
A little car you can drive in France without a licence - smacktoward
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572
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jaclaz
That is not "France" (typically or only), it is an EU wide thing with only a
few little differences between countries, they are "quadricycles" that can be
either L6E or L7E, depending on weight and max speed/power:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadricycle_(EU_vehicle_classi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadricycle_\(EU_vehicle_classification\))

The article above has only a few country specific entries, though.

In France only people born before 1988 can actually drive a L6E vehicle
"without license", people born later need some form of certificate (not an
actual "full" driving license, still there is a throey and practice
requirement) see (Axiam is one of the "big" producers of these vehicles):

[https://www.aixam.com/en/legislation](https://www.aixam.com/en/legislation)

A good visualization of the EU classification for these vehicles is on page 10
of this .pdf:

[http://eu-live.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EU-LIVE_D_4.3_L...](http://eu-
live.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EU-LIVE_D_4.3_L6e_Vehicle_Concept.pdf)

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pjc50
Reminds me of the old Robin Reliant; I believe the 3-wheelers were exempt from
licensing in the UK, or counted as "motorcycles". Some manufacturers have
attempted to do the same with electric vehicles such as the Renault Twizy.

(The French insistence on maintaining rural life exactly unchanged is charming
- most of the time)

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pard68
Is it easier to get motorcycle license than a car license over there? In the
States you must have your normal car/truck driver's license before you can get
a motorcycle license. Or at least, this is the case in the three states I know
well.

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pjc50
Varies by country, but per the article France will let you drive one of the
"VSP"s without any pre-requisites, and even if you've _lost_ your car license
due to drink driving.

[https://www.justlanded.com/english/France/Articles/Travel-
Le...](https://www.justlanded.com/english/France/Articles/Travel-
Leisure/Motorcycles-in-France) : "From the age of 14, children can ride a
moped with an engine capacity below 50cc capable of a maximum speed of 45kph"
(!)

The UK used to let you drive a moped on a provisional license, but nowadays it
requires compulsory training. Effectively they are two separate licenses you
can learn either before the other.

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azepoi
I think you need the AM license but strangely only for people born after 1987.
Still a joke compared to a regular B license. And a court order can if
specified forbid you to drive these too.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence#Categ...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_driving_licence#Categories_valid_in_all_EEA_member_states)

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mcv
I have no idea what the law about this is in Netherland. We do have these kind
of little cars for people with disabilities, but sometimes I wonder if they
are the only people using these. No idea what kind of license or other
requirements there are, though.

Kids can ride scooters from age 14 here, and I do believe (some of?) these
mini cars fall under similar rules. On the other hand, police are pretty
strict on scooters and proper registration as far as I know.

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wil421
Not sure if it’s like this in all states but in Georgia people with a
questionable drivers license status have been buying scooters. If the
scooter’s engine is under a certain CC and can only go like 30/35mph you won’t
get pulled over. People with DUIs, crazy driving records, and whatever other
issues are driving them. In most situations it impedes traffic and causes some
dangerous situations on main roads.

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non-entity
I've lived in GA, SC, and now FL and they seem to be pretty common there. They
do seem to carry a negative stereotype, however.

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PaulRobinson
I’m sat on the Eurostar as I type this coming back from a long weekend in
Paris. I’ve been before, but this time spent a bit more time on the roads.

1\. I completely believe that the French think that somebody should be able to
drive without any training

2\. This is not a compliment, and something really needs to be done to manage
drivers and traffic better in France.

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thatfrenchguy
You technically need a BSR, which you usually do in middle school, so it’s not
“without training”.

Getting a driving license in France is actually hard, requires 20h of lessons,
and has a 50% failure rate. If you compare that to a driving test in the US
which is super easy and impossible to fail.

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PhantomGremlin
_Getting a driving license in France is actually hard, requires 20h of
lessons, and has a 50% failure rate. If you compare that to a driving test in
the US which is super easy and impossible to fail._

This varies by state, and by age, because Federalism.

E.g. in Oregon teenagers need 100 hours of supervised driving (e.g. with a
parent) behind the wheel, or 50 hours supervised driving plus an approved
drivers education course. That course has 30 hours of classroom instruction
and 5 hours of driving instruction with a professional.

