The countries of the European Union, represented in the Council, agreed yesterday that you can start driving cars from the age of 17 as long as you do so – until you come of age – accompanied by someone over 24 who has a license. for at least five years.
The final regulations, however, will still have to be negotiated with the European Parliament. Once this last instance approves the new rule, Spain would have two years to transpose the directive into its legal system. In Germany, it is now possible to drive at the age of 17 with the theoretical certificate approved, accompanied and with a minimum of 20 practice classes completed. In France it will be possible to do so starting next year.
Brussels also proposed a trial period of at least two years for new drivers after obtaining their licence, a digital driving license valid throughout the EU and the use of self-assessments as a filter towards the driver's medical fitness exam. Already last March, the European Commission proposed amending the driving license directive to improve road safety and facilitate the free movement of citizens within the EU.
Regarding the figure of the companion, there is an essential requirement: the rule prohibits him from having lost his driving license in the previous five years. Furthermore, it provides that you can only drive a vehicle with 17 in the country that issued the driving license, and not in the rest of the member states.
This measure arouses disparate opinions within the same sector. Ramon Lamiel, director of the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT), describes the rule as “dangerous”, in statements to La Vanguardia. They disagree especially on the age of the companion. “If we take as a reference that until the age of 30 there is no maturation of the executive function of the brain (an aspect that the trainers also share), it would raise the age of the companion to that age,” he maintains. “Whoever accompanies that 17-year-old to this type of internship has to be a mature person, and he has to be mature both when driving and on a personal level,” he adds.
On the contrary, the driving school sector sees the rule as positive. “We understand that it can be a good measure,” argues Fernando Lara, vice president of the National Association of Driving Schools (Anaes). “Of course, as long as good training is done,” he adds. He understands that this reduction in the age “is aimed above all at the world of transportation.”
Indeed, the transport ministers of the Twenty-seven also agreed to lower the age to be able to drive trucks from the current 21 to 18. “If you can start driving a car at 17, at 18 you will be more prepared if you want to drive a car.” truck,” says Lara. Of course, this reduction from 21 years to 18 is subject to several exceptions. And the measure would only affect the driving of fire trucks, those used to maintain public order and those that undergo road tests for repair or maintenance.
In Spain, there is a shortage of truck drivers. One of the current measures to alleviate this is the exchange of cards with third countries, says the director of the SCT. “But we believe that these drivers need training,” he emphasizes, something that is not required now. Lamiel explains that the average age of truck drivers is high in Spain – it exceeds 50 years – and that “there is no clear generational change.” This is why this exchange formula is being carried out, an option that allows “these truck drivers to be able to drive while they are regularizing their situation.”
In this sense, he announces that the SCT will implement training for these professionals – “which will not be required, although we have discussed it with the transport companies” – so that they have knowledge of “both the driving rules and the practical driving.”
The transport ministers of the Twenty-seven also aligned themselves with the European Commission's proposal so that the withdrawal of a driving license in a Member State automatically implies that that person cannot drive in any country of the European Union.
Currently, this legislation only covers offenses such as speeding or driving under the influence of drugs, and the European Commission wants it to also be extended to cases of driving without maintaining a safe distance, dangerous overtaking, driving in the wrong direction or using vehicles overloaded.
The Twenty-seven added even more crimes to the Commission's proposal. These include failure to comply with vehicle access restrictions or regulations at a railway level crossing, as well as hit-and-run cases.
Ministers also agreed on a common approach on updating rules on rest times for professional drivers.
