The little car you can drive in France without a licence

[hunter]

If you are planning on driving in France, beware - one could be heading straight for you at the next roundabout. Carolyn Brown, who lives part of the year in Brittany, has a cautionary tale about a very small car.

Losing one's driving licence in the UK is a serious matter - expensive and, to say the least, very inconvenient.

But in France, no licence? No problem. You can simply go shopping for a VSP a voiture sans permis - a small two-seater car that anyone aged 14 or over can take out on the road with as little as four hours' experience behind the wheel, sometimes not even that.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35210572

Would this be a way of removing larger cars from cities and dense suburbs?

Set some high standards for energy use, noise, and air pollution (electric or propane powered, perhaps), a maximum speed, and then park the big cars outside the city.

[catnhatnh]

1. Brilliant!

Top speed of 28 mph-parents buy them as an alternative to scooters for their children. I've said before we need autos that are the equivalent of ultralight airplanes-lighter, and less powerful, but still an airplane with less red tape. A car in this style could actually be affordable for those in economic distress and safer for marginal drivers. Due to their slower speeds much expensive safety equipment could be dropped as a required item. Some will say that gives 2 tiers of safety but I would argue that if one can opt to ride a motorcycle a slower car has both a greater utility and is inherently safer than any 2 or 3 wheeled vehicle.

[Binkie The Clown]

2. I could so use that!

I'm within walking distance of all the stores I frequent, but I hate walking home with a backpack full of groceries in a freezing rain, so I take my car. And insurance rates being what they are, and as few miles as I drive, I average paying around $1.75 per mile for car insurance for the roughly 40 miles I drive each month. It's crazy. (What I should do is get rid of the car and call a taxi when I need it. but that's a 20 minute wait for the taxi to arrive.)