Danish motorcyclists: ‘stop discrimination against young motorcyclists’

The Danish motorcyclists’ organisation DMC has just sent an official letter to the Danish Parliament’s Transport Committee, all youth parties and the country’s media. The message is clear: the age limit for the A1 motorcycle licence should be lowered to 17 years to strengthen road safety through experience.

In the letter, DMC, which has represented Danish motorcyclists for over 50 years and is an active member of FEMA, points to a marked imbalance in the current legislation. While young people today can control vehicles of up to 50 tons as 16-year-olds (tractor) or drive a car as a 17-year-old, they have to wait until they are 18 years old to sit on a small 125 cm motorcycle.

According to DMC there is no evidence that it makes young people better drivers or motorcyclists to wait. On the contrary, a lowering of the age limit to 17-year-olds will give young people more valuable experience in traffic. “With the current rules, the young people will have less experience in driving a motorcycle, so there will be sense to move the acquisition of the A1 driving licence down to 17 years, so you can get more motorcycle experience,” says Henrik Suhr from DMC.

DMC refers to figures from Statistics Denmark showing a positive development for motorcyclists:

The population has grown from approx. 60,000 in 1998 to over 170,000 in 2024.
Fewer accidents: the number of accidents has decreased from 355 to 169 annually over the same period.
Mature group: the only group where the number of accidents has increased is among people over the age of 45.

At the same time, the number of A1 licences issued has dropped drastically, from 572 in 2013 to just 323 in 2024, which DMC sees as a sign that the current rules are stopping people to use an otherwise sensible mode of transport.

DMC hopes that politicians will look at the facts, rather than sticking to prejudice. This will bring Denmark into line with the countries we normally compare ourselves to where access to motorcycle driving is more flexible for young people.

Click here for an overview of the motorcycle driving licence requirements for the 27 EU Member States, the EEA countries (European Economic Area) and the EFTA countries (European Free Trade Association).

Source: DMC