Driving Without a Driver's License
Hello,
I'm an American having lived in Sweden for the last 3 years.
What are my options and implications for this situation?
Ideally I would like to finish getting my Driver's license since all I have left is to pass the written / driving tests.
But recently, I got caught speeding by a traffic camera in Uddevalla and my U.S.A. driver's license grace period is surely over by now since I got my personal number at the end of 2016 I believe.
Worst case I'm assuming is they connect the speeding to a driver without a license and try to "prosecute" me on that as well. Or should I just give them my information for the form they've sent asking for my driver's details: UPPGIFT OM FÖRARE VID HASTIGHETSÖVERTRÄDELSE
Thoughts?
Thanks so much :)
Lawline svarar
Your grace period is over if you're a Swedish citizen or if you've been living here for at least one year according to the national register (Sw. folkbokförd).
You'll probably receive a speeding ticket at around 1 500 - 4 000 SEK and likely be prosecuted for driving without a valid license. Prosecution would result in fines that completely depend on your income and family situation, could be any amount between 1 500 and 30 000 SEK.
Speeding ticket is unavoidable. Prosecution could be avoided if you could show that you didn't have knowledge of that your foreign license is invalid, since the prosecutor has to prove that you drove with the legal intention of driving without a license. Due to your ambition to obtain a Swedish license (in order to drive legally), it would be hard for you to claim ignorance.
A conviction would appear in your criminal record for a few years before disappearing. It could also result in a revocation period (Sw. spärrtid) in which you cannot obtain your Swedish driver's license. If you do get a revocation period, it probably wont last more than a couple of months.
Your options are
1. Claim someone else drove the car. This option completely depends if they caught your face on the camera and that you present a plausible story. The person you blame must have a valid license. He or she would receive the ticket, but you'd avoid the criminal charge.
2. Claim ignorance regarding the Swedish license requirement. The fact that you're about to obtain a Swedish license may destroy your chances.
3. Confess to the police and make a plea deal (Sw. strafföreläggande) with the prosecutor in order to minimize the penalty. Prosecution and conviction would probably comprise of you being interrogated by the police and you signing a document pleading guilty and accepting the set fine by the prosecutor. So, no court date.
I'll call you on Thursday at around 2 pm to discuss this further.
Soroosh Parsa / soroosh.parsa@lawline.se
