I have a Florida licence but many years ago i hit a garage canopy in Spain with an overheight machine on the trailer.
The Guarda Civil were on a break a few metres away,in a panic i gave my licence to the garage owner,and they still have it.
The question is,is the licence still on file in Florida,if i went to the DMV office,could i get a new licence or have to re take the driving test again?
Firstly … What on Earth compelled you to give your licence to someone and leave ?
Secondly … If you became a US resident again provided you have details of your licence and they can find the records you should be able to get a replacment one.
Dont American car driving licences get issued in boxes of Kellogs Frosties any way? How else can an entire population of drivers be so terribly bad and actually have the legal documentation to allow for it to continue?
robinhood_1984:
Dont American car driving licences get issued in boxes of Kellogs Frosties any way? How else can an entire population of drivers be so terribly bad and actually have the legal documentation to allow for it to continue?
It’s not quite that easy anymore ! You have to prove legal residency or at least a valid visa, you need a SS number and if you are on a visa you need to go to the SS office to get and exemption letter.
The test is another thing though, drive for 2 minutes, turn around, reverse park in an imaginary space (they don’t want you risking hitting anything) and drive back … Job done
Not these days. Did my car test in Connecticut in 2009 (driving since 1977 in UK) and everyone now has to have 8 hours of class room training. The instructor was convinced I was a plant as I knew more about driving than he did!
Then the highway code test and finally a drive round the block and parking in a bay outside the test center.
Laughable !
Jarvy:
Not these days. Did my car test in Connecticut in 2009 (driving since 1977 in UK) and everyone now has to have 8 hours of class room training. The instructor was convinced I was a plant as I knew more about driving than he did!
Then the highway code test and finally a drive round the block and parking in a bay outside the test center.
Laughable !
hi jarvy,i had the same experience in newyork state, the driving test was four and a half mins, just drove around the block. i got a ni number by opening a bank account, and then used my i94 visa
cheers diesel
Thanks Pat,i was worried about a big claim on my Goods in transit insurance,the garage would have inflated the price for the cost of the repairs to the canopy roof,with the cops down the road,i just panicked.
toby1234abc:
Thanks Pat,i was worried about a big claim on my Goods in transit insurance,the garage would have inflated the price for the cost of the repairs to the canopy roof,with the cops down the road,i just panicked.
GIT insurance 
Unless you were loaded with the canopy of the garage, it would not be anything to do with your GIT insurance, that is exactly what it says, Goods…In…Transit…Insurance, which means it only covers the load in/on your vehicle, it only covers loss/theft/damage to the load, if the load fell out of the trailer and hit something your vehicle insurance covers damage to any property, the GIT covers the damage to the load itself 
newmercman:
toby1234abc:
Thanks Pat,i was worried about a big claim on my Goods in transit insurance,the garage would have inflated the price for the cost of the repairs to the canopy roof,with the cops down the road,i just panicked.GIT insurance
Unless you were loaded with the canopy of the garage, it would not be anything to do with your GIT insurance, that is exactly what it says, Goods…In…Transit…Insurance, which means it only covers the load in/on your vehicle, it only covers loss/theft/damage to the load, if the load fell out of the trailer and hit something your vehicle insurance covers damage to any property, the GIT covers the damage to the load itself
If I’ve read it right he seems to be saying that he wiped out a garage canopy in Spain with some overheight plant while the law was sitting a few feet away and then by giving his Florida driving licence to the garage owner would have made everything ok when/if the law started asking a few questions. 
If you’re a Brit ex pat then surely you don’t give up your British entitlement when (if ) you get a US one and if you come back to drive a British or European based wagon then it’s that entitlement which you’d be using .
Wouldn’t have thought so I’d think as long as your medical was ok if you was over 45 it would automatically be reinstated.
I thought you has to be a USA citizen or have a residency visa to get a licence though.
Pat Hasler:
robinhood_1984:
Dont American car driving licences get issued in boxes of Kellogs Frosties any way? How else can an entire population of drivers be so terribly bad and actually have the legal documentation to allow for it to continue?
It’s not quite that easy anymore ! You have to prove legal residency or at least a valid visa, you need a SS number and if you are on a visa you need to go to the SS office to get and exemption letter.
The test is another thing though, drive for 2 minutes, turn around, reverse park in an imaginary space (they don’t want you risking hitting anything) and drive back … Job done
In Florida they have tightened up big time on licenses.
You will need a social security card, visa , green card or proof of citizenship, current residence address with two bills in your name as proof that you actually live there.
Iirc car licenses expire every 6 years, CDLs every 4 years.
If the license has expired you would re-sit the written part of the test, computerised multi choice these days.
robinhood_1984:
Dont American car driving licences get issued in boxes of Kellogs Frosties any way? How else can an entire population of drivers be so terribly bad and actually have the legal documentation to allow for it to continue?
It’s probably more a case of many of the (recent) generation/s of drivers that are so bad which has nothing to do with licencing and testing.
Previous generations of teenaged American drivers seemed to be ok with handling cars like these,even with the three on the tree manual box option,as their first car because they just didn’t build anything smaller or slower 
.
connorsmotorcar.com/60Olds/PC190015.JPG
Unlike something these days like a Vauxhall Corsa which many of the recent generations of Brit drivers can’t even handle properly in many cases after all the bs uk testing.Dumbed down cars creat dumbed down drivers. 
More like the places in the uk with the worse standards of driving are areas that have very high non native populations who I’m guessing share licences.
Any one who has driven round bethnal green Barking Birmingham or Bradford will know what I’m talking about.
Think the garage owner would have thrown the licence in the bin by now.
Speaking from personal experience… If you come here on a visa waiver which is valid 90 days and you drive during your stay, your UK licence only covers you for 30 days so in order to extend your driving rights if you intend to stay over 30 days you will need a US licence and so you have to go to SS to get a letter of exepmtion, the licencing office in which ever state you are in should then issue a learners permit, proided you pass the written test and you can take the driving test after taking a drivers ed course which is usually 3 hours in a classroom … been there, done that.