If you run a quick Google search on the phrase "When does my Driver's License expire?" you get a lot of hits.

A lot of them are links to websites explaining what to do if your driver's license has expired.

A lot harder to run a effective search on is the phrase "Why does my Driver's License expire?".

Seriously...why does it expire?

My perfectly good Driver's License which has a picture that looks like me and my current address on it, which was perfectly good yesterday...today is not valid anymore.

Of course there is a very good reason for this - the renewing mechanism is there to make sure that you are still OK to drive, right?

...right?

Nope, that doesn't happen.

That sort of thing will happen but only after a certain age by which point the license has been renewed a whole lot of times...

Let me tell you what i have to do to renew my driver's license:

1. I have to pay fee, and...
2. Actually no, that's it - I just have to pay a fee.

And then, depending on the fee between one and five years later I have to pay another fee.

Don't you think that's odd?

To illustrate the problem here, consider this: I just had my driver's license renewed about 2 months ago - September 2009. I have not driven a car since 2005 and that was in Spain. Before that I think it was 2003. (For the record, I get the driver's license renewed because I *might* need to drive.)

But I pay them and they rubber stamped me and I can just keep on doing this until I reach the age where they have a policy to give me a vision test.

I'm not trying to push for manditory testing everytime your driver's license expires I'm trying to point out how happy we all seem to be paying for nothing because its...just...well...the law.

My question is a basic one...what do you get for your money?

I can understand having to become initially qualified to drive on a road - that's a big part of getting the license the first time.

But after that, its not been about qualifications or safety at all - because all I do is hand the money over and in return the RTA give me a new plastic card - no questions asked - every time.

The problem is that I had a perfectly good one when I walked in.

Hmm.

Maybe the necessity is to update the picture? After all we change over time...fair enough.

But my passport picture lasts 10 years, why is this one no good after as little as one year?

Ah! Maybe its to update my address?

But no...really I could be moving house next week for all they know...plus it never comes up. They never ask about it and I don't have to prove it. I just write it on the form and it becomes official.

Its one thing to argue about what you get for your money when you are taxed, but when it is nothing....literally NOTHING...and we still line up and pay...isn't it something that no-one seems to have challeneged that fact? Indeed, most of us seem to just pay without thinking.

Now that you are thinking about it, doesn't it seem a little glaringly obvious?

Doug Suiter,
Sydney, Australia.
Saturday, 21 November 2009

____________________________________________________________________

PS - below is a query form I have sent to the RTA. Maybe they can clear this up for me.
I'll update this post when...and if...they reply.

Contact the RTA

Message Type
Question
Subject
Licensing or Registration
Message
Hello, this might sound like a strange question but I was wondering why it is that my driver's license expires after a set period of time. Since I never get re-tested, my picture on my passport gets updated far less frequently and my address can theoretically change at any time, could you please explain to me why my driver's license should expire at all. Thank you.

UPDATE:

AS AT 1 December 2009 the only response I’ve received from the RTA is this, dated Nov 21:

Sent: Saturday, 21 November 2009 10:01am
To: RTA Contact Centre
Subject: INTERNET FEEDBACK

Dear Doug,

Your email has been forwarded to the appropriate department for their attention.

Regards,
Bernadette


Customer_Service_Centre@rta.nsw.gov.au
Roads & Traffic Authority, NSW
Contact Centre
Phone 132213


UPDATE - 21 January 2010 - THE RTA’S RESPONSE:

The Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Regulation 2008 requires that:
 
o       an expiry date is shown on the licence card, and
o       an expiry date is recorded on the Road and Traffic Authority’s database, and
o       a photograph be taken for the renewal of a driver licence, and
o       ongoing eyesight, medical and driving assessments be undertaken depending on the customer's age, licence class and medical condition(s) for the renewal of a driver licence.
 
The Regulation also sets the licensing fees.
 
Periodic renewal of a driver licence is  required to allow updating of the photograph of the licence holder.
 
Licensing fees charged in NSW are reflective of the cost of developing, delivering and maintaining the driver licensing system. The revenue collected by the RTA may be used to fund road safety and construction initiatives which are of benefit to the wider community.
 
I trust this clarifies the matter.

My Thoughts:

I guess its just in my case - that of a healthy young person - that it feels so much like a tax. But I cannot deny that making sure other drivers can see properly is a valuable service for all.

The thing that remains with me is the arbitrariness of the fee. If it was doubled tomorrow, all of the above answers would remain the same. nd you would stil have to pay it. I know the reply says “Licensing fees charged in NSW are reflective of the cost of developing, delivering and maintaining the driver licensing system.” but in the very next breath it says “The revenue collected by the RTA may be used to fund road safety and construction initiatives which are of benefit to the wider community”.

I am not against a driver’s license...but it would be great to see it being issued by, say, three or four competing companies. A bit like getting your diver’s lisence or a learning to swim or getting software accreditation.

I’m glad I went through this exercise though - that sort of thought exercise is exactly what this blog is for

21 January 2010.