SWOV positions

12 October2006

SWOV thinks it is unwise to permit 16 year olds to ride a light motorbike (up to 125cc). A motorcycle has a much higher death rate than, for example, a car. Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable in traffic. On the one hand, this has to do with the vehicle itself and, one the other hand, it is due to the age-related unsafe behaviour together with lack of knowledge and experience.

Background

On Tuesday 10th October 2006 the Council of EU Ministers of Transport agreed to a new European guideline. Apart from arranging that the driving licence gets the format of a credit card, the guideline also has consequences for motorcyclists: the minimum age for immediate access to a heavy motorcycle is raised from 21 to 24 years, and for light motorbikes it is lowered to 16 years.

Three categories

The new guideline divides motorcycles into three categories:
A1: up to 125cc
A2: up to 35 kW engine power and 0.2 kW/kg

A: all others

The Netherlands

Together with various bodies in transport and traffic, in the coming years the Ministry of Transport wants to examine which age minima are best for the Netherlands. The member states have a limited freedom to determine their own policy. There must be a 2 years difference between the age minima of the various motorbike categories, for example:

If A1 is 16, then A2 is 18, and A is 20
If A1 is 17, then A2 is 19, and A is 21

If A1 is 18, then A2 is 20, and A is 22

It is expected than the new guideline will come into effect in 2012.

SWOV position: minimum motorbike age 18

SWOV does not expect very large road safety effects from raising the minimum age for heavy motorcycles. This is mainly because only relatively few youngsters ride a motorbike.

However, SWOV does consider determining the minimum age for the A1 category an important issue in setting the age minima. SWOV would find it unwise to set the minimum age for this category at 16 years. The high death rates of young motorcyclists are a result of the vehicle and age-related characteristics. It is for this reason that the higher the minimum age, the better for the road safety of both the rider and other road users .

You can more information on the death rates of motorcyclists in our Knowledge base under Modes of transport, Motorcyclists.

The crash rates of young motorcyclists are comparable to those of yung moped riders in age characteristics. Our Knowledge base contains more information under Risk, Young road users.