The danger of ‘cars for kids’ in new driving licence rules

This morning the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published a reaction to the political agreement on the revised EU rules on driving licences: 

https://etsc.eu/eu-backs-down-on-forcing-member-states-to-allow-17-year-old-lorry-drivers/

At the time of writing it was not clear what agreement had been reached on rules regarding the B1 driving licence category which applies to drivers under 18 and cars weighing up to 2.5t and speed limited to 45 km/h.  

We now understand that the final agreement permits children as young as 15 to drive these cars subject to a Member State seeking permission from the European Commission.  While it has been suggested that this is a special arrangement for Sweden, in reality it will be open to any Member State who wants it.  

Ellen Townsend, Policy Director of the European Transport Safety Council commented:

“This is an incredibly irresponsible decision that could see children as young as 15 driving SUVs around towns and cities across the EU in a few years.  It is sad and ironic that the pressure for this children’s driving licence has come from Sweden – a leader on road safety – but a country that has nevertheless allowed teenagers to drive converted cars known as A-traktors at up to 30 km/h for many years.

“These EU changes have the potential to open up driving to millions more fifteen-year-old children, driving ordinary cars and SUVs that require no conversion other than a speed limiter, at up to 45 km/h.  The European Commission’s own impact assessment warned that this would be dangerous for other road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. In a few years we could see child pedestrians and cyclists seriously injured and killed on our roads by other children driving cars – an appalling thought.” 

For further information, please see the full ETSC briefing: