The police powerless around driver’s license tourism | The World of Technology

Recently, there has been a lot of reporting about the so-called driving license tourism, a phenomenon that basically involves buying a driver’s license in, for example, Romania without needing a theory test or driving test and then converting it to a Swedish one. According to Sveriges Radio, which tested doing exactly this, criminals are behind the process – but according to the authorities, it is not illegal and therefore not a crime.

– When we carry out traffic checks, we can only see if a driver’s license is Swedish and valid or not, if it is Swedish, the driver’s license check has been carried out and we move on. We cannot see if the driver’s license was issued incorrectly before it was converted to Swedish, so we cannot do anything as a police officer, says Erling Andersson, police commissioner at the national operational department, NOA, at the police.

However, it has happened that the police have arrested people and reported them, but that the cases are difficult to solve. Sveriges Radio recently reported on a designated gang criminal who was arrested for carelessness, illegal driving and speeding – all of the highest degree. Therefore, the police considered that he was not suitable to have a driver’s license in Sweden. Then he bought one in Romania and then changed it to Swedish. And this case has been taken to court where the man was convicted, but he denies the crime and has appealed the verdict.

Another case was ruled by the Supreme Court recently, which may mean that cases like this may end the same way. The person in question was acquitted, as the phenomenon of driver’s license tourism is not considered a crime.

– About a week ago, a person who used this method, “driving license tourism”, was acquitted in the Supreme Court. He was acquitted of both offenses of using a false document and illegal driving. So it is not worth it for us to spend time and resources on reporting even if we suspect that something happened on incorrect grounds, says Erling Andersson.

But what do you think about this happening?
– It is very unfortunate, of course. Both that there are people with driving licenses that were not issued correctly, but also that it works this way in other EU countries. And it has long been the case that people have driven around with a Swedish driver’s license even though you may not know the traffic rules here, for example if you got your driver’s license in Greece in the 60s and then converted it to a Swedish one much later. But unfortunately it’s probably something we have to live with.

What should be done about the situation?
– The ball is in the Transport Authority’s court, but they are also tied behind. If there is to be a change, the subject must be addressed at EU level. We have to trust the driving license authorities and that they investigate this and come up with a solution, Erling Andersson concludes.