Olivia has to retake her license… because of an administrative error: check your document carefully as soon as you receive it!
Olivia filed a complaint with the mediator, convinced that she had been the victim of an error. He would have been given a bad license. Not easy to prove… Especially since AutoSécurité does not keep its archives forever. Explanations.
Journalist in the General Editorial Office
Published on 10/25/2024 at 07:00
Among the 4,807 complaints received last year by the mediator of the Walloon Region and the French Community, is that of a motorist, Olivia (not her real name). A problem with his driving license…
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Olivia checked by the police
During a police check, she was fined: she was driving a car with a manual gearbox while her B license, with code 78, limited her to driving a vehicle with an automatic gearbox. Olivia claims that she successfully presented her practical license in 2017 and declares that she passed it with a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission. She has always driven this type of vehicle, she says. According to her, the error came from the examination center which made a request to the municipal administration with code 78. She then contacted AutoSécurité who informed her that the only solution was for her to retake her practical license. She refuses, because she feels she has the right to do so.
The mediator calls AutoSécurité
She filed a complaint with the mediator, who in turn contacted AutoSécurité to find out if its services had proof that would corroborate the complainant’s statements and put an end to this dispute, avoiding her having to retake her license. “Unfortunately,” concludes the mediator, “given the delay, AutoSécurité is unable to verify with which specific vehicle the practical examination was carried out. The computer software, however, indicates two failures by Madame with a manual gearbox and one success with an automatic gearbox. In the absence of tangible evidence, the complaint is closed.” Olivia will therefore have to retake her license if she wants to continue driving with a manual gearbox. Was Olivia telling the truth or not? We’ll never know. A word of advice: check that your license corresponds to the exam as soon as you receive it. Because AutoSécurité does not keep its archives forever!
Archives over 10 years, but not before 2017
Contacted by us, AutoSécurité explains to us that it no longer has archives for years prior to 2017. “We cannot go back further, because it was that year that we installed new software. Otherwise, we must keep our archives for 10 years,” explains Pierre-Laurent Fassin, spokesperson.
A total of 280 complaints only in 2023
He adds: “Out of 214,980 practical and theoretical exams organized in 2023, there were only 280 complaints, of which only 7 were founded. This mainly concerned billing problems with driving schools.”
