What can I drive with a Category B driving licence?

Many drivers with a Category B driving licence still wonder: what am I actually allowed to drive? Can I ride motorcycles, or tow a trailer? These are among the most common points of confusion for Category B licence holders - but the rules are clear once you know where to look.

Legal framework for the Category B driving licence

To understand what you can drive with a Category B driving licence, you need to refer to the legal framework set out in the Regulamento da Habilitação Legal para Conduzir under Decreto-Lei n.º 138/2012, of 5 July.

What the law says (Decreto-Lei n.º 138/2012)

Under Article 3 of the Annex to the Regulamento da Habilitação Legal para Conduzir, anyone who holds a Category B driving licence may drive vehicles in categories B and B1, and may also drive vehicles in categories AM and A1 - although these last two are subject to specific conditions.

If you hold a Category B driving licence, you are authorised to drive the following vehicles:

Motorcycles

Provided the driver is aged 25 or over (or, if under 25, already holds Category AM or a moped driving permit) and the motorcycle’s engine capacity is no more than 125 cm3, maximum power does not exceed 11 kW, and the power-to-weight ratio is not above 0.1 kW/kg.

It is worth remembering that, following the amendments introduced by Decreto-Lei n.º 102-B/2020, described in Article 107, motorcycles are now defined as “vehicles with two wheels, with or without a sidecar, with a propulsion engine with a cylinder capacity greater than 50 cm3, in the case of an internal combustion engine, or which, by construction, exceed a speed of 45 km/h, or whose maximum power exceeds 4 kW”.

Tricycles

Provided the driver is aged 25 or over (or, if under 25, already holds Category AM or a moped driving permit) and the power does not exceed 15 kW.

According to Decreto-Lei n.º 102-B/2020, tricycles are classified as “vehicles with three symmetrically arranged wheels which, by construction, exceed a speed of 45 km/h, or have a propulsion engine whose maximum power exceeds 4 kW, or have an engine capacity greater than 50 cm3 in the case of spark-ignition engines, or 500 cm3 in the case of compression-ignition engines”.

Two- or three-wheeled mopeds

Where the engine capacity is no more than 50 cm3 (if it is an internal combustion engine) or the maximum nominal power is no more than 4 kW.

For three-wheeled mopeds, maximum power cannot exceed 4 kW, and engine capacity cannot be higher than 50 cm3 for a spark-ignition engine, or 500 cm3 for a compression-ignition engine.

An exception applies to powered cycles with a spark-ignition engine of no more than 50 cm3, or an internal combustion engine whose maximum useful power is no more than 4 kW, or whose maximum continuous rated power is no more than 4 kW if the engine is electric.

Quadricycles

As long as the maximum unladen mass does not exceed 450 kg or 600 kg, depending on whether the vehicle is intended for passenger transport or for goods, respectively. If the quadricycle is electric, the battery weight is not included in these limits, as set out in Decreto-Lei n.º 102-B/2020.

The Moto4 vehicles that so often raise questions fall within this category, meaning they can be driven by anyone licensed in categories B or B1.

Light passenger cars

Light passenger cars are defined as “motor vehicles with a maximum authorised mass not exceeding 3,500 kg, designed and built to carry a maximum of eight passengers, excluding the driver”.

A trailer with a maximum authorised mass of no more than 750 kg may also be attached, provided the maximum mass of the combined vehicle does not exceed 3,500 kg.

Simple agricultural or forestry tractors

Category B licence holders may also drive simple agricultural or forestry tractors, or tractors with mounted equipment, provided the maximum authorised mass of the combined vehicle does not exceed 6,000 kg, as well as light agricultural or forestry machinery, motor cultivators, tractor cars and light industrial machinery.

However, from August 2022, anyone who wants to be authorised to drive agricultural vehicles “must provide proof of successfully completing the COTS (Conduzir e operar com o trator em segurança) training course or the equivalent UFCD.

What about motorhomes - can I drive one?

Yes, as long as the gross weight is no more than 4,250 kg. Under the same Decreto-Lei n.º 138/2012 cited above - specifically point 2 of Article 21 - “the driving of vehicles with a maximum authorised mass greater than 3,500 kg and up to 4,250 kg may be carried out by holders of a Category B driving licence who are over 21 years of age and have held their entitlement for at least 3 years”.

There are, however, two obligations: these vehicles must be intended “exclusively for leisure purposes or to be used for social purposes pursued by non-commercial organisations”, and they must not allow “the transport of more than nine passengers, including the driver, nor of goods of any kind other than those essential to the use for which they are intended”.

Article updated on 6 April 2021 at 13:07