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[The Farce that is the] DVLA 6th September 2005
Biking brings out the rebel in us. It's all about freedom - nobody telling you what to do or where to go.
Assuming, that is, you've got a licence.
But Watchdog has heard from bikers who have had to retake their tests after their licence to ride has disappeared from the DVLA's records.
Dave Bell from Kent passed his bike test in 1970. He's also qualified as an HGV driver. But when he updated from a paper license to a photocard, the card came back with a photo of somebody else, his bike license was erased, and a new coach driving category had been added.
He sent the DVLA all the evidence he could to prove he had a bike licence but this wasn't enough.
The DVLA sent back a letter telling him to renew his category H - for driving tanks!
Shah Mushod works as a bus driver. He was also qualified to drive motorbikes, cars, lorries, coaches and fire engines. But his new photo ID card came back from the DVLA with only a motorbike entitlement. He wasn't able to work, or even take the kids to school, and ended up spending around £2,000 retaking all his driving tests.
When you send in your old licence it's destroyed by the DVLA after three months. So if your records have been entered into their database incorrectly, you could be in trouble.
According to official reports, a third of the DVLA's records may be wrong.
The DVLA say their main duty is to uphold road safety and they take that responsibility very seriously.
They also point out that most of the inaccuracies in the DVLA database relate to address details, not vehicle categories.
BBC 1 Watchdog. Broadcast September 6th 2005 at 07:00pm.
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