It’s official, from January 1, 2024, young people aged 17 will be able to take their driving test. The implementing decree relating to this measure has just been published in the Official Journal on December 20, 2023.
In June 2023, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne mentioned, to everyone’s surprise, a strong new measure at the microphone of Brut: the possibility for young people aged 17 to take their driving license from 2024.
However, we have just learned that the device is now official. Indeed, the implementing decree was published in the Official Journal this December 20, 2023. With this measure, the government hopes facilitate the independence of young people, and in particular facilitate access to employment for those who live in areas where public transport is poorly developed, such as rural areas. We also think of young people in apprenticeships who have to go to companies.
France therefore joins the group of countries which have decided to lower the legal age at which one can take a driving license. This is particularly the case in Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Slovakia. Concretely, what are the changes brought about by this measure?
The license at 17, what changes are expected?
With the license at 17, adolescents will be able to start learning to drive from the age of 15 if they wish, with a passage to the Highway Code the same year. Before taking the famous exam, they must have driven accompanied with a B license holder for at least a year. Candidates must also have accumulated at least 20 hours of driving lessons in a driving school. Note that supervised driving from the age of 18 also remains a possible option.
Once the precious sesame has been obtained, new drivers will have the right to drive in complete autonomy. Until then, those who had obtained their license at 17 had to wait until they reached the age of majority to travel alone. Note that young licensees will always have to comply with the same rules. So, they cannot travel at a speed higher than 110 km/hwhile the maximum blood alcohol level is lowered to 0.2 g/L of blood.
Also read: 65% of young people consult their smartphone while driving despite the dangers
Enthusiastic driving schools, apart from a few details
For now, we are still awaiting reactions from the main driving schools in France. However, some have already spoken out, like the ECF network. Its president Patrick Mirouse renewed his “full and complete” support for the project, while nevertheless expressing certain reservations:
“The first concerns the eternal problem of deadlines for obtaining a driving license. […] The second reservation concerns accidentology, a point which was rightly raised by the critics of this decree: we had asked to make post-license training, which until then had been optional, compulsory. This would have made it possible to raise awareness and alert young people about risky behavior and the dangers of the road. he regrets.