legal guide to UK motoring, sections for law enforcement, Driver licensing, learner and new drivers, buying and selling, speeding fines, owning a vehicle, wheel clamping, traffic information
 
Your legal guide to motoring
 
 

Driver Licencing

  
Medical Rules Photo-card licences Practical tests Theory tests
New & Updated licences Learning to drive What you can drive Foreign Licence in GB
Vehicle Licensing Statistics      

Information for moped riders

If you are 16 and want to ride a moped or scooter on the road you must have completed a compulsory basic training course to validate your provisional licence.

What is a moped?

A moped is a motorcycle that has the following features:

  • maximum design speed not exceeding 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) (about 31 miles per hour (mph)
  • an engine capacity no greater than 50 cc
  • it can be moved by pedals, if the moped was first used before 1 September 1977

Moped provisional licences

You can only hold a provisional moped licence if you are at least 16 years old. It entitles you to ride a moped on the road as a learner with L-plates (D-plates in Wales) but you must not carry a pillion passenger or go on a motorway.

Your provisional licence is only valid when you have the DL 196 certificate issued on completion of compulsory basic training (CBT) by an approved training body (ATB).

A CBT certificate obtained on a moped is also valid for motorcycles once the rider has reached the age of 17 years and has the necessary licence.

If you want to ride a moped on the road without displaying L-plates you must take and pass a theory and practical driving test.

If you have a car licence...

If you obtained your full car licence before 1 February 2001 you are automatically entitled to ride a moped without L-plates (D-plates in Wales).

If you obtained a full car licence after 1 February 2001 you must first complete a CBT course and obtain a DL 196 certificate to validate your entitlement.