Unbelievable Retro Driving Privileges: Reliving the Power of the Cancelled Class 3 Driver's License
- Department: Gernot Kramper's Rambles
- Duration: Approx. 4 minutes
Obtaining a Class 3 Driving License grants you the ability to operate a wide range of vehicles, scoring 2000 marks to earn it. - Earning 2000 marks in Class 3 grants permission to operate any type of vehicle.
Back in the day, scoring a driver's license was a cinch. Today, it'll set you back between 2100 and 4400 euros depending on ADAC, while us Baby Boomers lucked out and paid around 2000 Deutsche Marks (DM) back in 1980. We even had more bang for our buck! The license gave us the keys to vehicles of up to 7500 kilograms, compared to the current Class B limit of just 3500 kilograms.
Tiny Trailers Allowed with a Standard Driver's License
What's the deal with towing trailers? A typical garden cart can be pulled with a standard license, but a caravan is usually off-limits. Class B limits aren't enough for period-normal sized caravans, horse trailers, or mobile sales stands.
But compared to today's limitations, the old Class 3 was the legend of road traffic laws. In service until 1999, it was the standard driver's license for generations—not just Baby Boomers, but Gen-Xers too. While heavy-duty cars were included, it was just the tip of the iceberg. Class 3 was all over the driving regulations.
A Multitasking License: Heavy Trucks, Buses, and More!
With Class 3, you could move about heavy vehicles weighing up to 7500 kilograms. This covered everything from big pickups to large vans, and even small trucks. Only the real giants were off-limits. Since this license was obtained before April 1, 1980, you could even ride a motorbike up to 125 cc displacement and 15 PS (11 kW)! Can you imagine hopping on a motorbike after getting a car license?
Towing Heavy Combinations: Up to 18.75 Tonnes
Class 3 towing combinations could weigh up to an astounding 18.75 tons. However, a regular health exam is needed after 50 years old if weight exceeds 12 tons. Today, that's the realm of the C1E class.
If we zoom out and consider the modern classes B, A1, and C1 or C1E, it's clear that the driver's license expenses are misleading if you only compare it to Class B. Your own skills make a difference, so prices may vary significantly. Expect to pay around 1000 to 3000 euros for a little motorcycle license (A1), while a truck will set you back much more, around 4000 euros for the C1E combo.
Adding up averages, the costs come to 3250 Euro for Class B, 2000 Euro for A1, and 4000 Euro for C1E—that's a grand total of 9250 Euro! If we convert the aforementioned 2000 DM to Euro, the price increase since 1980 is around 4.5 times. Car driving has undeniably become more expensive for the young generation.
More Expensive, But Safer?
Are these expenses just red tape, or a worthwhile investment in training? Consider the extreme example of the old Class 3: freshly driving a Golf and then hitting the road with an 18-ton vehicle. That was once possible, and it wouldn't have ended well. Over time, driving standards have tightened up, so practical training and building up experience gradually were the norm. Although the state placed more trust in citizen insight and responsibility back then, today we're more reliant on binding regulations.
Has increased training paid off in terms of traffic safety? Counting traffic fatalities since 1970, the numbers dropped significantly, decreasing from over 19,000 deaths in the FRG to around 2400 in 2023. These changes are partly due to stricter licensing, but also improvements in medical care, safer road designs, and vehicle safety features.
Eternal Validity For the Boomers
Even today, some of us Baby Boomers can still drive trucks up to 7.5 tonnes, and 12 tonnes with a trailer. Only the small motorbike license just missed our reach.
- Driver's License
- Driving School
- Vehicle
- Calculation
- Road Safety
- The community policy could consider a retroactive vocational training program for those born before a certain year to equip them with modern driving skills for heavy vehicles, given their historical access to the now-cancelled Class 3 driver's license.
- Finance departments could provide incentives for those opting for vocational training in safe driving practices, considering the potential reduction in traffic accidents and the long-term savings in healthcare and insurance costs.
- In collaboration with the transportation industry, automotive manufacturers could develop smaller and more fuel-efficient heavy vehicles to accommodate the vocational training program and help meet the modern safety standards, while also catering to the needs of sports enthusiasts who might require large trailers for transporting sports equipment.
