Thousands driving without a licence

MORE than 300,000 French motorists are unaware that they are banned from driving, according to a campaign group calling for changes to the way the penalty system works.

SOS Permis Assistance says too many of the letters informing drivers that they have had points deducted for breaking the highway code do not arrive.

There have been several cases of motorists driving for years without realising their licence no longer has any points on it.

France Soir gives the example of an unnamed shop assistant in Toulouse, who frequently had points deducted over three years for speeding offences without any written notification – until one day she was pulled over and prosecuted for driving while banned.

A man who inadvertently drove for nine years without a licence won a landmark ruling in Rouen last month when he successfully argued that he had been unable to pick up the registered letters from his local post office when they were issued in 2001.

SOS Permis Assistance said the ruling "provides a lot of hope for many motorists who have continued driving without knowing their licence is no longer valid".

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