ANALYSIS New license, smaller engine: The restriction being prepared in Romania for novice drivers / What rules already exist in Europe

Drivers with less than two years of driving experience could be prohibited from driving passenger cars with a power-to-weight ratio above 0.075 kW/kg, according to a draft amendment to the Road Traffic Code currently before the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body. The initiative, which supplements Government Emergency Ordinance no. 195/2002, aims to limit novice drivers’ access to higher-performance cars based on the ratio between the engine’s power and the vehicle’s own weight, rather than through a list of prohibited models.

If adopted, Romania would take over a model already used in Italy, the only state in the European Union where a comparable restriction, calculated directly in kW per tonne, is in force for new driving licence holders. In other European states, there are fixed power limits or measures that have been discussed, abandoned, or annulled by constitutional courts.

Italy extended restrictions for novice drivers from one to three years in 2024

Italy is the main benchmark. Restrictions for drivers in their first year after obtaining a licence already existed: they could not drive passenger cars with a power-to-weight ratio above 55 kW per tonne. Law no. 177/2024, which entered into force on 14 December 2024, extended the application period to three years and raised the limit to 75 kW per tonne.

For passenger cars in category M1 (a maximum of eight passenger seats, in addition to the driver’s seat), the law also introduced an absolute limit of 105 kW, approximately 143 hp.The Italian model is therefore stricter in terms of duration than the one being discussed in Bucharest—three years compared with two—although the threshold of 75 kW per tonne is identical. The difference is important: Italy’s absolute limit of 105 kW may also exclude some heavier cars that would qualify based solely on their weight. The rule does not apply retroactively to all young drivers, but to people who obtained their licence after the law entered into force.

What effect did the power limit have on accidents?

There is also empirical support for the idea of limiting access to high-performance vehicles. A study published in The Journal of Law and Economics, in which the authors used data from the National Institute of Statistics on incidents involving victims during the 2006–2016 period, evaluated the former Italian restriction, introduced in 2011 and initially applied during the first year of holding a licence. They compared 18–19-year-old drivers, who were affected by the restriction, with 26–27-year-old drivers, who were not affected.

The research found that young people prevented from driving powerful cars were 13% less likely to cause accidents and 28% less likely to cause fatal accidents. The authors primarily link the result to a reduction in speeding violations and show that the safety effect was maintained even after the first year of restriction ended.The study does not, however, provide a simple national tally of the kind “the total number of accidents before and after the law”; instead, it estimates the causal effect of the restriction on the likelihood that the targeted drivers would cause accidents.

Serbia and Montenegro: fixed 80 kW limit

In Serbia, a non-EU country, the rule is simpler and stricter from the perspective of absolute power: holders of a recently obtained licence may not drive passenger cars with engines exceeding 80 kW, approximately 109 hp. The exception is when the driver is supervised by a family member in the vehicle who has held a category B licence for at least five years. The probationary driving period normally lasts two years for those who take the exam at age 19 or later; for those who pass it before that age, the regime is extended until they turn 21.

Montenegro has also introduced an 80 kW limit for drivers under 21, with the possibility of driving a more powerful car only under the supervision of a person who has held a licence for at least five years. The rule is part of a broader package of restrictions for young drivers, including limitations on night-time driving. Unlike the Romanian draft and the Italian model, the Montenegrin criterion is age, not the number of years of experience after obtaining a licence.

France’s ban annulled by the Constitutional Council

France offers Romania an example of a legal warning. A law adopted in 2026 initially provided for criminalising the driving of a “powerful vehicle” by holders of a recently obtained licence, with the power threshold to be established later by decree. The Constitutional Council annulled this provision, however, on 14 August 2026: the threshold defining the criminal offence had to be established by Parliament through legislation, not left entirely to the Government.

Thus, France does not have a general ban in force on driving a powerful car during the first years after obtaining a licence. However, Law no. 2026-798 retained a separate rule concerning short-term rentals: a holder of a recently obtained licence may not enter into a rental agreement for a vehicle above a power threshold, which is to be established by implementing regulations. For the Romanian draft, France’s lesson is clear: a limit such as 75 kW per tonne must be expressly included in the law, rather than left to a decree, if non-compliance is to incur penalties.

Croatia abandoned the limit, while Belgium is only discussing it

Between 2008 and 2015, Croatia had an 80 kW limit for drivers under 24, but subsequently abandoned the measure. Belgium currently has no national legal power limit for novice drivers, but the idea of progressive restrictions has resurfaced in the public debate, amid European discussions about the safety of young motorists.

Therefore, the Romanian draft would not be a European first, but rather a version close to the Italian system: a power-to-weight ratio of 75 kW per tonne, applied only during the initial period. Italy provides the most relevant legislative precedent and the most consistent assessment of the effects on safety: an estimated 13% reduction in accidents caused by the young drivers targeted by the ban.

Summary prepared with the help of Perplexity