Driving Miss Crazy: the UK's outdated driving licenses

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) processes the licences of men and women differently. This is despite the issue being raised with the agency seven years ago.

Driving licences automatically include the titles of women – mostly in the Mrs, Miss or Ms format – while men do not have their titles printed unless they are honorific (doctor, reverend, etc).

The agency has repeatedly refused to change this practice, which appears to place importance on women’s marital status, but not on men’s. The Women’s Equality Party (WEP) is astounded this sort of unequal treatment still exists. ‘This is not a complex matter,’ points out WEP leader Sophie Walker. ‘These processes are clearly discriminatory, and the DVLA has been aware of this issue for long enough to have done something about it.'

The issue was brought to the attention of the DVLA in 2010 in a Freedom of Information request[1] by Zoe O’Connell, who is now a Liberal Democrat councillor. ‘There is no reason for any form of gender identification on official documentation,' says O'Connell, 'and when it comes to titles on driving licences, why should someone need to know if I’m married?’ She points out that, despite the need for exceptionally high security levels, the armed forces removed all gender identifiers from their military IDs around 10 years ago[2].

In March 2017, Emma James of Guildford wrote to the DVLA querying the practice. In its response, it stated, ‘The DVLA does not print Mr on licences but does print Miss, Mrs, Ms or other... If you do not wish your licence to display a title, send your current licence with a covering letter requesting it be removed.’

The DVLA and the Department for Transport both refused to answer The Guardian's question as to why male and female licences are printed differently. Instead, the DVLA said that anyone could choose the ‘No Title’ option, which is seventh on a list of eight options in the online application form.

A petition https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/194720 has been started to attempt to force a debate in parliament, particularly given the possibility that the DVLA is contravening the Equalities Act 2010, section 19[3]. In the meantime, if you would like your title removed from your licence, write to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN. Perhaps the additional workload will spur it into joining the 21st century.

[1] https://www.complicity.co.uk/blog/2010/08/dvla-foi-request-driving-licence-titles/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_number

[3] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/19