What would happen if I drive a vehicle with the wrong license category? The consequences can really cost you dearly.
Let’s start with the obvious. To drive the vehicle you own, rent or in which you are driving, you need the license from the right category.
Generally, for cars, mopeds and some types of cars it is sufficient to have one driving license Bwhile for more specific cases, such as buses or large trucks, it is necessary to have different or higher level categories.
It is a very particular case, but it can happen if perhaps for work you find yourself driving company vehicles and you are not sure if you have the license from the right category or sufficient to lead them. Be careful because driving with the wrong driving license can lead to very severe penalties, with real stings on your wallet.
In any case, a distinction must be made, because the Highway Code provides for more or less heavy penalties depending on the type of infringement.
What happens if you drive with the wrong license
Let’s start with a very simple case, namely the case of driving with an actually wrong license, but with a typology similar to the one that would be the correct one. Let’s talk about a situation where for example you are driving with an A1 license and should have an A2 or Aor an A2 instead of the A1, a B1 instead of the B, a C1 when you need the C and the D1 for the D.
The sanctions foreseen in this case are severe, but not as in the examples we will see later, because the fines start from 1021 up to 4084 euros. Also, you will license suspended from 4 to 8 months.
On the other hand, the rules are very strict when it comes to a case other than the one set out above: here we are talking about one completely wrong license. For example, you are driving a type C vehicle when you only have a type B licence.
Watch out why fines start at 5100 euros and can reach, in the most serious cases, a monstrous figure of 30,599 eurosto which add the vehicle stationary for a period of three months.
If you were to fall into the trap in the two years following the infraction the offense would even become criminal triggering the arrest of up to 1 year, the definitive confiscation of the vehicle and a pecuniary fine of the same amount as the previous one.
To avoid the penalty, the first fine must be paid within 60 days of receipt. The detention or confiscation of the vehicle is not envisaged if the vehicle has been put into circulation against the will of the owner: in this case, the suspension of the license for the transgressor increases, going from 3 to 12 months.
There are other situations that concern the licence. The failure to meet the minimum age requirements involves a fine that starts from 87 euros up to 344 euros and with the vehicle stopped for 30 days. The owner can be charged with a fine for careless assignment, ranging from 397 to 1592 euros.
