OK, I got caught speeding, and in a bad way; 83km/h on my way out of a village, so in a 50km/h zone. There really aren't many extenuating circumstances, except perhaps I could see the 80km/hr speed sign, there was no traffic (08:00 on a Saturday morning), it was uphill, and I needed the power
So, now (and I am not complaining) I of course have had a chat with the local Polizei, and they have warned me to expect a salary-based ticket, as well as 1-2 month driving ban. That I accept, as I said, I am not complaining, I got caught, I was speeding, which is exactly what I said in the police rapport.
My question is; I have my original drivers license from Greenland, and as there is no switch-over possible with Switzerland (only in the EU is that possible - go figure), my Greenlandic license has a sticker saying "not for use in Switzerland", and I have a full Swiss license. The police will of course confiscate my Swiss license, and I then cannot drive in Switzerland, but I live really close to Liechtenstein, and could actually park my car there. If I did, and drove in Liechtenstein, and the rest of Europe, would I be driving "illegally"? I know this is splitting hairs, but at least then I could go a long auto-vacation during the ban in Switzerland.
I drove outside of Switzerland when I was banned for three months using a second UK license. If both licences are legal and that is the point then you can legally drive out of Switzerland.
Please do not drive in Switzerland, I heard of someone driving in Germany with a business colleague and the plan was to swap drivers before the border. The driver was serving a ban in Switzerland , unfortunately for whatever reason they didnt swap and were stopped at the border. The fine was CHF38K and the driver in question was reported to immigration. Ouch!!
Both licenses are legally valid, I even got the Greenlandic one back from the Swiss authorities, after they had supplied it with the "Not vlaid in Switzerland" sticker.
So, just to confirm, the ban will only be in Switzerland, and if I drive in FL, or elsewhere in Europe, my insurance is still OK?
You might want to check with your SWISS insurance provider to get their opinion, that's probably a tad more reliable than the lovely people on this forum.
If you have been banned in one EU country then the ban applies in all countries with a reciprocal agreement. If you drive outside of switzerland on swiss insurance and in a swiss car and using your Greenland licence then you are driving illegally, if you do not inform your insurance company about the ban.Simply becuase your insurance is invalid because of the ban.
In your situation, I would drive with the Greenland driving licence outside of Switzerland, because the Greenland licence has not been suspended (heck, it's not even valid in Switzerland, so how could the Swiss suspend it even if they wanted to?)
The way to be 100% certain is to ask your insurance company. Or tell them Diem from englishforum said it would be OK
The OP hasn't, as I understand it, been banned in an EU country, but only in Switzerland.
However, as other have pointed out, it the insurance situation that is the important thing here. And I would suggest asking the insurance company for a premium holiday during the ban...
I am not looking for a legally binding confirmation, just the experiences of others, who perhaps have found themselves in similar situations.
And our in-house legal aid is agreeing that if I have a valid drivers license from anywhere else, which the Swiss authorities know about, then I should be fine to drive with it outside Switzerland.
I have a Geramn driver's licence because I was living in Germany at the time I did my test. I didn't at the time realise that when moving my place of residence to Switzerland I should have also changed the licence.
I hardly ever drive anyway, so that's not really a problem.
But one day I was crossing the border and the customs officer asked to see my driving licence. I produced it and he said he would turn a blind eye for now but seeing I've been living in Switzerland for 16 years, I should be driving with that.
So I contacted the Strassenverkehrsamt and they said, they are unable to change the licence because fisrtly I've been here too long, and secondly, there is a typo in my name (which I'd never noticed) and therefore the Geramn licence isn't valid anyway.
So it looks like the easiest way out will be to do th test again here in Switzerland. I will then have two licences.
dunno about other people here but i've never even met anyone with a license from greenland so "similar situations" is not something i'd know anything about.
but i would suggest you take the opportunity to simply exist without driving for a time. it's quite an interesting experience.
Yep, I can go a two week business trip, and when I come back I could go on vacation with my family, flying to somewhere, where I could rent a car on my Greenlandic license.
For 100% sure I'll abide with the ban in Switzerland, and I will probably not risk the insurance situation with my own cars in Europe.
Banned in Switzerland but with effectively a duplicate and invalid license the consensus is it's OK to drive outside of Switzerland.
Imagine... OP is stopped in Greenland and the police check up on the address on the license then investigate further and realise he's taking the mickey.
Luckily, OP also said he won't drive in Switzerland or Europe after being banned and Greenland is not on my top 1000 places to visit.
The insurance is the tricky part. Insurance companies always try hard not to pay. And if you have an accident, even if it is elsewhere, you could be hit with a very very big unsettled claim.
The OP has a ban on his Swiss licence. That means he can't drive in Switzerland and the insurance on a Swiss registered car is not valid in any country as the licence linked to his insurance is withheld.
Since he still does have a valid licence from another jurisdiction, there is nothing stopping him from renting a car or driving a car (not Swiss registered) in another country. The way I see it if you have two tests you are entitled to two licences. The Swiss themselves gave it back and just said that its not valid in Switzerland, therefore it IS valid once he crosses the border.
I too hold two valid licences. The Swiss only have authority over the Swiss one.
Actually I got the insurance when I only had the Greenlandic license, during my first year in Switzerland. I called them when I finally did get the Swiss one, to see if the premium was lowered, and they didn't care if I was using my Greenlandic license, or my Swiss one.
Not here in Switzerland obviously, but if I went home I would still drive my parents car or rent a car yes. There is no reciprocal agreement between Ireland and Switzerland and my ban would be in Switzerland on my Swiss licence. Of course if I drove in Switzerland or a Swiss registered car I would be in a world of sh!t, but across the border I am not banned.
This happens all the time. Germans who get caught excessively speeding in Switzerland or Austria or escorted to the border or have a passenger drive them to the border then they are free to drive from there. There is usually a clause on their fine that they cannot drive for x amount of time in the country they were caught in.
There was also the publicised case of Jay Kay a few years back where he was banned from driving in France (and Switzerland I think), but he could happily tootle around in his Lambo back in the UK or Germany because the driving ban did not extend across the border. Same thing happens with the cannonball drivers and those guys in the supercars who were caught in Zurich earlier in the year. The get the full brunt of the authorities here, but they still have not committed a crime outside of Switzerland. They can be banned from driving in Switzerland but not anywhere else.
If you only have a Swiss licence and you are banned in Switzerland then tough, you do not have valid licence. But if you have a licence valid for another jurasticion the ban applies to your Swiss licence and driving in Switzerland (and for insurance reason driving Swiss cars anywhere). But if you own a car in your home country then whats to stop you driving there. Remember the stamp on the licence is "Not valid in Switzerland" so they have no control of what you do with that licence or in another country.