Newly licensed driver plate
An L-plate is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and/or back of a vehicle in many countries if its driver is a learner under instruction, or a motorcycle rider with provisional entitlement to ride restricted motorcycles.
Newly licensed drivers
Australia
In Australia the rules vary from state to state. A new driver holds a Learner licence/permit which has a minimum age of 16, or 15 and 9 months in some areas. This must then be held for a certain amount of time before a driving examination can be undertaken, usually 12 months later. After passing, the driver must display 'P' plates. Holders of a provisional/probationary licence may be restricted compared to fully licensed drivers in speed, blood alcohol limits, limits on the type and power of their car's engine, and number of demerit points that can be accrued. VicRoads, the Victorian road authority, publish information for learner drivers on the L-Site.Graduated Driver Licensing first commenced in Australia in the mid-1960s with New South Wales introducing learner and provisional licences on January 4, 1966. In all states, newly licensed drivers are required by law to display P-plates for varying lengths of time. The P is usually a red or green letter on a white background or a white letter on a red or green background. In New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria there are two classes of provisional/probationary licence: red P-plates are for the first year after passing the Learner test, and then after passing a computerised test they are green for two to three years. Western Australia requires six months of red P-plates, where provisional drivers are under a 12midnight–5am curfew, and one and a half years of green P-plates.
On 1 July 2000, New South Wales introduced a three-stage Graduated Licensing Scheme :
- Stage one is a learner licence with the requirement to complete 120 hours of supervised driving, including 20 hours of nighttime driving. A learner licence must be held for a minimum of 12 months before a practical driving test can be taken in order to proceed to a P1 probationary licence.
- Stage two is a one-year P1 probationary licence.
- Stage three is a two-year P2 probationary licence.
- Stage one is a one-year P1 probationary licence.
- Stage two is a three-year P2 probationary licence.
- P1 drivers are prohibited from using a mobile phone of any kind.
- P1 drivers are banned from towing, except for work or when supervised.
- P1 drivers can carry no more than one passenger aged between 16 years of age and less than 22 years, unless the passengers are immediate family members.
- A good driving record will be necessary to progress to the next licence stage.
Speed limits
L-platers and provisional drivers are restricted in some states to lower speeds.- Northern Territory L-platers are restricted to a maximum speed of ;
- New South Wales L-platers, P1 drivers and Tasmanian L-platers are restricted to ;
- South Australian L and P-platers, New South Wales P2 drivers, Northern Territory P-platers and Western Australian L-platers are restricted to ;
- Queensland, Victoria, and the ACT make no speed restrictions beyond the speed limits applicable to all drivers. WA P-platers and Tasmanian P2 drivers may also drive to the posted speed limit.
Canada
In British Columbia, a red L plate is required for 12 months before the N can be issued, and new drivers with this marking are not permitted to drive without a licensed driver over the age of 25 present in the vehicle.
France
After learners pass their driving test, they must display a A-plate, of round shape with white background and red letter, for three years.They must follow a different speed limit: on highways, on national roads with road dividers and on every road normally limited to.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, a person is allowed to apply for a learners' licence for private cars, light good vehicles, motorcycles and motor tricycles once he or she has reached 18 years old. For learners' licence of other vehicle classes, applicants must be over 21 years old and hold a valid full driving licence or a probationary driving license for one year. Holders of a learners' licence in Hong Kong must be accompanied by a licensed driving instructor and must display L-plates at front and rear of the vehicle while driving. The L-plate is printed red on a white background with an alphabet "L" and a Chinese character "學", which literally means "learning".A one-year probationary period has been applied to newly qualified motorcycle drivers since 2000 and to private car/light goods vehicle drivers since 2009. During the probationary period, drivers must display a red P-plate at the front and back of the car, must not exceed a speed of if the speed limit of the road is higher than, and must not use the rightmost lane on expressways having three or more lanes. Motorcycle riders may not carry passengers during the probational period. A driver who commits a minor traffic offence during the probationary period will see his period extended by six months, and a second minor offence or a single serious offence will cancel the license entirely, forcing him to retake the driving test for another probationary licence. Drivers who complete the probationary period without committing any offences are eligible for a full-class driving licence. Licences for all other classes of vehicles require the applicant to finish his probationary period.
India
All new drivers in India, upon receipt of a provisional licence, must display L plates at all times and be accompanied by another driver who has held a full and valid licence for the type of vehicle being driven and also be in a position to control the vehicle.After learners have passed the driving test for the appropriate vehicle, they can switch to a permanent driving license.
Isle of Man
Licences may be obtained from the age of 16 and provisional licences require the display of L-plates. For one year after obtaining a full licence, R-plates must be displayed and speed is restricted to . Unlike the R-plate in Northern Ireland, an Isle of Man R-plate is a red R on a square white plate.Ireland
In Ireland, the minimum age for a learner's permit is seventeen. Before being awarded this permit, the applicant must pass a computerized Driver Theory Test, and after passing the test, the probationer must display L-plates and be accompanied by a driver who has held a full licence for at least two years. Since 2008, all learner drivers have faced a fine of up to €1,000 for a first offence and €2,000 for a second if they fail to display L-plates.All learner permit holders, with the exception of those who hold learner permits in category W, must display 'L' plates while they are driving. The letter L should be at least high and appear as red on a white background, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle.
A learner's permit is valid for two years, and may be renewed once without the holder having sat a driving test. After this, proof of an upcoming test appointment or a recent test failure is required for further renewal. A permit holder may not sit a test for at least six months after receiving their permit.
Prior to October 2007, a "provisional licence" was issued which had more lax restrictions - on its first renewal, the holder could drive unaccompanied, and the accompanying driver did not need any experience, just a full licence. The third or further renewals of the licence - e.g. after failing a test and the expiration of the second licence - brought back the accompaniment requirement. This unusual arrangement led to a situation where a learner driver, having failed his driving test on a 2nd Provisional, could legally drive away from the test center unaccompanied.
Prior to December 2007 an L-plate was not required for motorcyclists. A fluorescent tabard displaying an 'L' on the rear is now required for motorcyclists using a provisional licence or learner permit.
The new measures were introduced in an effort to improve road safety, and will be followed by the introduction of 'tiered licensing', with harsher rules applying to those holding a full licence for less than two years. However, the changes were not retroactive.
From 1 August 2014, a person granted a first full driving licence must display N-plates on the vehicle for a period of 2 years. The legal requirements for an N plate are that it is not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle. However, there has been a trend amongst drivers, younger males in particular, who want to keep N plates discreet, whereby they trim the white background on the N plates, leaving just a narrow white border around the letter N or no border at all. The somewhat vague legal requirement implies that the prior may be legal as it does not specify a width for the border. Trimming of N plates generally occurs due to a perceived ‘embarrassment’ of them or the driver is driving a modified vehicle that they do not want attention drawn to.