Unlawful driving
I have my country driving license . But i thought when you buy the car then you drive only one year but when police stop me on the road they told me you only drive one year when you came to Sweden but i came in 2018 . Know for me which one crime
Lawline svarar
Hi! Thank you for asking Lawline.
To answer you question I am going to refer to two Swedish laws: Lagen om straff för vissa trafikbrott (road traffic law) and Körkortslagen (drivers license law).
The crime in question is unlawful driving, olovlig körning (Lag om straff för vissa trafikbrott § 3). Driving a vehicle which requires a license without having said license is against the law according to this paragraph.
A foreign license issued outside of the EES is valid for one year from when you become civil registered (folkbokförd) as living in Sweden. Thus, it is not valid one year from when you buy a car and start driving, but rather one year from when you move to Sweden (6 kap 2 § 2 st Körkortslagen). Since you came to Sweden in 2018 your foreign drivers license is no longer valid, and therefore it was illegal for you to drive.
I hope this answers your question!
