Sweden’s teens drive Porsches and BMWs, no driver’s licence needed

[SGMCF328]

We already had enough hair-raising moment with notorious PMD and PAB rooming on our street and public road, cannot imagine the situation over in Sweden where the weapon of mass destruction has been upgraded to a full size car or even 5 tonner!! 

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/swedens-teens-drive-porsches-and-bmws-no-licence-needed

HUDDINGE, Sweden – Too young for a driver’s licence at 15, Evelina Christiansen is already cruising in a sleek BMW in Sweden, where teens can drive any car modified to roll no faster than a golf cart.

An almost century-old regulation originally applied to agricultural vehicles allows children 15 and older to drive without a proper driver’s licence, as long as the vehicle has been altered to have a maximum speed of 30kmh.

Called “A-traktors” – with Swedes often using “EPAs” as an older designation – these cars and trucks have become so popular in recent years that the authorities are now concerned about a rise in road accidents.

“I got it a year ago, in April, for my birthday,” Evelina tells AFP proudly in front of her dark blue 5-series BMW in the driveway of her family’s home in a southern Stockholm suburb.

The gift was a special reward for her achievements in school.

While teenagers elsewhere have to make do with a moped or scooter until they get a driver’s licence, young Swedes can use almost any vehicle that has its top speed capped.

In Stockholm’s wealthy suburbs, teens are regularly seen driving Porsche Cayennes on their own.

“I usually use it when I go to school or meet up with friends,” Evelina says.

A triangular warning sign in the back indicating a slow-moving vehicle and a hitch ball for trailers are both mandatory for an A-traktor.

The back seat must also be removed, so it can carry only the driver and one passenger.

All that is required is a simple moped licence, available to people 15 or older, or a tractor licence, which can be obtained by people 16 or older.

The system is surprisingly lenient in a country known for championing road safety – the three-point seatbelt is a Swedish invention – and for its strict drink-driving rules.

The system was relaxed even further in mid-2020, when it became possible to cap cars’ top speeds electronically, making it much easier to modify a modern car.

Originally the domain of youth in rural areas, young people in the city have increasingly been getting wheels of their own, with the number of registered A-traktors doubling to 50,000 in just 2½ years, in a country of 10.3 million inhabitants.

The predecessors of today’s A-traktors originated during the 1930s Depression, when there was a shortage of agricultural equipment.

To encourage the construction of cheap vehicles when tractors were still out of reach for farmers, the government allowed them to cobble together simple cars.

In the 1950s, as the economy prospered, real tractors became more common and the need for these home-styled vehicles began to subside.

But in the countryside, young people without a licence were happy to use them to get around, especially in areas without much public transport.

The state formalised the use of A-traktors with a 1963 regulation, which has been closely guarded for decades in rural Sweden.

Only in 2018 did the authorities introduce mandatory roadworthiness testing for the vehicles.

Sweden looks set, however, for a battle with the European Union, which criticised the system in early March, and proposed that a simplified permit become mandatory.

For many rural teenagers, the A-traktor symbolises their dream of independence.

It is also the focus of a growing subculture focused on customised cars and a new music genre hugely popular in Sweden called “EPA Dunk”.

In the western Swedish town of Karlstad, 17-year-old Ronja Lofgren regularly turns heads with her 5.5-tonne Scania Vabis truck from 1964, which her father saved from the scrapheap.

The teen has adorned the refurbished truck with a gleaming red-and-blue paint job and lots of headlights.

The motto “Queen of the Road” is emblazoned on the front and “Go with style” on the back.

“When I went into town at first, everyone would pull out their phones and film me,” the teenager told AFP.

 

[inlinesix]

You are saying we are uncultured as compared to Swede.

The Car top speed is reduced to 50km/h only.

It cannot even travel on Expressway.

[Soya]

Wah sei....liddat own homegrown chao ah bengs w their modded PMDs can brag they're faster than AMDK Porsche

 

[SGMCF328]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:30 AM, inlinesix said:

You are saying we are uncultured as compared to Swede.

The Car top speed is reduced to 50km/h only.

It cannot even travel on Expressway.

Sorry but I don't get your point.

What I am saying is that we already had a hard time dealing with PMD and PAB on the street and public road (speeding or not), and there were reported fatality cases or pedestrian suffering serious injury when they are hit by PMD and PAB, it would be even more dangerous over in Sweden where the weight of such low speed vehicle is easily 50 to 300 times the weight of authorized PMD.

For example, a PMD traveling at 25 Km/h knocking into someone vs a 5.5 tons truck knocking and potentially rolling over a person at the same speed, the risk of dying or suffering from serious injury is much higher for the latter.

Btw, the speed limit for such vehicles in Sweden is 30 km/h, not 50 km/h. And I vividly remembered someone posted on MCF that no license is needed for operating low speed vehicle for speed up to 50 or was it 60 km/h in China. What's in the mind of the transport ministry in these countries?

 

On 3/22/2023 at 11:00 AM, Soya said:

Wah sei....liddat own homegrown chao ah bengs w their modded PMDs can brag they're faster than AMDK Porsche

 

End of the day, the deadly part is the force exerted on the person who was hit by the moving object.

Newton's equation, force = mass x acceleration.

Both high speed PMD and low speed car can kills. No laughing matter.

[ER-3682]

Car limited to 30km/h will Road Hog even our City Roads..

[Inlinefour]

similar to 50s 60s sillypore cos put inverted 7 on any vehicle can drive liao 

[ER-3682]

On 3/22/2023 at 11:47 AM, Inlinefour said:

similar to 50s 60s sillypore cos put inverted 7 on any vehicle can drive liao 

Cannot Work in Singapore..imagine those PMD Youth..already Mod their E-Bikes to hit over 80Km/h..let them drive Car.?More Accidents.

[kobayashiGT]

No wonder Volvo is famous for NCAP test! 

 

If the father owns a Koenigsegg, and limit it to run 30km/h. . .  🤣 

This is real love for the kid. hahahahah 

[inlinesix]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:42 PM, ER-3682 said:

Cannot Work in Singapore..imagine those PMD Youth..already Mod their E-Bikes to hit over 80Km/h..let them drive Car.?More Accidents.

Rather than Youth, it is WS that will help them to jailbreak top speed.

I thought car got VRN. PMD doesn’t have 

[Inlinefour]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:42 PM, ER-3682 said:

Cannot Work in Singapore..imagine those PMD Youth..already Mod their E-Bikes to hit over 80Km/h..let them drive Car.?More Accidents.

whatever not generating funds for nation building one... zhenghu just bochup one lor 🙊🙉🙈

[ER-3682]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:39 PM, Inlinefour said:

whatever not generating funds for nation building one... zhenghu just bochup one lor 🙊🙉🙈

If LTA is to crackdown on illegal Mod PMD,Fine $1,000.00 or more each,i can comfirm 1 Night at least can catch 30 Units.

[Inlinefour]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:57 PM, ER-3682 said:

If LTA is to crackdown on illegal Mod PMD,Fine $1,000.00 or more each,i can comfirm 1 Night at least can catch 30 Units.

those APO deployments all call off liao 

 

good officer flying side kick also kena terminated 

 

🤐🤐🤐

[Thaiyotakamli]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:52 PM, kobayashiGT said:

No wonder Volvo is famous for NCAP test! 

 

If the father owns a Koenigsegg, and limit it to run 30km/h. . .  🤣 

This is real love for the kid. hahahahah 

Overkill

 

a myvi can go 30kmh too

[Jamesc]

If you are good enough

you are old enough

Old and no good no point.

[Jamesc]

If this is my daughter I let her drive

If this is my son I don't let him drive.

I worry he crash

[inlinesix]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:57 PM, ER-3682 said:

If LTA is to crackdown on illegal Mod PMD,Fine $1,000.00 or more each,i can comfirm 1 Night at least can catch 30 Units.

Border checkpoint already understaff, you still expect to use so much resources for that purpose?
Ask Mustank to go Yishun. 見－個，撞－個easier 

[Scion]

Porsche drag all the way at 30kmh engine won't uplorry meh 😁

[107fan]

50kmh drive simi?

Might as well save the environment and don't drive. These kind drive for fun, polluting the city.