Punjab Assembly May Soon Cut Driving Age from 18 to 16

A few days ago, we reported that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced on her social media that 16-year-olds will be allowed to get a motorcycle riding licence. At the time, we also pointed out that it was only a proposal, and the CTO Traffic Police had told us that no law had been passed yet, so nothing had been implemented.

Any new rule or law must be passed as a Bill in the Assembly and then receive the Governor’s assent before it can be implemented. Since this policy relates to Punjab, it must go through this process in the Punjab Assembly.

Now, there’s another development.

The Nation reports that a resolution has been moved in the Punjab Assembly to lower the minimum age for getting a driving license from 18 to 16.

This motion was brought forward by opposition member Sheikh Imtiaz Mahmood, who believes that since we have such a large youth population, this change would allow young people to start contributing to the economy much earlier.

The resolution also gave examples from other countries to support this idea. It mentioned that most provinces in Canada allow driving at 16, and Germany issues licenses at 17. He suggested Pakistan can follow these examples to help the youth progress.

However, remember that this is only a resolution introduced so far. It is not the law yet. It will only take effect if the majority of the members of the Punjab Assembly vote in favour of this resolution.