| Hi Ains
Further to our e-mails, (and with apologies if I misled regarding Zimbabwe):
Having looked further into the vagaries of the UK licensing system, it seems that licence holders from certain 'designated' countries (as well as most of those in the EU) are offered a straight licence swap.
In general, most of the African countries are excluded, but for some reason Zimbabweans are looked upon favourably!
Others 'designated' and so favoured include:
Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Faulkland Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Switzerland.
With regard to your accident:
The fact that a Zimbabwean was involved as the third party (and was quite possibly driving on UK roads having had little or no further training) may go some way to explaining its true cause.
Ray makes a good point too. As you know, I'm a driving instructor, and I can say from experience that quite a large percentage of those who come to me for 'beginner's' lessons, are already driving illegally, and are fully capable of handling the car. In fact, some of them (mainly the boys) have been driving some kind of vehicle since they were twelve years old. By the time they're seventeen, they're practically 'old hands' and adept at every manoeuvre including handbrake turns! Moreover, even with those who generally obey the law, after passing their test the high cost of insurance means they are unable to get cover. These, (the boys again, of course), just drive illegally.
So, just be careful out there. It's a jungle..!  |