When you’ve finally passed the driving test and won your hard-earned P-Plates, it’s important to keep in mind that there are still driving restrictions on your licence.

P-Platers are banned from driving certain types of high performance cars, but there are also other restrictions to keep in mind.

High Performance Car Restrictions

Certain high performance cars are restricted for P-Platers for safety reasons. P-Platers (both P1 and P2) are not allowed to drive cars that have:

• Power to tare mass ratios of greater than 130kW per tonne or,
• Modified engines that need to be approved by an engineer or,
• Other vehicles classified as high performance.

If you’re in doubt, you can find the NSW government’s database with approved vehicles for P Platers here.

Other restrictions

There are a number of other restrictions on P-Plate drivers including:

• Mobile Phones: P1 drivers are not allowed to use mobile phones at all while driving – not even hands-free.
• Speeding: P1 drivers have a maximum speed is 90km/h where allowed (P2 drivers have a maximum of 100km/h), otherwise they must obey the driving speed as signed;
• No Alcohol: P1 and P2 drivers are not allowed to drink anything prior to driving – they have a 0.0% alcohol limit.
• Late-night passengers: P1 drivers under the age of 25 can only carry one passenger under the age of 21 between 11pm and 5am
• No Teaching Learners: P1 and P2 drivers may not supervise Learner drivers
• No Heavy Towing: P1 Platers are only allowed to tow a maximum of a 250Kg trailer
• No Manual Cars if Learned on an Automatic: P1 drivers are only allowed to drive cars with manual transmission if they passed their driving test with a manual car.
• Display P-Plates Outside: Your P-Plates must be displayed on the outside of your car. You can lose two demerit points and face a fine for placing them inside your windscreen.

More information

You can find out more information on licence restrictions at the Centre of Road Safety’s website.