More and more Swedish teenagers are driving their own cars. icon image.Photo: iStock
School children in their own BMW or Porsche Cayenne: Thanks to an old regulation, young people in Sweden can drive a car from the age of 15. However, the vehicle must meet certain conditions.
At the age of 15, Evelina Christiansen does not yet have a driver’s license. Despite this, the Swede drives to school herself in her chic, personal BMW. This is made possible by an old regulation in Sweden, according to which young people from the age of 15 can drive normal cars if their speed is reduced to 30 km/h. And so, despite security concerns from the police and the EU Commission, more and more teenagers are getting their own car.
“I got it for my birthday last April,” says Evelina proudly of her dark blue BMW 5 Series. The stately gift was intended to be a reward for good performance at school. “I use it mostly when I have to go to school or meet up with friends,” says the 15-year-old, who lives in a suburb of Stockholm.
Schoolchildren in a Porsche – not uncommon
In other posh suburbs of the Swedish capital, too, you can regularly see schoolchildren driving around in the Porsche Cayenne or other luxury models.
This is possible thanks to the so-called A tractor control. It allows people under the age of 18 to drive cars and other motor vehicles if their speed is reduced to 30 kilometers per hour. The scheme was originally introduced during the economic crisis of the 1930s when there was a shortage of tractors.
At that time, it enabled farmers to build cheap replacements themselves. Later, young people in the country used the hand-crafted carts as a substitute for the non-existent local public transport.
The speed-restricted cars must be marked with a large red triangle. In addition, the rear seat has to be removed so that only one passenger can come along with the driver. A moped driver’s license, which young people can get from the age of 15, or a tractor driver’s license, which is possible from the age of 16, is sufficient as a driving license.
The police and insurance companies are sounding the alarm
For Sweden, which is known for its high road safety standards, these are pretty lax rules. The use of the A tractor was further simplified in mid-2020. At that time, it became possible to simply set the speed limit electronically.
This makes converting a modern car into an A-tractor much easier and has led to “A-tractors” being purchased more and more often for city kids too. The number of approved A tractors in the country of ten million people has doubled to 50,000 within two and a half years.
Police and insurance companies are sounding the alarm that the number of accidents involving A tractors has more than quintupled in five years. Around 200 people are injured in these accidents every year.
The EU Commission does not like the special regulation either: At the beginning of March, it criticized the system and proposed the obligation to obtain a simplified driver’s license. The Swedish traffic control authority recently suggested extending at least the obligation to wear seat belts and winter tires in the cold season to A tractors.
Business with A tractors is booming
The business with the wheels for young people meanwhile continues to boom. 21-year-old Oskar Flyman and his younger brother started a company that converts regular cars into A-tractors. “You can get A tractors between 30,000 and 200,000 kroner,” that is between 2,670 and 17,800 euros, says Flyman. If you have your own car converted, you pay 25,000 crowns.
17-year-old Ronja Löfgren from Karlstad drives a very special A-tractor. Her father saved a Scania Vabis, a 1964 articulated lorry, from being scrapped for her. The 5.5 ton truck was painted red and metallic blue and beefed up with additional headlights.
“First everyone always pulled out their mobile phones to film me when I drove into town,” says Ronja. The motto of the 17-year-old is on the front of her A tractor: “Queen of the Road”. (afp/dl)
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