Despite being located in opposite hemispheres globally, Canadians and Australians share much in common. We both like violent sports (hockey and rugby). Australia has small animals that will kill you, while we have large animals that will kill you. Both former British colonies also enjoy large, wide-open spaces where testing the limits of a fast car can be tempting. Recently, to improve road safety, the province of South Australia introduced new legislation that mandates special driver's licences for drivers operating high-powered vehicles.
This begs the question: Should Canadians be required to obtain a special permit to drive their high-performance cars?
New Aussie Rules for Supercar Drivers
A few years ago in South Australia, a young girl died after being struck by a Lamborghini Huracan when the driver lost control of their supercar. Following this tragedy, Peter Malinauskas, Premier of the province of South Australia, advocated for new licensing laws, as the driver of the Lamborghini was acquitted of death by dangerous driving charges. The result? South Australian drivers of high-performance cars must now enroll in special training to keep enjoying their vehicles on public roads.
Excluding buses, trikes, or motorcycles, the new Ultra High-Powered Vehicle (or U-Class) licence is required for vehicles with a power-to-weight ratio of at least 370 horsepower per metric tonne and a gross vehicle mass of up to 4,500 kilograms. This includes supercars like the Lamborghini Huracan and almost every modern exotic sports car, including many classics and track cars.
Do Canadian Supercar Drivers Need a Special licence?
Regardless of what hemisphere you drive in, the modern definition of a high-performance car is rapidly changing. Street-legal supercars from Lamborghini, Bugatti, Ferrari, McLaren, Pagani, and Porsche have performance figures associated with race cars from only a few decades ago. Some of the most expensive hypercars in the world, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie or Mercedes-AMG One, produce over 1,000 hp. Combined with lightweight exotic materials, these cars offer racecar-level power-to-weight ratios but for the street. While most of these supercars are low-volume exotica, even affordable performance cars like the 486-hp (280-hp/tonne) Ford Mustang GT can cause similar road safety concerns our Aussie friends are trying to curtail here on Canadian roads.
During Canada Road Safety Week and the first long weekend this past May, the Toronto police reported a 31 per cent increase in calls for service relating to stunt driving. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) also reported that over 2,200 charges were issued to drivers across eastern Ontario, including 1,522 tickets for speeding and 41 for stunt driving that weekend. Notably, the OPP stopped a driver travelling at 187 km/h on Highway 416 in Ottawa, suspecting that the driver was engaging in a race with another vehicle.
Like getting a boat licence in Ontario, Aussie supercar drivers don't need an in-car evaluation to obtain their supercar licence. Available to drivers with valid driver's licences, the U-Class Licence course is online, takes under an hour to complete, and costs only AU$61 ($56). Even if drivers don't pass the first time, the test can be taken multiple times within 12 months.
If caught driving your supercar in South Australia without a U-Class licence, you will be fined AU$2,500 (CAD$2,272). The penalty for subsequent offences is one year in jail. Deactivating your supercar's driver aids, such as traction control, stability control, or anti-lock and automated emergency braking, is also an offence.
Would an Online Supercar Licence Be Effective in Canada?
Full disclosure: As a lifelong driving enthusiast, I love fast cars and the thrill of driving a high-performance vehicle as close to its limits as possible. However, like superheroes, driving a car with great power comes with great responsibility. Over many decades, I have enjoyed much seat time behind high-powered machinery on racetracks, racing schools, and high-performance driver education classes. My biggest takeaway: extracting all the performance available from most modern cars on public roads is wildly unsafe.
I suspect most experienced drivers would agree with this view. But what about the advancements in active safety and driver aids, like traction and stability controls? They help, but modern planes also have pilot aids, and you still need additional training. When Formula One drivers need to gain a licence before hitting the track, is an online course enough for 1,000-hp-plus supercar drivers to be safe?
While South Australian lawmakers can be applauded for introducing its new U-Class Licence requirement, which will, at the very minimum, bring awareness to a growing problem, more rigorous in-person supercar training would be more effective. This is especially more applicable to Canadian drivers, who, unlike in Australia, must deal with the challenges of snow and ice.
Regardless of our current licencing requirements, if you want to be a responsible Canadian supercar driver, there are plenty of performance driving programs available from car clubs and racetracks around the country that will allow you to not only experience the limits of your car in a safe environment on track but also develop your skills to the point where you can enjoy your car without endangering others on public roads. Many automakers, like Porsche, offer such programs. Attending an automaker's program is especially beneficial if you own one of its vehicles, but you don't have to be an owner to get a lot out of the experience.
Whether the requirements of a supercar licence catch on outside Australia remains to be seen; South Australian supercar drivers have until the end of 2024 to get certified. The potential impact of these new licensing requirements is yet to be fully understood. However, the days of viewing the licence requirements for a 78-hp Mitsubishi Mirage and a 1,000-hp Lamborghini Revuelto in the same light should be over.
