Mobility is changing: Combustion engines should become the exception, electric cars with new assistance systems should take the helm. That doesn’t stop at driver’s license training. The Auto Club Europa evaluates the new projects relating to driver training and testing that the German government and the EU Commission are aiming for.
Driver training is to become more digital in the future. Even during the corona pandemic, driving schools were also able to offer their theory lessons digitally, but so far that was only a corona exception. The government always wants to allow digital teaching and the Federal Council approved the expansion with changes in February 2022. The Federal Government is now deciding whether to implement the provisions contained therein.
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Assessment of the experts: “The ACE welcomes the expansion of digital offers in driver training, as it simplifies access to the driver’s license, especially in rural regions where the nearest driving school can sometimes be further away”.
Not only e-cars bring new assistance systems, but they push the development vigorously. For this reason, the use of modern driver assistance systems has been part of the practical test since June 1, 2022. Integration will be phased in, starting with easy-to-use and widely used systems such as adaptive cruise control.
Assessment of the experts: “Driving assistance systems can help to avoid accidents if the way they work is clear. From the point of view of ACE, integration into the driving school test can make a good contribution to this. Since certain systems will be mandatory for new vehicles by the EU in the future, they must also be taken into account in the driving test”.
According to the coalition agreement, the minimum age for accompanied driving could be reduced from 17 to 16 years. The aim is for young people to be trained in road traffic at an early age. Accompanied driving has proven to be a complete success for more road safety. It significantly reduces the accident risk for novice drivers. Reducing the minimum age to 16 years would mean that the learning period for young people would be doubled – that is, they would be able to gain driving experience under supervision for two years.
Assessment of the experts: “Since it can be assumed that the risk of accidents will be reduced even further, ACE welcomes this project”.
In addition, the maximum weight for the B driving license could soon increase. So far, anyone who obtained a category B driver’s license after 1999 may only use it to drive vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tons. However, many motorhomes in particular are just above this maximum weight and may not be driven with a class B driver’s license.
Assessment of the experts: The ACE is in favor of increasing the maximum weight to 4.25 tons. The vehicles and their safety-relevant components are usually designed for more weight anyway, and the difference between 3.5 and 4.25 tons would not be significantly noticeable in the driving experience.
In addition, the switch to electromobility will inevitably lead to heavier vehicles, since large batteries bring a lot of weight. From ACE’s point of view, it is particularly important that a speed limit must always apply to this vehicle class.
So far, vans and mobile homes up to 3.5 tons can drive just like a car without a speed limit. Inappropriate speed is already the number one cause of accidents in this type of vehicle.
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