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Homebuilt pickups: How underage teens skirt the law to drive in Sweden (2016)
- emteycz 5y agoCzechia allows teenagers with moped driving license to drive 50ccm mopeds or small 2-seat cars limited to 45 km/h (similar to Smart but even smaller), with no big problems. Age is not an issue, the missing training/license is.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- soylentcola 5y agoThose photos just make me wish there were still smaller car-like pickups being produced for the US market. I hardly ever need to transport more than myself and one passenger. I typically just use my vehicle to drive to and from work, to the store, and around the city. But on many occasions, I would really love to be able to fit a full sheet of plywood or drywall without having to cut it down at the hardware store first. I make do with my hatchback and rarely rent or borrow a truck, but there really isn't a good option for "small, economical, but can carry long/wide items once every month or two". At least nothing that's currently produced (old S-10's and Rangers, etc. are hard to find and cost way more than they would as "commodity" cars).
- fifilura 5y agoAha, that is why pickup trucks are so popular in US! Utility trailers are not very popular? Over here in Sweden that is the go-to answer rather than buying a special purpose cargo car. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(vehicle)#/media/File:Baset_trailer.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(vehicle)#/media/File:...
- aaronfitz 5y agoThey exist here in the US but they aren't very popular. I think it's mainly a parking problem. Most urban and suburban zoning codes prohibit parking them outside. In urban areas with street parking you can't park them on the street. It's very rare to see a vehicle here that isn't a pickup to have a towing hitch installed.
- fifilura 5y agoIn most hardware stores in Sweden you can borrow them for free. Or rent them for like a few euros/hours on a gas station. So you don't really need a parking space.
- aaronfitz 5y agoInteresting. The closest we have to that is largest hardware store around here will allow you to rent a truck for $20 for an hour with a $150 deposit. There's no trailer option. There are a couple companies here that rent trucks/trailers and focus their marketing towards people that are moving. Their base rates for the trucks and trailers are the same and start in the same $20 ballpark. The trucks are a little more expensive for long moves as they have a per-mile surcharge if you exceed a certain distance with them. Most people still opt for the trucks over the trailers with the rarity of cars with tow hitches installed.
- CRConrad 5y agoError in the article: the EPA legislation was superseded by the A around 1980, not in the sixties. Could well be that their "1963" is just a typo for 1983.
- chews 5y agoI really love everything about this.
- wikidani 5y agoPretty awesome read. It's always cool to see how people go around laws
- simonpantzare 5y agoGetting stuck behind a string of these is an exercise in patience.
- bjoli 5y agoWhere I lived until some months ago they usually drive way faster than I do. One memory that stands out is being passed by one driving about 80km/h on a narrow 30km/h road filled with speed bumps, narrowings amd other obstacles. It was a miracle the thing staid on the road. It was just where all the kids cross the road to school. That was when I changed my mind from "youthful fun" to "ban them". More than half of all dangerous situation I have been in concerning cars have involved EPA-traktors. Now whenever one is coming I either walk in the ditch on the side of the road or jump to the other aide of it. Driving from where I lived to the closest school I was usually passed by 2-5 EPA-traktors, despite driving 80km/h. I could go on.
- idiotsecant 5y agoSounds like it conveniently makes the worst drivers easily identifiable. Sounds good to me! I doubt making them drive something else would magically make them safer.
- newaccount74 5y agoHow about requiring them to get a license to drive a car first? It's not going to fix everything, but at least requiring people to learn about road rules and take an exam before they are allowed to drive would be something that might help a little bit?
- CRConrad 5y agoIf they could get a license to drive a car they wouldn't need an EPA in the first place.
- pjerem 5y agoWell, the question is : why are they the worst ? At least a driver with a license have been officially trained with security in mind. Those EPA drivers are, actually, teenagers trained by their teenagers friends. It’s normal for teenagers to underestimate risks and dangers. That’s basically why a licence is needed to drive : not to explain you how to control a car (that’s a rather simple skill) but how to act on the shared road.
- daggersandscars 5y agoWheeler Dealers: Trading Up, season one, episode three shows these off and Mike buys one.
- bjoli 5y agoThere has been quite a few accidents that have gotten media attention lately. Sweden is not really used to teens killing themselves or others in traffic (overall we have something like 2.3 traffic deaths/100.000 inhabitants), so there is an ongoing investigation regarding rules and security regulations regarding (EP)A-traktors. Personally I hope they get banned, because I am pretty tired of being passed on my morning commute by often multiple (EP)A-traktors going 100km/h on a 70 km/h road, driven by someone without a driver's licence. That is the reality. Not the romaticism in the article.
- caslon 5y agoIt seems pretty right? I mean, what's next? Requiring a license to make toast in your own toaster?
- snypher 5y agoRather than a new law, why isn't the existing law re speed limiters enforced?
- bjoli 5y agoUp until very recently EPA-traktors were exempt from the yearly mandatory vehicle inspections of cars. This meant all controls were "in the field" where discovering the various changes can be hard. It has been somewhat of a sport to find new sneaky ways to make the cars go fast and/or quickly lock and unlock the car with a hidden lever. And most of the cars are in rural areas with little police presence. Outside of urban areas sweden is very sparsely populated. My parents live out in bum-fudge nowhere with something like 2 people per square km. Up there every other 15 year old has an EPA-traktor.
- 3np 5y agoBeing able to drive those >30km/h is already illegal. IME enforcement of that that is lax. Still, I hope you took down the plate number(s) and reported it. The case you’re talking about is a very very small minority and that driver would probably drive a car illegally if they didn’t have access to an (EP)A. The vast majority of vehicles in this class is unable to go 100km/h.
- seany 5y ago
- progre 5y agoThese are controversial cars for sure and the comments here are pretty telling: they are by one comment too slow (when driven legaly), and by another too fast for safety (when driven illegaly). I have helped a friends son with such a coversion this year: It doesn't take that much really. Just an electronic box that kills the spark coils when the box senses that the drive axel is spinning too fast, and a big plywood box to make the back seat unusable. Electronic conversions where made simpler to put them more in line with the EU moped car class (except those can do 20 km more per hour). I think one recent trend is that these cars are not primarily a "out in the sticks"-thing any more: Most new conversions are done by (small) town kids, who drive around in the town, not out on the dirt roads.
- sk5t 5y agoIt's hard not to think of the (Finnish) game "My Summer Car" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Summer_Car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Summer_Car
- cheesedoodle 5y ago'It’s easy to understand why there aren’t any A tractors in Stockholm, where the public transportation system is extensive and reliable. However, in rural towns they’re a common part of the automotive landscape.' Actually, they are getting very common in Stockholm and the type of base car is more often a newer more expensive model, like BMW 5 series, Porsche Cayenne, Nissan Navarra etc. I have even seen an example of a Dodge RAM 1500 EPA. https://www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/827888343996178331/ https://www.pinterest.com/amp/pin/827888343996178331/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CC0lhSan6XX https://www.instagram.com/p/CC0lhSan6XX
- glitchcrab 5y agoThat Dodge doesn't appear to fit the criteria though - the dual cab is in place which means it seats more than two people and the rear bulkhead is further back than the law allows.
- BBC-vs-neolibs 5y ago
- smarx007 5y agoThey usually mod them to “close off” the area with extra seats with pipes, mesh or bars. See around 0:28 in this video: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/halland/gymnasiestudenten-axel-har-fixat-42-a-traktorer https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/halland/gymnasiestudenten-...
- sandos 5y agoSomeone built one out of a Audi Q7! https://www.facebook.com/bilmetro/posts/2359290594094797/ https://www.facebook.com/bilmetro/posts/2359290594094797/
- numpad0 5y ago- needs to be based on a production car - has to be road-worthy before the conversion - must be modified to ensure that they can’t transport more than two passengers including the driver - rear cabin wall can’t be more than 10 centimeters (about four inches) away from the front seats ok so can anyone tell me - which midship convertible don't fulfill these criteria?
- KingMachiavelli 5y agoInteresting, I would have imagined there being an exemption to the driver's license age in small towns. Looks like there are moped licenses available at 16 but those licenses also allow these converted 'tractors'.
- jhoelzel 5y agoI think this just shows how regulation makes people inventive =) I cry a little bite about the mercs and bmws though, some would have had much more value in restauration than conversion to a mobility scootesr :/ They should have just limited the ECU of the more modern cars and once you turn 18 they remove the limits. In germany we do that do the heavy bikes for young people
- programmer_dude 5y agoI did not know Sweden used USC.
- fifilura 5y agoLots of comments here about how annoying these are. And of course i can also feel the devils horns growing on my forehead when I am behind 2-3 of these taking up the road in 30km/h. (I live next to a highschool with forestry/farming profile, so...) But then I take a deep breath and think about the perspective of the teenagers here. Often stuck in rural parts of Sweden with little or no public transport. And taking the bicycle or the moped in -10C is not very appealing. The freedom it brings means everything for them. That said - in my area (relatively populated) I have not seen them speeding.
- _fat_santa 5y agoI see two types of comments on this thread. Either they hate it and want them banned or comments like your own saying that they have no other option. I think the solution would be for your government to allow younger folks to drive in the countryside.
- d--b 5y agoThe real question is why 15 year-olds are still allowed to drive tractors on roads in the first place.
- boomboomsubban 5y agoThe law is likely intended for farm families with several fields a short distance apart.
- INTPenis 5y agoThey start working young out on the farms. You probably can't understand this video[1] but just look at it, it's a 14 year old kid being interviewed about his mechanic interest out on his family's farm. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_DNllO0hE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_DNllO0hE That channel have interviewed John several times since, he's a wizard with engines and always has work to do around the farm or for his friends.
- Nursie 5y agoFrom an Australian (resident's) perspective ... Those are utes! You don't see them about as much as you used to, but they've been big in Australia for decades. Not home-built, and regulated like other cars, but that's what they look like! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle) (They are also popular with young people, and have a bad rep for causing accidents. This is more because they are usually massively overpowered, and all the weight is on the front.)
- CRConrad 5y agoThey differ in that utes have a pretty large load bed, whereas these are -- or at least were, for the EPA -- allowed to have a maximum of one square meter. (Might be slightly larger for the A?) I assume the reasoning was, so farmers don't try to get the more favourable tax rate for a tractor applied to something they actually use as a pickup truck. Real tractors don't have big load beds either.
- pembrook 5y agoIn neighboring Finland, teens are allowed to drive ATVs on public roads. Both are bizarre and unsafe solutions to the problem that the Nordics have a driving age of 18, and yet, people under 18 who live outside the city still need to go places. Nordic politicians in the cities pleasure themselves to the thought of a world without cars (cars and gasoline are taxed into oblivion), while ignoring the reality that the sparsely populated nordics lack the density necessary for good public transportation outside of the central districts of the biggest cities. So if you’re a young person who does sports or has an after-school job, you’re out of luck if you don’t have well-off parents with a flat in city. Hence, this weird outcome.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Aeolun 5y ago> So if you’re a young person who does sports or has an after-school job, you’re out of luck if you don’t have well-off parents with a flat in city. I come from a town of about 30k, and I’ve never once felt the need to go anywhere outside of town for any of those things. Given the total number of sports or work locations available, I think that’ll hold true until around the 5k people mark. As far as I can see it’s not really related to being well-off or not. More related to expectations.
- waspight 5y agoI think the issue is more for all those kids living 10km outside that 30k town.
- bellyfullofbac 5y agoSuddenly the Truckla (Tesla pickup) makes more sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35gWBtLCYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R35gWBtLCYg - the inventor is a Swede living in the US.
- dehrmann 5y ago> Swede Made me pronounce it Trücklå. Sadly, I failed to find a good El Camino pun name.
- throwaway05112 5y ago
- phicoh 5y agoThe Netherlands had a similar thing for a while. From age 16, teens can get a moped license. Within the moped class there are tiny 4 wheeled vehicles. Mostly a continued development of tiny cars used by people with disabilities. Then somebody figured out that some real cars can have their software 'downgraded' to limit the car to 45 km/h, and it can be classified as a moped. I forgot what was done to get rid if this loophole.
- fulafel 5y agoThere's long time EU wide classification for the "light quadricycles" (L6e/L7e) but in some countries the age limits are same as for normal cars. Eg in Germany you can get a license for some of these at 16.
- DnDGrognard 5y agoFrance has this sort of vehicle as well popular for teenagers and those who have lost their licence for drunk driving.
- consp 5y ago> lost their licence for drunk driving. That wouldn't apply as you need a moped license for those back when they were allowed and a tractor license now. There is no "only this type" revocation in the law in the Netherlands and you lose all your licenses. And yes that means driving drunk in your car on Sunday as a truck driver can cost you your job.
- De_Delph 5y agoIt was a loophole that allowed any car that met a specific top speed to be classified as an agricultural vehicle. I believe this hole was closed when some kids succeeded in registering a Mercedes ML as a tractor.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- thrower123 5y ago
- kruxigt 5y ago
- the_mitsuhiko 5y agoThat's significantly less weird than the German workaround. In Germany you are allowed to drive a car with a moped license if that car is a specific type of three wheeler for as long as it has less than 20 HP. So there are people that are building three wheelers out of a Fiat 500. You can drive up to 90km/h with that. Looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4PqGzzhaXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4PqGzzhaXo It's called "Ellenator" after the inventor: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellenator https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellenator
- TorKlingberg 5y agoThese were definitely a thing among my countryside friends. I grow up on the edge of a Swedish city. They always seemed be undergoing some repair or modification. At least upgrading the sound if nothing more daring. Since they only make sense to drive from 15 to 17, they change owners frequently and are often 20+ years old in the first place.
- jlundborg 5y agoMy favourite aspect of this is that the name EPA is coming from a long-since closed chain of stores selling low-quality products, and the teenagers driving these vehicles have for sure never seen one.
- CRConrad 5y agoActually pretty much all of the examples in the article were in all likelihood A tractors, not EPA. Except perhaps the green Duett one. Heck, I'm a greybeard, and I've never seen an EPA store.
- locallost 5y agoSo a teenager is allowed to drive a vehicle that weighs over a ton 30km/h without a drivers license, but their e-bike assist will max out at 25km/h because it would be otherwise unsafe. Regulations are nonsensical.