As a Victorian it is worthwhile having an IDP simply because my licence does not adequately identify me as being licenced rider.

It states my licence type as being "car" and "R". Car is self explanatory but how many international police officers will be able to translate "R" as meaning I am a licenced morocycle "R"ider?

By comparison, the IDP clearly identifies whether or not you are licenced to ride a motorcycle.

In addition, thrice in the last 2 years I have been requested to show my licence (once each in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines), and each time when I showed them my Vic licence they handed it back and said no, I want to see the IDP.

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Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

Hello Rob:

I don't mean to sound like I am giving you a hard time (that is not my intention at all), but, I think you are missing the point.

An IDP is nothing more than a translation into multiple languages of a driver licence. By itself, it confers no privileges. An IDP exists for the sole purpose of enabling people in foreign countries to see what type of vehicle you are allowed to drive according to your home country driver licence, and to see that information in about 6 different languages. An IDP has no validity in the home country of the holder.

IDPs were first issued in 1926. Today, they are about as useful as traveller's cheques, which is to say that yes, IDPs still exist, and yes, if you want to be very very careful when travelling in strange and exotic countries, you should probably carry one. I carry one, because I travel in a lot of very exotic countries (about 60 different ones a year before I retired in 2013, now, only about 15 different ones each year). But, the last time I actually needed to pull it out and present it was in Angola back in 1990.

The main point - so far as the insurance issue is concerned - is that without an underlying national licence (which one is, in theory, obligated to present for inspection along with the IDP), the IDP is worthless.

For that reason, I have a very hard time believing that an insurance company from the rider's home country would refuse to honour a claim from a person who was operating a motor vehicle while possessing a valid national driver licence from their home country. It's simply not an issue for the insurance company... the only issue for them is whether the driver was properly licenced to begin with, which implies the underlying national licence, not the IDP.

This Wikipedia page explains the whole thing in great detail: Click Here.

Michael

Rob:

Just a follow-up to a comment I made 3 weeks ago in this same discussion (way up in reply #3) - you will need an oval nationality sticker on the back of your bike if you take it outside of Australia (other than, perhaps, to NZ or PNG). I've posted a picture of such a sticker on the back of my bike below.

You will probably not be able to easily find such a sticker for sale in Australia, simply because it is rather difficult for Australian tourists to drive from Australia into neighboring countries. Your national auto association might have these stickers, if they don't, you can get a local sign shop to make one up for you. If you give the sign shop sufficient lead time (so that they can make your sticker on a run they are already making with white adhesive plastic for someone else), it shouldn't cost you more than $10.

Regards,
Michael

Nationality Sticker

I'm wondering about the need for an oval country sticker. I've never had one to accompany my USA-registered bike in 60 or 70 countries--Europe, South America, parts of Africa and Asia. I thought they were required for EU residents, not others. Is that wrong?

As far as the IDP, I've been required to have one on very rare occasions--so rare that it's difficult to remember exactly where. Guyana and Ghana stick out in my fading memory, plus maybe once in Ukraine. It never hurts to carry one, although the cost and one-year validity tend to irritate.

I've never had an insurable accident on a bike, therefore have no clue whether an IDP matters to insurance companies. There are reports from time to time from people who've needed an IDP to lease or rent a bike, but I haven't had this problem either when I've rented locally.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Hello Mark:

The oval sticker (International Circulation Mark, to be pedantic about it) is required by the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 1949 and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of 1968.

There are some exceptions to when the sticker is not needed, for example, as a result of treaties between Canada, Mexico, and the USA, it is not needed between vehicles of those three countries when in each other, and it is not needed within the EC if a vehicle is equipped with the new EC specification plate that has the country code on the left side of the plate.

Otherwise, it is obligatory.

This Wikipedia entry provides further explanation: International Vehicle Registration Codes

Michael

I see the explanation in your link, but my experience is so totally contrary that I have to wonder: do people from the States, Canada or Latin America really use these stickers? As I said, I never have and have never even considered doing so. In fact, my travel bike has featured a few counterfeits instead--an oval "ADV" sticker, a similar "MV" sticker for the island I used to live on.

Mark

I don't know... I rarely see another motorcycle from North America when I am riding in Europe.

It is common to see motos from the UK with 'GB' stickers on the back of them... I don't think that the UK has got around to issuing the new Euro-spec licence plates for motorcycles yet (or, perhaps, the riders have not bothered to go get a new plate).

It is very common to see cars from other countries with the appropriate sticker for their country on the back of the car... most especially Swiss cars, with the 'CH' sticker, because the Swiss don't use Euro-spec licence plates.

Michael

PS: You used to live in the Maldives? I spent 3 months there back in 2011, living in the Hulhule Island Hotel while training pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians. Went over to Malé once - I have never seen such overcrowding in my life, I am amazed that the friggin' island didn't sink under the weight.

The point you're missing is that, in some countries (Russia, for example), foreign licences are not valid if not carried together with a legalised translation or IDP. You may get away without one 99% of the time, but every once in a blue moon someone gets taken to the cleaners on a legal technicality.

For example: you cause an accident, the police report says that you aren't licenced, therefore your local third-party insurance is deemed invalid and as a result your international comprehensive insurance coverage doesn't cover that country. It isn't a far-fetched scenario, merely a rare occurrence.