the legal stuff
The law's the law and that means that YOU are responsible for your actions as a road user and driver. To drive, you need a driving licence and motor insurance cover. Your car ( and any one you drive) will need a valid MOT.
Once you've got your driving licence you'll want to keep it. It gets harder to get back if you lose it - so the last thing you'll want to do is lose your licence.
If you own a car that's driven on the public road then you have to have Road Tax and display a valid tax disc correctly on your vehicle. Revenue raised by the government through road tax and fuel duty isn't all used for road building or maintainance — of the £38billion collected in 2006 only £9billion was. The rest goes into the government's coffers and could be spent on anything — public transport or the health service, for example.
You also must have motor insurance to cover the cost of injury or damage if you are involved in an accident. Statistically you will be involved in an accident at some stage of your driving career but you are at much greatest risk while you are young.
If your car is over 3 years old it must have valid MOT certificate. This shows that on the day that the certificate was issued the car was roadworthy. But having an MOT certificate doesn't guarantee that your car is roadworthy today — tyres wear out, exhausts start to leak, bulbs blow and worse. It is your responsibility to keep your car roadworthy and the Police do take an interest…
Driving without a driving licence, road tax, insurance or an MOT certificate is illegal and can have very serious consequences which may result in the loss of your licence or your car.
