[RahulNagaraj]

Italy already has driving rules which prevent first-year drivers from operating vehicles with more than 93 BHP or a power-to-weight ratio exceeding 73 BHP per tonne. However, the country is now proposing to update its driving rules, extending the restrictions to a larger number of new drivers.



According to a media report, Italy's Council of Ministers have decided to extend the driving restrictions to three years for all new licence holders. However, the new rules are yet to pass parliamentary procedures before it gets enacted.

As per reports, the rule, once implemented, will apply to all "new" drivers in Italy. Also, it will apply from the date of obtaining a licence and will not be tied to age. This indicates foreigners moving to Italy and obtaining a licence could also be subjected to the same restrictions. However, what is still unclear is that if the rule will affect drivers who have held a licence for 2 years and have purchased more powerful cars after passing the original restrictions.

Source: TheDrive

Link to Team-BHP news

[Shreyans_Jain]

As if car sales are not falling already or as if youngsters are lining up in droves get DLs. This is the kind of move that will do our ba budom proud. Every research suggests that the new generation is just not interested or invested into car ownership or even driving in the first place. It is a worldwide phenomena.

[kadanaJ]

Let's accept that most "new drivers" would be teenagers, and that they are the most likely to attempt overspeeding without gaining experience first.

Restricting the amount of power for an emotionally immature driver, until they get more used to driving, is a great idea.

[GTO]

Very honestly, I support this move. The only reason me & my friends are still alive is that we started driving on old Padmini Diesels & Maruti 800s powered by wheezy engines. With the adrenalin-levels of 18-year olds, I'm glad we didn't start our driving career with a 158-BHP Verna.

When my kids start driving, it will be in a slow Jeep or a beater car (current beater is a Sunny). From the currently available cars, I'd buy a pre-owned, slow 4 or 5-star rated car for them (used Polo 1.2L NA, Tiago 1.2L petrol or similar).

[srini1785]

I would recommend this move to be adopted for India too. Only increase the age limit to 45 to better suit Indian conditions and mentality. 95 BHP is still a lot of power for anyone at that age.

[StarrySky]

According to the link, this law is not linked to the age of the driver, and is applicable to anyone who gets a new DL. So I guess more than maturity, the law is intended to ensure that drivers have enough driving experience before moving on to more powerful cars. This sounds like a good idea, but holding the licence for three years does not equate to three years of driving experience.

If I were 18, I would use the three year period to save up and get an even more powerful car. Then I can start driving without much real driving experience and perhaps not much added maturity either

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Let's accept that most "new drivers" would be teenagers, and that they are the most likely to attempt overspeeding without gaining experience first.

Restricting the amount of power for an emotionally immature driver, until they get more used to driving, is a great idea.

Originally Posted by GTO

Very honestly, I support this move. The only reason me & my friends are still alive is that we started driving on old Padmini Diesels & Maruti 800s powered by wheezy engines. With the adrenalin-levels of 18-year olds, I'm glad we didn't start our driving career with a 158-BHP Verna.

When my kids start driving, it will be in a slow Jeep or a beater car (current beater is a Sunny).

I don’t buy this concept of restriction for teenagers - 18 and 19 years olds. When they have gone through the official licensing process and passed all their tests, why selectively target them? If they overspeed or indulge in ‘rash and negligent driving’, there are provisions in the law to penalise them. We are talking about people who can vote, who can drink, who can marry, who can serve in the armed forces. And if they commit any crimes, they will be prosecuted like full adults.

Originally Posted by srini1785

I would recommend this move to be adopted for india too. Only increase the age limit to 45 to better suit Indian conditions and mentality. 95BHP is still a lot of power for anyone at that age.

They are talking about capping power to weight at 73bhp per ton. What’s the logic behind that magic figure?

For comparison’s sake, Spresso has power to weight of 93bhp per ton, WagonR has 98 and Dzire is at 101 bhp per ton. Even the Tiago, widely considered among the slowest and weediest cars today, has a power to weight of 87bhp per ton. Go, figure!

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

I don’t buy this concept of restriction for teenagers - 18 and 19 years olds. When they have gone through the official licensing process and passed all their tests, why selectively target them? If they overspeed or indulge in ‘rash and negligent driving’, there are provisions in the law to penalise them.

The official licensing process does not reveal what one will do after getting the license. One may know all the rules, and follow them in front of the driving instructor, but that does not stop a testosterone fuel adrenalin-rush seeking teenager from flooring the gas pedal the moment adult supervision is taken away.

Not every teenager is rash, but I certainly was. Biggest mistake my father did was give me a 130bhp Civic. It's truly a miracle I never crashed that thing. I've seen even dumber things done by friends with BMWs, Mercs, Skodas. Because the first thing we're gonna do is y'know, race! Girls egging us on didn't help either.

Yes, there are provisions in the law to penalise, but I doubt that would give much comfort to accident victims or their families. A car is not just a mode of transport, it is a 1 tonne+ mass of heavy metal weaponry that can cause serious damage to life and property.

See damages caused by pick-up truck accidents in the USA. Those beasts can literally plow through houses. Terrifying to think of a texting teen on TikTok behind the wheel of something that has a V8 engine and weighs more than 2 tonnes.

We are talking about people who can vote, who can drink, who can marry, who can serve in the armed forces. And if they commit any crimes, they will be prosecuted like full adults.

Being an adult legally does not automatically give one the emotional maturity expected of one. And in India at least, we have laws that reflect this.

Of the examples given above, an 18 year old can vote. For armed forces, I am getting different answers starting from 17.5 years, which I feel is too young, but that's a national requirement. Soldier's need to be young and fit. Let's not get into this for armed forces, it would be a very long off-topic ethical debate.

The minimum age to marry for men is 21 years old. There are proposals to raise the minimum age for women to get married from 18 to 21 years as well. The legal age to consume hard liquor in our country is 25 years old.

Society has changed. The average 18 year old has led a far more sheltered life today than our grandparents did 50-odd years ago. Parent's today shield and protect their children from consequences far more than was done back in the day, which definitely inhibits their ability to assess risks and make tough decisions.

Prosecution does not prevent others from breaking the same law. It just ends up ruining the future career prospects and life of those who are essentially still children by modern standards.

It seems the Italians are waking up and realising that humans at age 18 are not as mature as we think.

[gandharjc]

Good going! Let them earn their stars.
With great power (no pun intended), comes the great desire of flooring it like an idiot.

[antz.bin]

EU has had the graded licenses for motorcycles for a while.

A1 License for 16 year onwards. Up to 125cc/15 BHP
A2 License for for 18 year old onwards. Up to 47 BHP (like the RE 650s)
A(Or A3) License for 20+yrs for those who have had the A1 license for 2 years. This is for unrestricted motorcycles.

Such a structure ensures that the exuberance of youth does not end them up in Hospital, Jail, or worse.

Most of us born prior to the 90s learned to drive on something that made 35-45 hp. That invariably helped us stay safe and live to see this day. Not talking for anyone else but it did help me. I feel the power restriction is a reasonable condition and I think this should come to India as well.

[Dry Ice]

Interesting to note this will now apply to all new drivers not just teens. Here is a study by York Uni to show the impact of the current policy (which was introduced in 2011) on young drivers using data from 2006 to 2016.

For a petrolhead, it’s very obvious. But, they do spell it out for others -

.. driving a FIAT Panda is likely to provide a somewhat different sensations than driving a Jaguar!

I doubt if James May will agree to that, since he was quite happy pottering around Italy in a Panda in the last Our Man in .. series. Might even take some offence!

Anyway, listing out a few relevant bits from the study’s conclusions -

• .. power restriction lowers road accidents per capita among individuals aged 18-19 by approximately 18%. This result is partly due to an incapacitation effect: driving license rates drop following the reform.
  
• .. teen drivers subject to the regulation are significantly less likely to cause a road accident (-13%) and a fatal accident (-28%), and that such reduction is entirely driven by fewer accidents caused by above-limit engines.
  
• .. the reform successfully limits young drivers’ exposure to a high-risk circumstance of driving a high-powered car when young and inexperienced.
  
• .. over 44% of the effect is the result of fewer accidents caused by excessive speeding.
  
• .. vehicle power restriction on novice drivers, although lasting only one year, has persistent positive effects on road safety.
  
• Overall, our findings highlight the need to control how future drivers join the pool of road users. We show that a gradual phased-in entitlement of licensees to unrestricted use of vehicles can be effective in preventing traffic-related injuries and deaths among young drivers.
  

Full text of the study can be accessed here

[Samfromindia]

I think 95% of the population in India have started or still driving cars under 95BHP (Including Me) That being said, a sub 100BHP car can still do 180 KMPH or go 0-100 in 10 secs (Figo Diesel ~100BHP)

[AirbusCapt]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

EU has had the graded licenses for motorcycles for a while.

A1 License for 16 year onwards. Up to 125cc/15 BHP
A2 License for for 18 year old onwards. Up to 47 BHP (like the RE 650s)
A(Or A3) License for 20+yrs for those who have had the A1 license for 2 years. This is for unrestricted motorcycles.

Such a structure ensures that the exuberance of youth does not end them up in Hospital, Jail, or worse.

Most of us born prior to the 90s learned to drive on something that made 35-45 hp. That invariably helped us stay safe and live to see this day. Not talking for anyone else but it did help me. I feel the power restriction is a reasonable condition and I think this should come to India as well.

I would differ on this. I rode the pulsar 180 in my teens. A 15bhp bike which had no abs and topped out at 120kmph. Thats exactly where the bike was in the almost 50k kms i rode it. Today i ride a 650cc kawasaki which does 120kmph may be in the 2nd gear. I now ride the 650cc at 100kmph on a free highway.
So power has nothing to do with speeding. We can all agree how unsafe a 15bhp pulsar at 120kmph is versus a 650cc kawasaki.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

I would differ on this. I rode the pulsar 180 in my teens. A 15bhp bike which had no abs and topped out at 120kmph. Thats exactly where the bike was in the almost 50k kms i rode it. Today i ride a 650cc kawasaki which does 120kmph may be in the 2nd gear. I now ride the 650cc at 100kmph on a free highway.
So power has nothing to do with speeding. We can all agree how unsafe a 15bhp pulsar at 120kmph is versus a 650cc kawasaki.

Well, at least you didn't ride a liter bike as your first bike. Without such restrictions in a more prosperous society like EU, people could very well ride bikes like those as their first bikes.

Anyways the 180cc Pulsar is not eligible for A1 license since it is >125cc. Think more on the lines of Duke/RC 125 being the most powerful bikes allowed. These bikes are definitely powerful, but not as torquey as a P180, limiting the rapid acceleration. And these are the upper limit of the performance allowed. The more important thing about safety in the hands of the less experienced is not how fast you can go, it is how easily you can get there.

An average 125cc bike is which a non enthusiast teen might use as their first bike will probably be closer to 10BHP than 15 like it is for majority of 125s sold in India.

[Hayek]

Am ok with the idea of restrictions for new drivers or drivers below a certain age. My son is 15 now, and assuming he learns driving in India before leaving for college, we will probably buy him a less powerful but safe car rather than give him either the Tiguan or the X3. Incidentally, I was discussing this very topic a few days ago with a friend whose son has just turned 18, and is keen on driving their 330i.

But I am not sure these restrictions are needed for 3 years. 1 seems more than enough. And certainly not for more mature folks who move to Italy and acquire a license there.