Drive in France without a licence at 14

[Conniff]

 

If you are planning on driving in France, beware - one could be heading straight for you at the next roundabout.

Carolyn Brown, who lives part of the year in Brittany, has a cautionary tale about a very small car.

 

Losing one's driving licence in the UK is a serious matter - expensive and, to say the least, very inconvenient.

But in France, no licence? No problem. You can simply go shopping for a VSP a voiture sans permis - a small

two-seater car that anyone aged 14 or over can take out on the road with as little as four hours' experience

behind the wheel, sometimes not even that.

 

It's impossible to say how many there are as no official figures exist. It is what the French call a chiffre noir - an

unknown quantity.

 

You'll probably hear them coming first, a high-pitched whine like a sewing machine being run at full throttle.

If you get stuck behind one on a windy rural lane, tant pis. Top speed is 45km per hour (28mph). It's probably a

good idea to stop in the next lay-by and admire the view for a while rather than sit fuming in its wake.

 

Link

[silverfox1961]

Now come on! What 14 year old is prepared to lose their 'street cred' driving one of the worst cars I have seen in ages. More of a motorised lawn mower.

[JoeyJoeC]

Now come on! What 14 year old is prepared to lose their 'street cred' driving one of the worst cars I have seen in ages. More of a motorised lawn mower.

 

My first car was a bright green Nissan Micra K11 ... I didn't care as long as I got to drive!

[silverfox1961]

My first car was a bright green Nissan Micra K11 ... I didn't care as long as I got to drive!

 

Blimey, I bet EVERYONE saw you coming

[citizenB]

It is an ugly vehicle for sure

[BankFodder]

There are loads of people who drive these cars and often uses elderly couples driving along and they scarcely know what they're doing.

 

One of the shocking things I have seen is advertisements in the papers or on billboards encouraging people to rent one of these while they are waiting for their licence disqualification to expire – for instance for drink-driving.

 

In case anybody is interested, France has just about the largest road fatality rate in the whole of Europe – and that is including a 25% reduction in road fatalities over the last three or four years.

 

France has broadly the same number of cars as we have in the United Kingdom get they have two and a half times the space to drive around in and yet they still managed to run into each other.

 

There was widespread outrage recently when it was suggested that the penalty for driving uninsured should be raised to a larger fine. No mention of any disqualification.

 

It is estimated that something between three and 5% of drivers in France are driving uninsured.

 

The big day for road accidents in France is July 15 – Bastille Day with a huge number of people on the roads.

 

A few years ago I saw a television report that 67 people had been killed on the road that day. It was a one-off mention and it wasn't repeated again in the next day's news.

 

– who gives a rat's arse. shrug>

[JoeyJoeC]

Blimey, I bet EVERYONE saw you coming

 

To add to the 'cringe' factor, my brother had a couple of spare 1000W sub's and amps. I defiantly had the loudest bright green Nissan Micra!

[snowdragon]

wow a pram with an engine!

[borisbeaver]

It looks like a chopped Fiat Panda!

[snowdragon]

so jealous Boris, you live in a part of the UK I absolutely love, always wanted to live in Cornwall

[borisbeaver]

It's very wet here at the moment. Stick a couple of oars on that car and you'd have a boat!

[citizenB]

There are loads of people who drive these cars and often uses elderly couples driving along and they scarcely know what they're doing.

 

One of the shocking things I have seen is advertisements in the papers or on billboards encouraging people to rent one of these while they are waiting for their licence disqualification to expire – for instance for drink-driving.

 

In case anybody is interested, France has just about the largest road fatality rate in the whole of Europe – and that is including a 25% reduction in road fatalities over the last three or four years.

 

France has broadly the same number of cars as we have in the United Kingdom get they have two and a half times the space to drive around in and yet they still managed to run into each other.

 

There was widespread outrage recently when it was suggested that the penalty for driving uninsured should be raised to a larger fine. No mention of any disqualification.

 

It is estimated that something between three and 5% of drivers in France are driving uninsured.

 

The big day for road accidents in France is July 15 – Bastille Day with a huge number of people on the roads.

 

A few years ago I saw a television report that 67 people had been killed on the road that day. It was a one-off mention and it wasn't repeated again in the next day's news.

 

– who gives a rat's arse. shrug>

 

That is very scary !

[san_d]

I believe that the new EU regulations (2014) had closed this loophole. If (and it's a big IF) this is true, France is not playing by the the rules.

[Conniff]

I believe that the new EU regulations (2014) had closed this loophole. If (and it's a big IF) this is true, France is not playing by the the rules.

 

Where did you hear this, can you link to it please ??

[san_d]

Where did you hear this, can you link to it please ??

The EU introduced the AM licence, which is supposed to be only for mopeds up to 50cc. Prior to 2014 any EU country had their own regulations with regards to motorbikes and mopeds.

 

A loophole that was used (and apparently still is) is that these above mentioned micro cars are registered as moto vehicles rather than cars, hence in some countries you didn't need a driving licence.

 

If I understand correctly, all new driving licences in Europe can be only AM (50cc mopeds), A (proper motorbikes over 50cc) or B (cars), not to mention other licences like C or D.

 

I can't see how one can drive such micro cars without a licence at all, as now you must have some sort of licence to drive any vehicle.