wizard' code into the computer any my details appear.

On the other hand if you are involved in an accident or get pulled over by the traffic police for what ever reason, it might be a different story.

There tends to be a mesh of bi-lateral agreements between countries, so it does vary.

An IDP is strongly recommended in non English speaking countries as there is no guarantee the traffic police would be able to read English, thus even know the ID you are showing them is a drivers license. The IDP document is in a standard format (and multiple languages) that all traffic police are supposed to know about.

The AA people probably have a table that lists by country if a IDP is 'not needed', 'recomended', or 'required'.

Even in the UK, it may be 'recomended' as if you get pulled over by the police in a rual area by a local copper who's never been out of the country, he might not recognise your license as a license, it could be a bank card with photo on it for all he knows.


I did get told a funny story by a collegue who was involved in a junor rugby 'tour' years ago - a number of the boys were under 21 or even 18 and didn't have any drivers license. So they could all go out drinking together in states in the US were the legal drinking age is 21 they made up a set of fake 'drivers club of Australia' ID cards. (There is/was no such organisation). It was intended that this would only get them into drinking establishments.

My collegue was horrified to find out that the boys used these fake IDs to hire cars in Hiawaii. Some of them didn't even have drivers licenses back home. It would appear the hire company employees thought they were driving licenses.

 

[terryansimon]

from what I remember, you shouldn't need one. visa regulations would allow you to drive on it without the need for conversion, owing to the fact that you are an ex Commonwealth nation and your licence is in English anyway. makes things easier.

 

[night86mare]

anyways, google is your best friend,

read this

i quote, from "all other countries and students":

Visitors

You may drive vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and with up to eight passenger seats, provided your full licence or driving permit remains valid for up to 12 months from the date of coming to GB. However, you may only drive large vehicles which have been registered outside GB and which you have driven into the country.

 

[night86mare]

An IDP is strongly recommended in non English speaking countries as there is no guarantee the traffic police would be able to read English, thus even know the ID you are showing them is a drivers license. The IDP document is in a standard format (and multiple languages) that all traffic police are supposed to know about.

well, you do realise TS was asking about england, if the local police here do not speak english i will be very much horrified.

i am only speaking from experience from driving here, never encountered any trouble, but then again, never have been pulled over because my friends and i have never gotten into any sort of trouble driving-wise.

 

[Alpc]

Well, I think night86mare sums it nicely with the quote from UK. Not sure about other places, but I drove in UK, US, Aus and NZ without once been asked for IDP. I gave them my SG driving license, and it's ok for them. While, I had rented from the big 2 - Avis and Hertz, I did rent from a local company in Lake District before, and it's the same, just my SG driving license (which they make a copy of) and my credit card.

As for local copper... well, if you intend to break a few rules, then be prepared! I never had got into any trouble so far...