Driver's License - Wikipedia

Karl Benz, inventor of the modern car, received a written "Genehmigung" (permit) from the Grand Ducal authorities to operate his car on public roads in 1888 after residents complained about the noise and smell of his Motorwagen.[1] Up until the start of the 20th century, European authorities issued similar permits to drive motor vehicles ad hoc, if at all.[1]

Mandatory licensing for drivers in the United Kingdom came into force on 1 January 1904[2] after the Motor Car Act 1903 received royal assent. Every car owner had to register their vehicle with their local government authority and be able to prove registration of their vehicle on request. The minimum qualifying age was set at 17. The "driving licence" gave its holder 'freedom of the road' with a maximum 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limit.[3] Compulsory testing was introduced in 1934, with the passing of the Road Traffic Act.[4]

Prussia, then a kingdom within the German Empire, introduced compulsory licensing on 29 September 1903. A test on mechanical aptitude had to be passed and the Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein ("steam boiler supervision association") was charged with conducting these tests.[1] In 1910, the German imperial government mandated the licensing of drivers on a national scale, establishing a system of tests and driver's education requirements that was adopted in other countries.[1]

Other countries in Europe also introduced driving tests during the twentieth century, the last of them being Belgium where, until as recently as 1977, it was possible to purchase and hold a permit without having to undergo a driving test.[5]

As traffic-related fatalities soared in North America, public outcry provoked legislators to begin studying the French and German statutes as models.[6] On 1 August 1910, North America's first licensing law for motor vehicles went into effect in the U.S. state of New York, though it initially applied only to professional chauffeurs.[7] In July 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before being licensed.[8]

In 1909, the Convention with Respect to the International Circulation of Motor Vehicles[9] recognized the need for qualifications, examination, and authorization for international driving.

The notion of an "International Driving Permit" was first mooted in an international convention held in Paris in 1926.[10]

In 1949, the United Nations hosted the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic that standardised rules on roads, occupants, rules, signs, driver's permits and such. It specified that national "driving permits" should be pink and that an "International Driving Permit" for driving in a number of countries should have grey covers with white pages and that "The entire last page shall be drawn up in French".[11][12]

In 1968, the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, ratified in 1977 and further updated in 2011, further modernised these agreements.[13]

Its main regulations about drivers permits are in Annex 6 (Domestic Driving Permit) and Annex 7 (International Driving Permit). The currently active version of those is in force in each contracting party no later than "29 March 2011" (Article 43).

Article 41 of the convention describes key requirements:

• every driver of a motor vehicle must hold appropriate documentation;
• "driving permits" can be issued only after passing theoretical and practical exams, which are regulated by each country or jurisdiction;
• Contracting parties shall recognize as valid for driving in their territories:
• "domestic driving permits" conforming to the provisions of Annex 6 to the convention;
• an "International Driving Permit" conforming to the provisions of Annex 7 to the convention, on condition that it is presented with the corresponding domestic driving permit;
• "domestic driving permits" issued by a contracting party shall be recognised in the territory of another contracting party until this territory becomes the place of normal residence of their holder;
• all of the above does not apply to learner-driver permits;
• the period of validity of an international driving permit shall be either no more than three years after the date of issue or until the date of expiry of the domestic driving permit, whichever is earlier;
• Contracting parties may refuse to recognize the validity of driving permits for persons under eighteen or, for categories C, D, CE and DE, under twenty-one;
• an international driving permit shall only be issued by the contracting party in whose territory the holder has their normal residence and that issued the domestic driving permit or that recognized the driving permit issued by another contracting party; it shall not be valid for use in that territory.

In 2018, ISO/IEC standard 18013 was published which established guidelines for the design format and data content of an ISO-compliant driving licence (IDL). The design approach is to establish a secure domestic driving permit (DDP) and accompanying booklet for international use, instead of the international driving permit (IDP) paper document.[14][15] The main ideology is a minimum acceptable set of requirements with regards to content and layout of the data elements, with sufficient freedom afforded to the issuing authorities of driving licences to meet domestic needs. The ISO standard specifies requirements for a card that is aligned with the UN Conventions on Road Traffic.[16] This standard however has no official mandate or recognition from the WP.1 of UNECE as a replacement for the current IDP standards as described in the 1949 and 1968 Conventions.[citation needed]

The specifications of the layout of the booklet is defined in Annex G of ISO/IEC 18013-1:2018. There are two options; a booklet with some personalisation or a booklet with no personalisation. The booklet shall be marginally larger than an ID-1 size card, with an insert pocket for storage of the card, and for convenient carrying of the booklet. The front cover should include the logo of the UN or the issuing country and the words "Translation of Driving Licence" and "Traduction du Permis de Conduire ".