Ride young! Grandma on a motorbike
Ride young! Grandma on a motorbike
My granny is 66 and still in great shape. I'm about to start training for my motorbike licence and I'd really like her to do the course and take the test with me. Will she still be able to get the licence at her age, and if so, will there be any special requirements for her?
Y., Vaud
The good news is that there is no upper age limit for obtaining a driving licence under the laws and ordinances governing road traffic, and your grandmother will even be able to take advantage of the brand-new "measures to harmonise age limits for examinations in the field of traffic medicine", which have just come into force in March 2024 and have been added to the Ordinance governing the admission of persons and vehicles to road traffic (OAC).
From now on, only those aged 75 or over applying for a learner's permit or driving licence for the first time will have to undergo a specific medical examination, including an eye test and a check by a doctor that there are no other disorders that could affect their ability to drive. Until now, new drivers had to undergo these medical tests from the age of 65.
We're talking about harmonisation of the rules, because since this reform, the age of 75 applies both to the medical check-ups to be carried out for new drivers and to the first check-up - to be repeated every two years thereafter - for people who already hold a private car driving licence (category B licence).
Other recent changes to the rules governing driving tests that may be of interest to you include a new requirement regarding the length of the practical test. This test must now last 60 minutes, whereas it used to be shorter for motorcyclists (category A licences): 45 minutes of this time must be devoted to checking the learner's aptitude for driving in road traffic, and this applies to both motorbike and car licences.
Finally, should your grandmother decide to be content with accompanying you on an electric bike, there is another change to be noted concerning so-called fast electric bikes (i.e. with pedalling assistance of up to 45 km/h): from 1ᵉʳ April 2024 for new bikes and from 1ᵉʳ April 2027 for bikes already in circulation, these will have to be fitted with a speedometer, a measure designed to prevent any speeding...
Pascal Rytz
