Can I drive a vehicle without a driving licence (having one with me)?
It goes without saying that you cannot drive a vehicle without having the required driving licence. However, must you also have this licence with you at all times when driving the vehicle and be able to show it to the police?
Article 21 paragraph 1 of the Road Traffic Act states the following:
‘No one may drive a motor vehicle on public roads unless he holds, and also carries with him, a driving licence regularly issued in Belgium, or a foreign national or international driving licence under the conditions determined by the provisions applicable to international road traffic. The driving licence must be valid for the category to which the vehicle belongs.’
So the law states that in order to drive a motor vehicle on public roads, you must first of all hold the driving licence applicable to that vehicle. So for an ordinary passenger car, this is a category B driving licence.
In addition, the law states that the driver must also have this licence with him or her. So, strictly speaking, you cannot drive a vehicle if you do not have your licence with you (if it is still at home, at work, in another car, etc.). To establish this obligation (of holding the licence and having it with you), the legislation included the obligation to show your driving licence to the police if asked. This therefore means that you can be penalised as a driver if you:
- either do not have the driving licence with you;
- or if you do have it with you, but you refuse to show it.
Not having a driving licence in your pocket
When the police come across a driver who is willing to show his driving licence but does not have it in his pocket, they will always look up (via their own database or via the municipal services) whether the driver is in fact the holder of this driving licence. If it turns out that the driver does hold the licence, but simply does not have it in his pocket, a warning notice is usually drawn up, setting the regularisation period as short as possible. So you will be given a (short) period to go and show your driving licence at the police station, and if you do, you will not be fined.
Attention: a different situation arises if you combine this offence (not having the driving licence with you) with another offence of the traffic regulations which will result in your driving licence being immediately revoked (mainly in the case of offences involving alcohol and drugs). Indeed, in this case, you risk facing a less lenient attitude from the police forces. Your vehicle will normally be taken into police custody, together with all on-board documents. You will only get your vehicle and vehicle documents back once you have shown your driving licence to the police.
Refusing to show your driving licence
If a driver has his driving licence with him, but refuses to show his licence to the police, for example because this would be an ‘invasion of privacy’, this driver can still be punished. Of course, this only applies if the driver effectively has the driving licence with him, but simply refuses to show it, for whatever reason.
Other situations where it is impossible to show your driving licence
However, there are other cases where you ‘want to show’ your driving licence, but you are in the impossibility of showing your licence:
- If you do not hold a driving licence at all for the vehicle you are currently driving;
- If your licence has been revoked as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs;
- If you are driving a vehicle during the period of a driving ban ordered by the court (driving spite of lapse);
- etc.
Of course, in these cases, you will be subject to punishment under any other provision of the law.