► Driving age lowered for Twizy
► 14-year-olds allowed in Europe
► But not in the UK
Renault today announced that a new, lower-powered Twizy would soon be available in continental Europe for 14-year-olds to drive – but that it wouldn’t be imported to the UK.
It’s all part of a harmonisation by the EU of driving licences across Europe. And because the Twizy counts as a ‘light-motorised quadricycle’, it has been approved for road use in France by children aged over 14, once they’ve got the necessary BSR road safety certificates.
Previously, they had to be aged over 16 to drive light quadricycles on the public highway.
What? Fourteen-year-olds allowed to drive? How so?
This French rule change applies only to the new, lower-powered Twizy 45 – a restricted version of an already restricted car. Sadly, this version is not imported to the UK, and nor will it be.
‘If Renault did offer the Twizy 45 to the UK market, we still wouldn’t import it here,’ said a spokesman for Renault UK.
That’s because the UK doesn’t have the same light quadricycle laws as France. Here you have to be aged over 16, and the view is that most teenagers will wait another year and get a real car.
The Renault Twizy 45
Renault believes the lower-powered Twizy is an opportunity to snag drivers in their motoring infancy, so to speak. ‘The Twizy 45, a real upstart in the world of motorized quadricycles, stands as an alternative to scooters with levels of safety and comfort superior to those offered by two-wheelers,’ says Renault. ‘Twizy 45 is fit as standard with an airbag, double seatbelts, disc brakes and a protective cell. It also enables young people to gain an understanding of driving from a young age.’