The new rules for driving licenses in the European Union (EU) come into force today, allowing 17-year-olds to drive light vehicles alongside an experienced driver and introducing the digital license as the main format.
Each Member State now has four years to transpose and apply the provisions approved last month by MEPs in Strasbourg, with a view to modernizing procedures and improving road safety.
“Last year alone, 19,940 lives were lost on EU roads,” the European Commission highlighted today in a statement.
The community goal is to halve deaths and serious injuries on roads by 2030, with a view to getting closer to eliminating them by 2050.
The Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, quoted in the statement, argued that today represents “a big step forward” in modernizing the driver licensing system and reducing the “unacceptable number of deaths on the roads” across the EU.
The new driving licenses can be used across the EU using mobile phones or other digital devices.
“After a brief transition period, digital driving licenses will be issued by default in all Member States. However, physical driving licenses remain available on request, especially for those who do not have one smartphone or prefer or need a physical document”, such as traveling to countries that do not recognize digital driving licenses, is specified in the document.
Safety measures include a probationary period for inexperienced drivers, lasting a minimum of two years.
On the other hand, mutual recognition of disqualification to drive “will guarantee that drivers who commit serious infractions are punished”, regardless of whether they are driving inside or outside their country of origin, according to the same source.
To alleviate the shortage of professional drivers, the new rules allow people aged 18 to obtain a truck driving license (category C) and people aged 21 to obtain a bus driving license (category D), as long as they hold a certificate of professional aptitude. If they are not, you will need to be 21 and 24 years old, respectively, to drive these vehicles.
As for training, the exam for granting a driving license will now include knowledge about the risks of blind spots, driver assistance systems, the safe opening of doors and the risks of distraction when using the telephone.
It is also stipulated to exchange information between EU countries regarding the seizure, suspension or restriction of a license, with a view to preventing reckless driving abroad.