Traffic: Driver's license at 16 will not be accessible in the interim | EUROtoday

The Driver's license at 16 is not going to be accessible in Germany any time quickly. The Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin informed the German Press Agency that European regulation doesn’t at the moment permit the implementation of plans to accumulate a automobile driving license on the age of 16. The federal authorities made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP wished to allow accompanied driving from the age of 16 as an alternative of the earlier age of 17 and had written the venture into its coalition settlement. When it will likely be applied is unclear.

Six years in the past, Lower Saxony made a transfer to permit 16-year-olds to get behind the wheel when accompanied by an grownup. Other federal states additionally wished to realize expertise with reducing the age by means of pilot tasks. However, such a regulation has not been applied. You can get your driving license on the age of 16, however driving is barely permitted out of your seventeenth birthday underneath sure circumstances.

The hurdles lie on the EU degree. The ministry of Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) introduced: “Since the framework for driving license law is regulated bindingly for all member states at the European level, Germany cannot unilaterally regulate a lowering of the minimum age at the national level.” The MDR first reported about it.

According to its personal data, the Federal Ministry of Transport initially advocated a mannequin venture with the European Commission – and referred to the “positive experiences with accompanied driving from the age of 17”. However, in a Commission draft of the EU driving license directive, this request was not complied with, it was now mentioned.

The FDP wrote in its election program for the federal election three years in the past: “We Free Democrats want to lower the minimum age for obtaining a car driving license and enable accompanied driving from the age of 16.” This has been mentioned for years.

Driving at 17 turns into much less enticing

Accompanied driving on the age of 17 has been doable nationwide since 2011. Previously there have been short-term mannequin tasks in federal states. According to information from the Federal Motor Transport Authority, greater than 241,000 younger individuals underneath 18 received a driving license in 2022, considerably fewer than when it was launched. The vehicle membership ADAC According to this, lower than half of these making use of for a driving license at the moment benefit from the chance to drive accompanied from the age of 17.

Young individuals as much as the age of 18 are allowed to drive a automobile with an exception if they’re accompanied by an accompanying particular person. Who is eligible might be specified by title when the check certificates is issued. Requirements additionally apply to the passenger, who have to be not less than 30 years outdated.

For the ADAC one factor is for certain: “Getting a driver’s license at 17 was and is a win.” Young individuals who received behind the wheel on the age of 17 had a considerably decrease threat of accidents than those that didn’t benefit from the accompanying section. The rapporteur for the SPD parliamentary group within the Bundestag, Mathias Stein, who’s answerable for site visitors security, additionally refers to such statistics. There is a delightful improve in highway security, he says.

Stein: Politically nonetheless for the best objective

The site visitors gentle coalition subsequently considers the objective of accompanied driving on the age of 16 “still politically correct”. But: With this want, Germany represents a distinct segment opinion, says Stein. “For most other EU countries, the concept of “accompanied driving at 17” remains to be new and is subsequently seen critically.”

The ADAC would welcome a driver's license on the age of 16 – additionally as a result of the coaching time for a driver's license has elevated on common lately, thus lowering the time for an “intensive support phase”. In any case, along with the newbie threat, younger persons are uncovered to “driving situations typical of young people”, similar to driving in teams. “That’s why it’s right that the learning period, i.e. the phase in which young drivers are not yet on the road alone, is extended.”

© dpa-infocom, dpa:240413-99-658235/2