Suggest Driver’s License for 17-Year-Olds – VG

– This is a good suggestion. 17-year-olds who pass the theory test and the driving test should be able to drive a car on their own, Progress Party Youth leader Andreas Brännström tells VG.

He believes that the most important thing is to guarantee a good training and sufficient experience in traffic, and not that you have reached the age of 18.

– We believe that those who meet the requirements should be able to obtain a driver’s license a little earlier.

– Most important skills

Brännström notes that Trygg trafikk previously proposed that 17-year-olds should be able to drive a car alone, and that the Department for Transport Economics (TØI) has concluded that it can cause fewer accidents.

– Show that this is a good proposal that is feasible, he says.

However, Trygg Trafikk and TØI reject that it is that simple. Trygg Trafikk confirms that they wanted an attempt to allow 17-year-olds to practice driving alone in 2012, but emphasizes that they never wanted to lower the age for driving licenses.

– We demanded that 17-year-olds were not allowed to drive the night before Saturday and Sunday, that they could not have passengers under the age of 25 in the car and that the car had to be clearly marked. The proposal at that time did not materialize, many were skeptical. Today we could also have been more skeptical, there has been a lot of research on this since then, says Bård Morten Johansen at Trygg Trafikk.

– What do you think of driver’s licenses for 17-year-olds?

– We are negative. We prefer that the age limit be increased. All research shows that the brain is not fully developed until age 25, says Johansen.

FRP also faces opposition from other parties in the Storting.

– The work is open to changes, but has not been completed. It is important that these issues are investigated by professionals and not just become populist views of political parties, says Labor Party transport policy spokesman Sverre Myrli.

– On the other hand, we are skeptical of Frp’s proposal to introduce requirements for pre-registration and pre-approval of all those who will accompany during practice. This will go beyond the required amount of training, become more bureaucratic, and will not work as expected, says Sverre Myrli.

It refers to the motorcycle rules.

FRP refers to the existing rules:

– Already today, 16-year-olds can obtain the light motorcycle certificate. Then you can drive on two wheels at more than 100 km / h. It is a much greater risk and much more dangerous to drive a motorcycle than a car, says Andreas Brännström.

The party program committee will present a proposal for a new party program on Tuesday. Here, Frp proposes that 17-year-olds should have the opportunity to take a driver’s license for a car.

– May increase the number of injuries.

The Department of Transport Economics (TØI) believes that all vehicles should be viewed together.

– The lower the age limit for driving a car, the younger they will be involved in car accidents. What could counteract this was raising the age limit for mopeds or light motorcycles to 18 years. Mopeds and light motorcycles have a higher risk of injury than cars. If the age limit for a car were 17 and the age limit for a moped and light motorcycle were 18, many would never start riding a moped or light motorcycle, says Rune Elvik in TØI to VG.

He emphasizes that much must be said about this:

– Simply lowering the age limit for cars, without other measures, will likely increase the number of injuries in cars, but it is conceivable that the number of injuries will decrease for mopeds and light motorcycles, says Elvik.

EU directive

Henning Harsem in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration refers to the EU rules:

– We have not carried out new evaluations in this regard, nor have we made any changes to the current directives related to the age requirements for driving licenses in the EU. Norway, like most European countries, has a limit of 18 years, says Harsem.