A driver's license or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public road. Such licenses are often plastic and the size of a credit card.
In most international agreements the wording "driving permit" is used, for instance in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the USA the terms "driver license" or "driver's license" are used, while in British English and in many former British colonies the term is "driving licence".
The laws relating to the licensing of drivers vary between jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, a permit is issued after the recipient has passed a driving test, while in others a person acquires their permit or a learner's permit before beginning to drive. Different categories of permit often exist for different types of motor vehicles, particularly large trucks and passenger vehicles. The difficulty of the driving test varies considerably between jurisdictions, as do factors such as age and the required level of competence and practice.
History
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. Up until the start of the 20th century, European authorities issued similar permits to drive motor vehicles ad hoc, if at all.
Mandatory licensing for drivers in the United Kingdom came into force on 1 January 1904 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 speed limit. Compulsory testing was introduced in 1934, with the passing of the Road Traffic Act.
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. 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.
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.
As traffic-related fatalities soared in North America, public outcry provoked legislators to begin studying the French and German statutes as models. 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. In July 1913, the state of New Jersey became the first to require all drivers to pass a mandatory examination before being licensed.
In 1909, the Convention with Respect to the International Circulation of Motor Vehicles 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, .
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".
In 1968, the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, ratified in 1977 and further updated in 2011, further modernised these agreements.
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).