{"id":1178,"date":"2015-04-14T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktheorytesttoday.com\/?p=1178"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T09:07:57","slug":"dvla-challenged-by-dad-over-right-to-wear-religious-headgear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/dvla-challenged-by-dad-over-right-to-wear-religious-headgear\/","title":{"rendered":"DVLA challenged by Dad over right to wear \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcReligious\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Headgear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our blog research uncovers some bizarre stories related to motoring. This week, Book Theory Test Today came across a story that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out of this world, involving a Dad and his battle with the DVLA over his driving licence picture. Find out what all the fuss is about, here…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Book Theory Test Today<\/strong><\/a> says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to know where to begin with this. Part of us is like \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcis this guy serious, did he do this for a dare?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 However, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve actually grown quite accustomed to such bizarre stories, so if the man wants to wear a colander on his head in his driving licence picture and challenge the DVLA who are we to argue?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The story centres on Ian Harris who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a member of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcChurch of the Flying Spaghetti Monster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not reading this wrong and no, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a joke. Followers of this \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcreligion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 are known as \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPastafarians\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, and they view the colander as a religious garment.<\/span><\/p>\n

DVLA challenge<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Mr Harris can be seen wearing his \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcreligious garment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in a photo submitted to the DVLA as part of a request to change the photograph on his current driving licence. However, the DVLA has told him to remove the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgarment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite clearly a colander.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Ian of Brighton, East Sussex, is challenging the DVLA over his right to wear the colander in his driving licence photo. He says that his headgear is the equivalent of Muslim women being pictured in hijabs.<\/span><\/p>\n

DVLA refusal<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The DVLA has already refused Mr Harris\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 request, but undeterred, he sent off a new photo donning the headgear in a second attempt to have the photo feature on his driving licence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Harris, a father of one, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fighting for the right to have my religious headgear shown on my photo. I don’t understand why the DVLA should be able to discriminate whether my religion is valid. I have a spiritual connection with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, until they have brain probes how are they going to say I don’t.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our religion is a minority but the DVLA is discriminating because it allows people who practice major religions to wear headgear in pictures.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s second attempt was refused by the DVLA on March 13, but he believes he has a case and referred to a fellow believer, Niko Alm, an Austrian who won the legal right to wear his headgear in a driving licence photo in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Harris and his four-year-old daughter, Astri, both follow the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcreligion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that started in the USA in 2005. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a protest against the teaching of creationism as an alternative to evolution in science classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the DVLA said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The photograph must be clear and be a current likeness to allow the police to link the driver to driving entitlement held without confusion or ambiguity. Headgear is generally not acceptable, but may be permissible on religious or medical grounds and any exemptions are dealt with on a case by case basis.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

What headgear is permitted?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Book Theory Test Today says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Current exemptions regarding religious wear apply to the Sikh faith and the turban and the Islamic faith and the hijab.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Harris has said he will fight the DVLA until he runs out of appeals in a bid to see the colander classed as a religious garment.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When I get to the final appeal I will have to send a photo without a colander but that would be a bad day for religious freedom.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Book Theory Test Today offers an intermediary service assisting clients with booking a UK theory test, or practical test, at test centres<\/strong><\/a> across the nation. The service also supplies resources to help you prepare for your theory test \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ready to take your theory test? Book your theory test online today\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our blog research uncovers some bizarre stories related to motoring. This week, Book Theory Test Today came across a story that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out of this world, involving a Dad and his battle with the DVLA over his driving licence picture. Find out what all the fuss is about, here…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,77],"tags":[111,158,117,174,129,248,247,126],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-theory-test-today-news","category-uk-driving-law","tag-book-theory-test-today-2","tag-book-your-theory-test","tag-book-your-theory-test-online","tag-book-your-theory-test-online-today","tag-driving-licence","tag-driving-licence-picture","tag-dvla","tag-uk-theory-test"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}