Responsibilities of drivers, documentation and traffic offences
Responsibilities, documentation and offences covers what you must carry, what the AM category actually allows, and the concrete consequences of riding without a licence, insurance or registration.
Core rules
- AM licence from 15 years, covering mopeds and light quadricycles only. Riding anything larger is riding without a licence.
- Carry the driving licence, the registration certificate and evidence of insurance.
- The vehicle must be registered, insured for third-party liability and hold a valid technical inspection; a moped without them can be excluded from traffic.
- Alcohol: the general limit is 0.5 g/kg, but it is 0.0 for drivers under 24 and for professional drivers. Drugs are always prohibited, and refusing a test is an offence in itself.
- After a crash: stop, secure the site, help the injured, exchange details, and inform the police where there are injuries or a dispute. Leaving the scene is a serious offence.
- Penalties include fines, penalty points, driving bans and costs falling on the owner.
Worked example
A 16-year-old with an AM licence is stopped on a moped the owner never registered or insured. The rider is penalised for driving an unregistered, uninsured vehicle; the owner for letting it be used; the vehicle is excluded from traffic. Had he also been drinking, the zero limit for under-24s applies and the licence may be withdrawn.
Traps that cost marks
Thinking a 125 cm³ is fine 'because it's small', assuming insurance follows the rider rather than the vehicle, forgetting that the helmet is compulsory even for a short trip, and driving off after a minor collision.