Scooter and licence law

[Andy]

Here is a extract from Kalkan Turkish Local News:

"To ride a scooter with an engine over 50cc you need to have passed your motorbike test. This point is worth considering if you are thinking of buying or renting a scooter.

The vehicle categories used on your UK licence are broadly the same as the categories used in Turkey. In the UK when you pass your CBT you get an A1 licence (similar to A1 in Turkey). When you pass your full bike test in the UK you get an A licence (similar to A2 in Turkey).

If the reverse of your UK photocard license shows you can legally ride a motorbike (class A) in the UK you can ride one in Turkey. If it says A1, in Turkey you can ride a moped up to 50cc, which is basically about as powerful as a big lawnmower and won't get you far in Kalkan with all those hills.

If the back of your licence does not show A1 or A (but if you drive a car presumably it will show class B), you cannot legally ride any kind of scooter or motorbike in Turkey.

And if anyone tells you that they have been stopped by the traffic police on a 125cc scooter without having a class A licence, you can tell them it was their lucky day.

Anecdotal stories like that are not hard to find. If you are involved in an accident, your insurance company will not be so understanding".

[Dalyansteve]

Fortunately Sandra and I have always had full motorcycle licences, so we have always been astonished that tourists come here thinking to hire scooters, when many of them do not have a license and many have obviously never ridden a bike before. The local hospitals make a fortune out of these people and the insurance companies never pay.