Riding a motorcycle with a car license
The Bundesrat agreed at the end of 2019 to allow car drivers to ride motorcycles without additional testing. >> more about news
Photo: bauerstock/AUTO ZEITUNG
Car drivers are allowed to drive motorcycles under certain conditions without an additional driving test that concerns light motorcycles of the class A1 with up to 125 cubic centimeters displacement and up to 15 hp performance. AUTO ZEITUNG explains the rules.
Under certain conditions, since the end of 2019, the motorcycle driving is also possible with the car license. Since then, motorists:inside are allowed to ride light motorcycles of class A1 with a displacement of up to 125 cubic centimeters and an engine power of no more than 11 kilowatts, or 15 hp. There is no need to take an additional test, but there are rules: anyone who wants to ride a so-called 125 without a motorcycle license must be at least 25 years old, have held a Class B driver’s license for five years and have completed a course of four theoretical and five practical units at a driving school. Interested parties should expect to pay between 500 and 1000 euros for the driver’s license extension. The aim of the motorcycle initiative was to increase mobility especially in the field of electromobility- and at the same time ensure traffic safety", according to the federal ministry of transport. Especially in rural areas, motorcycling with a driver’s license should strengthen individual mobility and make traffic more climate-friendly through the use of alternative drives.
The world’s most expensive driver’s license (video):
Rules: motorcycle driving with car license
Which two-wheeled vehicles can be driven with a car driver’s license also depends on the type of driver’s license and the date of the driver’s license: drivers with a class B car driver’s license may drive vehicles in class AM (previously M). This includes two-wheeled mopeds (class l1e-B), three-wheeled mopeds (class l2e) and four-wheeled light vehicles (class l6e). They may drive at a maximum speed of 45 km/h, have a maximum displacement of 50 cc (spark-ignition engines) or 500 cc (compression-ignition engines) and a maximum power output of 5.5 hp (4 kW). Those who drove before the 1. Since april 2013, drivers who obtained their class 3 driver’s license in 1980 and are still in possession of it have been allowed to drive not only cars but also motorcycles with up to 48 hp. The only requirement is a 40-minute practical test. After two years, the legislature makes it possible to obtain a full motorcycle license, also with only one practical test. More on this topic: Are motorcyclists allowed to drive through the emergency lane in traffic jams??
Guidebook
Criticism& approval
Making it possible to ride a motorcycle with a car driver’s license was met with a lot of resistance in the run-up to the project, there was widespread sharp disapproval and indignation. Among others, driving instructors, doctors and traffic experts warn of the dangers posed by inexperienced motorcyclists and predict rising accident figures. "This can lead to even more accidents", said florian reifferscheid of the federal association of the working groups of emergency physicians in germany (BAND). Drivers are not trained to deal with the energy of a motorcycle. The German Road Safety Council (DVR) was also sharply critical. light motorcycles can travel faster than 100 km/h and are the most dangerous vehicle class in accident statistics after particularly heavily motorized motorcycles, said it in a statement. doubts also expressed by the TuV: a "short" program is not enough and especially the practical driving lessons are insufficient. Driving instructors had a similar view. "The central problem is the lack of driving skills", according to the chairman of the federal association of driving instructor associations (BVF), dieter quentin. The training is "completely inadequate," said traffic expert oliver.
News
Approval to allow motorcycling with a car license came from the FDP and the motorcycle industry association (IVM). "minister scheuer’s proposal is a step in the right direction", according to traffic expert oliver luksic (FDP). With additional driving lessons, car drivers can be trusted to drive a motorized two-wheeler with 15 hp "safely and responsibly" on taxes. And the IVM stated: "the light motorcycle is an immediately available option for relieving the burden on moving and stationary traffic, especially in highly frequented urban areas." the clean and economic vehicles could maintain the mobility in cities but also in rural areas.
Guidebook
2020: around 78.000 make use of motorcycle driving with car license& motorcycle boom
At the beginning of 2021, around one year after the new regulations on motorcycle driving with a car license came into force, according to data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), around 78.000 licenses to drive light motorcycles with 125 cubic centimeters and 11 kW registered. Already up to the age of 30. June 2020 were already about 27.000 driving licenses registered. From 1. July 2020 to 1. January 2021, the number of registrations again increased significantly: in the second half of the year, there were twice as many new registrations of the so-called "196s" as in the first six months after the new regulation came into force. The corresponding key figure was registered most frequently in the entire year 2020 for driving license holders in Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Meanwhile, in bremen, saxony, saxony-anhalt and thuringia, with less than 120 authorizations per 100.000 residents:inside to a lesser extent made use of the new regulation on motorcycle driving with a car license.
traffic law
By the end of 2020, about a year after a regulation made it easier to drive a motorcycle with a car license, the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recorded a record increase in demand for smaller scooters and motorcycles. According to this, between January and September 2020, around 185.000 motorcycles were newly registered- an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the same period last year. And for motorcycles with a displacement of up to 126 cubic centimeters, the number of new registrations rose by around 67 percent to just under 30, according to the German Motorcycle Industry Association (IVM).000. In the case of scooters up to 125 cubic centimeters, the number of accidents has even increased by more than 90 percent to around 26.000. At least since the early 1990s, the number of newly registered motorcycles in germany has not risen as sharply as it has now compared to the same period last year, said achim marten of the IVM. And further: "from our point of view, there is also a certain lockdown, covid 19 effect." riding a motorcycle or scooter is "next to cycling, the safest form of transportation". Nevertheless, many seem to have waited for the reform of the driving license ordinance: according to the KBA, in the first half of 2020 alone (up to 30. June) 26.898 car license holders have also obtained a 125cc license under the new rules. Guidebook
