Hello, i have a question. I am 16 years old and I am living in poland, i heard that there is a driving license called B1 that allows a 16 year old to drive a car which wights i think not more tha 500g. I dont speak polish very well, I live here from 1 year, so I was wondering if it is possible to take the theory exam in English. IF any of you are informed on this matter or have any useful information please let me know :)
Thanks in advance
Thanks to the moderator for editing the title, more clear now
Before trying to find out about the licence, why not think about the car that you would be allowed to drive on such a licence?
550kg is nothing - you'll be looking at riding quad bikes, or getting one of the very very very few cars which come under 550kg. Even the Fiat 126 is too heavy for this restriction - which gives you an idea of just what actually does come under 550kg.
Apparently there's also an engine size restriction of 125cc. Bearing in mind that any quad suitable for the public road will need to be at least 250cc, you really don't have much choice in that matter.
Why bother, when you can ride a moped without much fuss?
i dont know if its true, just heard it from a couple friends. what you can do is take a smart, which weights more than 550KGs, and take a few useless parts out, so that it will weight less. then it will be weighted, and it will be fine, and you can put the parts back in, but i doubt its true. anyway, are you sure about the 125cc engine restriction? Anyway, do you know anything about the driving license? i could take it anyway for a motorcycle 125cc in case (see: Yamaha Burgman and such).
anyway, are you sure about the 125cc engine restriction?
I don't think there is an engine size restriction. According to https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawo_jazdy category B1 is just a "...3 or 4 wheeled vehicle with a mass not exceeding 550 kilos...". It does not mention anything about an engine size restriction such as on category A1 (small motorcycles). I had a quick look on some other websites and didn't see anything there about engine size restrictions either.
do you know anything about the driving license?
your understanding seems correct to me - 16 years old and less than 550kg. You need to have done 30 hours of theory training and 30 hours of practical training according to that wikipedia link.
i could take it anyway for a motorcycle
No, motorcycles are a different category (category A) so you can't mix and match them.
motorcycle weighs more than that
I have a suzuki gsf 1200 bandit which is not a small bike and that weighs about 220 kilos. Surely even a Harley wouldn't top more than 300 kilos?
Surely even a Harley wouldn't top more than 300 kilos?
Its always possible i am talking complete bollox...Indeed , my sportster weighs only 240 kgs....My initial guess at 3000 tons was a bit over the top it seems.....
wouldn't bother dnz - it would be difficult to get rid of 80kg in maluch - window panes not that heavy after all - you could only replace front boot cover with fibreglass thing don't think engine cover (in the rear) could be replaced, cutting a hole in the roof could help perhaps but it weakens the construction considerably I guess - getting rid of both doors can help significantly - but not sure you could register the vehicle after all these changes - it would need some extra inspection by a professional which doesn't cost a pittance - and still there's no guarantee the vehicle would be allowed to use the public roads - also you could think of replacing the original maluch wheel which are quite heavy with something lighter - but it wouldn't be anything straightforward
oh I can see now you need 550 kg so perhaps it wouldn't be that difficult
I don't think there is an engine size restriction.
I found a reference somewhere, but it was anecdotal, so I think you're right.
Thanks for the answers. Any idea of if you can take the drivind exam/lessons in english here in warsaw?
The problem as far as I can tell is that you'll need a sworn translator for the practical part of the exam. Given that it'll be nearly impossible to find something big enough to accomodate the translator, the examiner and you, I'm really struggling to think of how you could do this.
So could this guy drive a malluch at 16 if he got the weight below 500 kgs? Ie some fibeglass panels and replacing all the windows with plexiglass?
I don't see why not, but he'll have to overcome the driving test problem first. If I remeber correctly, the actual regulation says that the translator has to be present during the exam - so he couldn't even get away with having a CB radio link to the translator
It's only 30kg to get rid of, so technically possible - but again, it raises issues over whether or not they'd actually licence it.
Probably best to just wait a year and take your test in the UK and then you can drive whatever you like providing you can insure it, Is the limit on engine capacity or BHP like with the UK bike test?
Looking at the weight thing i reckon if you took the insides of the doors out just leaving the skin, the rear seats, chucked a set of decent motorsport wheels on, ie Compomotives, you could lose the excess weight and have something which would be quite fun to drive too,
As for registration I have no idea about the Polish system as I've never experienced it, I just know that they won't register perfectly safe RHD vehicles :(
30 kg does not sound like a whole lot......i think you could lose this without compromising the structural strength of the car...not that there is a lot of strength there to begin with...! Have we found out for sure if the limit is 500kg or 550kg...?
Hopefully 16 year old Poles won,t have the money for a beast like this
Its a shame that lots of middle aged poles can afford powerful machines too, The amount of near death experiences i've seen people have on the roads this weekend boggles the mind.
Have we found out for sure if the limit is 500kg or 550kg...?
Definitely 550kg, the driving categories are harmonised across the EU now.
Probably best to just wait a year and take your test in the UK and then you can drive whatever you like providing you can insure it,
I'm not completely certain on this, but I think local driving ages override the licence - so you have to be 18 to drive in Poland irrespective of being licenced in the UK. I know France for instance won't allow UK drivers at 17 to drive there.
I'm not completely certain on this, but I think local driving ages override the licence - so you have to be 18 to drive in Poland irrespective of being licenced in the UK
Well, a Polish 16 year old should be allowed to drive something resembling a car, but it would seem next to impossible for a foreign national to pass the test because of the need for the sworn translator to be present during the test - and any car capable of sitting the B1 test on wouldn't have four seats.
But it seems that there are some cars produced in Europe that are under 550kg and have four seats - maybe, just maybe, you could get one of them, then find a driving school who could sort out training (on a quad bike, maybe?) for the B1 category in English, then sit the test on the quad bike (again, could be issues with the translation!) and then be legal to drive a car under the B1 category.
Q: I live in the UK and can't exchange my driving licence to the UK one. I can do it in Poland. Does anyone knows where I can find information on necessary documents for that purpose?
