P-plate model restrictions relaxed in Vic

The Victorian Minister for Roads, Terry Mulder, has announced that the state's probationary drivers will soon be able to legally drive a range of previously banned vehicles, as the old blanket restriction on V8-engined cars and turbocharged or supercharged petrol-engined cars makes way for a new power-to-weight limit.

Effective from July 1, 2014, probationary drivers in Victoria will only be excluded from driving vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio of more than 130kW per tonne – provided they were manufactured after January 1, 2010.

Vehicles manufactured before that date will continue to be restricted under the current guidelines, as VicRoads says it has no national power-to-weight data for such vehicles.

Mr Mulder said the change will give Victoria's P-plate drivers access to a range of modern, safe and efficient vehicles that are currently caught in a legislative net designed to screen out high-performance cars.

"These are practical changes that recognise that some smaller cars have turbo as standard now, for example, while making sure P-platers don't drive cars that big that are built for speed," Mr Mulder said in a press statement.

"What matters is the engine size relative to the size of the car."

Mr Mulder said the change will be welcome news to P-plate drivers in rural Victoria, where models often favoured for farm use have previously been off-limits.

"Changing the guidelines will open up better job opportunities for P-platers in regional areas, by removing restrictions on vehicles such as the Toyota LandCruiser which is preferred by the agricultural sector," he said.

"This is about practicality, as many eight-cylinder vehicles are heavy and therefore lack the ability to accelerate quickly."

VicRoads says its searchable online database of eligible vehicles will be updated to reflect the changes from July 1.

While the move to a power-to-weight ratio limit is, in essence, a triumph for common sense, the fact it only applies vehicles manufactured after January 1, 2010, will lessen the legislation's impact considerably.