Earlier this year, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced that it will not be so easy to drive a 125 cc motorcycle with a B license in Spain. Currently, it is only necessary to have a car license that is three years old; However, the Government will require specific training to be carried out with the aim of reducing accidents among motorists on the roads. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is already working on the measure so that it can be implemented at the end of 2024. This was indicated by the head of the organization, Pere Navarro, during the Drowsiness and Driving conference that was held yesterday at the College. of Doctors of Cantabria.
It should be noted that the course will not be retroactive, so that anyone who is already driving with a two-wheeled vehicle with a car license will be able to continue doing so without having to pass it; It will only affect new drivers. Navarro has assured that several town councils have been asking the DGT to implement specific minimum training to be able to ride a 125 cc motorcycle with a car license with greater safety.
The current regulations (article 5.7 of the General Driver Regulations) establish that people with a B license and more than three years of service can drive class A1 vehicles, that is, with a maximum displacement of 125 cc and a power of up to 11 kW (equivalent to 14.96 HP).
According to Pere Navarro, this option was designed so that drivers in large cities would “leave the car and switch to the scotter. However, “it is “a measure of mobility, but never of road safety.” For this reason, and given the increase in fatal traffic accidents among motorcyclists, we wanted to follow the example of other countries that, such as France, have implemented this specific training.
Although motorcycles do not make up 14% of the vehicle fleet, they represent 26% of those killed in road accidents. Faced with this situation, the Government has decided to take measures. One of them, the one we just explained. But it’s not the only one. It also plans to introduce some modifications to the A license exam, which allows you to drive any vehicle included within category A: A2 (motorcycles with a maximum power of 35 kW – slightly less than 47 HP -), A1 (motorcycles with a displacement maximum of 125 cm³ and maximum power of 11 kW -just under 15 HP-) and AM (two or three-wheeled mopeds and light quadricycles. The minimum age to obtain it is 20 years of age, twenty-one in the case of tricycles.
The intention is to give more weight to driving tests in open road traffic than to closed circuit tests, where a series of maneuvers are performed (zigzag driving, emergency braking, avoiding obstacles…). This is intended to better assess the applicant in a real environment. We must not forget that conventional roads are the ones that account for 75% of fatal accidents.