international driver
 

Hi,

last summer my friend, who failed his L 3 times decided to get his driver license in his native country and get an international permit so he can drive in Canada. Upon arriving in canada to turn his license into a N, he found out that he needed to have the foreign license for 2 years before it can be a N. So because of his, he decides to wait and drive around in his parent's car with his international permit (he is a permanent resident by the way).

What im wondering is,
what happens if he gets pulled over
or
what happens if he gets in an accident? would ICBC cover him at all?

he keeps insisting that it's okay, and that he already been pulled over and let off.
thanks

It is not ok. The law says you have to change to a BC DL within 6 mts if you are a BC resident. He will not be covered by ICBC in a crash.

Tell him his luck is going to run out and when it does, you don't want to be anywhere near him.

He is an unlicensed driver in British Columbia. If you are a resident of British Columbia and are eligible for a BC drivers license (which he is as he has failed the test 3 times), you can not drive here on an International License.

If he is pulled over by the police he will get a ticket for "no drivers licence" and have his vehicle towed if he can't find a licensed driver. I don't know what ICBC would do with him if he was involved in an accident.

^ what about a visitor who is just coming to Canada for 2 weeks with his/her International license?

a visitor is not a resident of BC, therefore good to go.

Thanks for the info so far !

Not entirely correct. If the driver's licence isn't easily identifiable as a driver's licence, it is best to have the Motor Vehicle Branch issue a letter that verifies the information on the licence and that it is in fact a valid licence. I had a "Chinese licence" the other week with some documents in Chinese and an English translation from a translator "in China" handed to me. I don't read Chinese, and even if I did, how am I to know what a valid and legitimate Chinese driver's licence looks like? The documents the driver provided were on A4 paper that can be bought at any stationary-carrying store and printed off any printer by any Joe Blow and a computer that types out Chinese characters.
So, the vehicle was towed and the driver was issued a ticket for driving with no driver's licence.

so what happens to a visitor with IDL and gets in crash with a rental or family car

If it was a rental, one would hope that the rental company would have made sure an international traveller purchased insurance coverage for the duration of the rental. I'm not sure exactly how it would work if they didn't or even could not purchase the insurance coverage.

If they were driving a family vehicle, say from the US, the US insurance company would be dealt with via ICBC.

As someone who's been involved in a crash with an idiot from out of country... I can say IT SUCKS because ICBC doesn't give you any $$$ for injuries.

I was off work for months, and not a cent for it. ICBC doesn't cover you if you get smoked by someone from out of country.... so if you support your friend in driving illegally here, and they hurt someone... good luck buddy.

How the heck do you fail the L test that many times and give up?

And don't BS me saying he doesn't know English well, as the test is available in different languages as well...

i know international students can get away with it if they are going to school.. i'm not sure about him though.. i think he might need BC license

As I have said in here before, an IDP is NOT a license. It is a translation of your license into other languages for the convenience of others. You need to produce at least the license to police and the IDP just goes along with it to make things easier.

IDPs are also only valid for a limited amount of time. Some of my Korean and Japanese students have been busted for driving on an IDP despite staying here for longer than 6 months. it seems for them at least, that when staying for >6 months, you must convert your native license into a BCDL.

It has been posted earlier that they have to apply to MVB within the first 30 days for exemption from having a BC DL..AND have to be a legit student as well. If they do not make the 30 day deadline they are not exempt and are not "touring on holiday" so they cannot continue past the 3 months without BC DL.