TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Sweden's teens drive Porsches and BMWs, no licence needed
Called an "A-traktor" -- with Swedes often using "EPA" as the older designation -- these cars and trucks have become so popular in recent years that authorities are now concerned about a rise in road accidents.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Picture taken on February 10, 2023 shows Evelina Christiansen, 15, posing next to a car in 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 kids 15 and older to drive without a proper driver's licence, providing the vehicle has been altered to have a maximum speed of 30 kilometres per hour (18.6 miles per hour). Called an “A-traktor“ -- with Swedes often using the older designation EPA -- these cars and trucks have become so popular in recent years that authorities are now concerned about a rise in road accidents.
(AFP /Alma Cohen)
T
oo 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 kids 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 30 kilometres per hour (18.6 miles per hour).
Called an "A-traktor" -- with Swedes often using "EPA" as the older designation -- these cars and trucks have become so popular in recent years that 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, young kids are regularly seen driving Porsche Cayennes on their own.
