Tuesday, December 7th, 2021
Longer trial periods and training
The tightening is intended to protect novice drivers
Accompanied driving at 17, zero tolerance for alcohol – yet novice drivers in Germany still have the highest risk of accidents. According to a report, the transport ministers want to counteract this with tightening such as a longer trial period. The reform could also have something to do with plans by the Ampel coalition.
According to a report, new drivers in Germany could face significant tightening. As the “Rheinische Post” reported, the transport ministers of the federal states are planning a “comprehensive reform” to ensure more safety for young drivers. This emerges from a resolution proposal for the conference of transport ministers of the federal and state governments, which will meet at the end of this week, and which the newspaper has received.
The discussion is therefore to extend the trial period for novice drivers from two to three years. A reduction by one year should in turn be possible if novice drivers voluntarily complete two “feedback drives” of 90 minutes each around four months after receiving their driver’s license. Another option is therefore special driver safety training.
According to the proposed resolution, a new federal-state working group is to implement the reform in concrete terms by spring 2022, the newspaper reported. The background is that despite the “accompanied driving from 17”, the driving license on probation and the alcohol ban for novice drivers that has been in force since 2007, young road users still have by far the highest risk of accidents in road traffic.
According to the newspaper, the reform could also be necessary because the traffic light coalition wants to enable accompanied driving at the age of 16. The SPD negotiator responsible for the “Mobility” coalition working group, Saarland’s Transport Minister Anke Rehlinger, told the “Rheinische Post” that the transport ministers’ reform plans were a good fit for this new federal government’s project. “Longer assisted driving practice leads to more experience when you are alone at the wheel.”