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Whilst the Government appears to be concentrating on the big issues such as free trade, immigration, security etc. work is still being done on the detail. Auto Express has been asking experts about some of the areas that are worrying Brits travelling abroad.

The first area of concern is driving licences. Will we need a special licence to enable Brits to drive in the EU? Some leaked EU presentation slides suggested that UK licences would no longer be recognised across the EU Bloc. Lawyer, Laura Newton who specialises in motoring and transport, for Rothera Sharp said that this is unlikely.

She believes that the UK driving licence will continue to be acceptable across the EU without additional paperwork required. As she pointed out the UK driving licence is already acceptable outside the EU in Commonwealth countries such as Australia as well as China and the USA where you can use your UK licence for 6 months before it has to be re-issued.

With that system working perfectly well Laura believes that there is no reason why the scheme could not continue post-Brexit. Expecting every driver to apply for an International Driving Licence to permit drivers to drive in each EU country would simply not be desirable or make sense. Added to this is the fact that we will be embedding EU law into UK laws post-Brexit, as they are at the moment, even from a legal viewpoint there is no reason to introduce additional controls.

Even if the UK wants to change or introduce new laws it is estimated that it will take 10-15 years with any changes most likely to be technology related – say automated or driverless cars rather than changes to existing motoring laws. So it’s unlikely that there will be too many arguments against allowing us to use our GB licences in Europe.

The next issue was car safety, would being outside the EU have an effect on safety standards applied to new cars? Well according to the secretary general of the Global New Car Assesment Programme (Global NCAP), David Ward, it will render the UK a ‘Second-hand Dealer’ in car safety. I’m not sure what he meant by that but he went on to say that Brexit meant withdrawing from a complex eco-system of vehicle regulation’, with the UK’s influence in vehicle safety diminishing. Not sure about that either but it looks pretty bad!

On the other hand Matthew Avery who is director of research at Thatcham Research assured us by saying that Brexit won’t reduce vehicle safety because the UK is a signatory to the UN type approval agreement which is the main process governing vehicle safety. He explained to Auto Express, ‘It has almost identical test procedures to those in the EC.’ ‘So even when we leave, our vehicles will still be aligned to the rest of Europe.’

In purely practical terms it wouldn’t make sense to have our own set of safety standards with so many of our cars being sold in Europe and vice-versa. Future EC directives, such as the proposed mandatory fitment of new tech such as autonomous emergency braking are likely to be adopted by the UK anyway. It wouldn’t make sense to have different designs for different countries. Thatcham, at the forefront of safety in the UK, will continue to be a member of the voluntary programme, Euro NCAP whilst possibly setting the bar higher putting pressure on manufacturers to achieve a new UK five star rating.

As was pointed out we don’t have to be a member of the EC to be a member of Euro NCAP. So Brexit will have no effect. Although, not being a member state when safety is being discussed by the remaining members, means that we will no longer carry the same weight as we did as a leading safety member of the EU influencing decisions.

What will happen to car insurance? As it currently stands all UK motorists have basic insurance cover while driving through EC member countries. The question is will Brits have to pay for extra cover if they drive around various EU countries post Brexit? Initially, it was felt by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), that motorists would need to revert to the old ‘Green Card’ system, whereby they had to apply for and pay for a special cover note before travelling to the continent. However, Ben Howarth, ABI’s senior policy advisor, motor and liability, said the paperwork would not be necessary.

The Government has made it clear that it wants to keep us within the Motor Insurance ‘Free Circulation Zone’. He explained that this would mean that drivers and hauliers should not have to pay for Green Card documentation from insurers when they travel in EU member states after Brexit. Apparently, this is a significant development, and once the Commission has agreed it, which is expected, it means that drivers, haulage operators and insurers will not face the considerable administrative disruption associated with the issuing of Green cards and also avoid border checks.

The ABI advises that drivers check their policies post Brexit as they may not carry the same level of cover that they are forced to carry whilst part of the EU. What is it they say? The devil is in the detail – and so it is with Brexit! By Graham Hill