Can you take IAM/RoSPA in a car with foreign numberplates?

[JamesE]

....?

[ROG]

as long as vehicle is safe & legal - yes for IAM

[JamesE]

as long as vehicle is safe & legal - yes for IAM

Sounds fun. The foreign plates could enable some "unscrupulous" associates to make a "fuller" use of the NSL

[Angus]

You are supposed to present registration, insurance and MOT documents to the examiner. I'm not sure they'd happily accept foreign (non english) documentation.

[Why_Aye]

You are supposed to present registration, insurance and MOT documents to the examiner. I'm not sure they'd happily accept foreign (non english) documentation.

Whyever not?

[GS]

You are supposed to present registration, insurance and MOT documents to the examiner. I'm not sure they'd happily accept foreign (non english) documentation.

Whyever not?

Why would anyone want to do this??

You do not have to present a V5 for test but licence, insurance and MOT are required. As far as I know, any car 'based' in this country has to be insured in this country. If that's the case, surely it will have to be registered, MOTd and Taxed here also. It would also have to be legal including a speedo that shows MPH.

If the car is not 'based' in this country, ie it is being used by a visitor, it will probably not comply with the above. How can an examiner check that the car's documentation is correct if he/she can not read it? Also a visitor's car will probably not have an imperial speedo, which used to make it illegal to use in this country.

[JamesE]

So are you saying that every single continental car that comes over the channel with a speedo only in KPH is committing an offence?

[GS]

It used to be the case that any car used on the roads had to be fitted with a speedo which showed either mph or both mph and kph. There were no exemptions, not even visitors. I'm about 8 years out of date now but I suspect that this has not and will not change. We drive in mph in this country, not kph.

[Angus]

You do not have to present a V5 for test but licence, insurance and MOT are required.

Sorry - my mistake

[manilva15b]

I'll be following this thread with interest since I hope to be visiting the UK this summer, and I would be interested in brushing up on my driver training (six years in Spain has probably introduced some bad habits), but I'd be bringing my Spanish registered car.

[JamesE]

It used to be the case that any car used on the roads had to be fitted with a speedo which showed either mph or both mph and kph. There were no exemptions, not even visitors. I'm about 8 years out of date now but I suspect that this has not and will not change. We drive in mph in this country, not kph.

Interesting that this is the case, although I doubt it is heavily enforced.

After all, if a foreign car sets off a speed camera the notice is cancelled anyway.

I have had several friends over the years at university who have come across from France and Germany in foreign cars with only KPH showing on the speedo, and never had any trouble.

I was very envious of them when they threw their parking tickets in the bin!

It would be interesting to know if anyone has taken an advanced test in a foreign registered car, and also if foreign nationals are eligible to take Rospa/IAM

[waremark]

A while back an associate with our group wanted to take an IAM test in a left hand drive car with a kph only speedo (I think that it is quite legal to drive cars with kph only speedos in this country). The examiner declined to perform the test, because of the lack of an mph calibrated speedo. The Associate offered a conversion chart for 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70, but he was not interested. The group appealed to the then Chief Examiner Bryan Lunn. He endorsed the examiner's decision, stating that you could not take an IAM test in a car without an mph calibrated speedo.

[JamesE]

A while back an associate with our group wanted to take an IAM test in a left hand drive car with a kph only speedo (I think that it is quite legal to drive cars with kph only speedos in this country). The examiner declined to perform the test, because of the lack of an mph calibrated speedo. The Associate offered a conversion chart for 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70, but he was not interested. The group appealed to the then Chief Examiner Bryan Lunn. He endorsed the examiner's decision, stating that you could not take an IAM test in a car without an mph calibrated speedo.

This seems a strange approach to take, as most speed limits throughout europe are standardised.

50kmh...... 30mph

70kmh.......40mph

130kph......80mph(ok, not 70mph but the normal motorway speed in the UK)

The 3 speeds are even marked in red on the speedo to remind you!

[MGF]

Since 1998 it has been perfectly lawful to use vehicles with KPH-only speedometers in the UK (subject to them being EU approved for use in another EU country).

Even so the DSA still wont test drivers in a car without MPH on the speedometer so it doesn't seem surprising the IAM wont either.

[waremark]

Our committee felt the position of the IAM on kph speedos was pretty feeble - if the driver can cope with conversion of the headline speeds then surely it cannot be much of a problem for a competent examiner. There are no rules on how easy it has to be to read the speedo from the passenger seat.

On the issue of kmh cars being legal in the UK, irritatingly the opposite is not the case. UK cars apparently must have a constant display of kph speeds. In my wife's SLK, there is a constant digital display of kph speed where foreign market cars display outside temperature. (Outside temperature is available, but only via menu selection on a multi-function display). I would prefer the outside temp to be displayed constantly, and the kph speed to be available by selection.