Traffic 16-year-olds will have a driver's license
The European Commission (EC) presented today a proposal to update the rules for obtaining a driving license in the EU which, among other measures, contemplates that a 17-year-old can be examined
and
obtain a license for
cars, vans and trucks.
Although during the first year, they should be accompanied by a driver over 25 and with a permit of five.
This is the so-called accompanied driving, which already works (with certain requirements) in Germany, Sweden, France or the US.
In Spain, they also wanted to start up at the beginning of the last decade, but it did not materialize.
On the other hand, if the DGT proposal will go ahead so that 16-year-olds can drive electric quads that do not exceed 90 km/h.
It is known as the B1 permit.
truckers deficit
The measure now proposed by Brussels seeks to make it easier for drivers to gain driving experience and is part of a battery of legislative proposals that ultimately seek to contribute to the goal of eliminating deaths from traffic accidents in the EU by 2050. In addition,
" Lowering the age threshold for training can make a career in the transport sector more attractive for young people,
thus helping to alleviate the shortage of professional drivers, without compromising road safety," the EC reasons.
The Executive also advocates
adapting the exams so that future drivers are better prepared in the presence of vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists,
increasingly frequent in the transition towards more sustainable urban mobility.
Zero alcohol for beginners
The Commission
deploys this and other measures in three legislative proposals
that will have to be negotiated with the Member States through the Council of the EU and with the European Parliament.
Thus, it proposes establishing a period of
"zero tolerance" with alcohol among new drivers until they have at least two years of driving experience,
since between 2017 and 2020, for every 100,000 novice drivers in the EU there was an average of 10 deaths. , while for every 100,000 experienced drivers, only 3 deaths were recorded.
Young people represent
only 8% of drivers but account for 16% of those killed
in traffic accidents each year in the EU.
The Commission, however, does not propose a
harmonization of blood alcohol limits across the EU,
as it does not have the power to do so.
In fact, in Spain novice drivers can drive as long as they do not give a rate higher than 0.3 grams per liter of blood and 0.15 mg per liter of expired air.
Card withdrawal throughout the EU
The Commission also wants the withdrawal of a driving license in a Member State to automatically imply that that person cannot drive in any country of the European Union.
Under current rules,
when a serious offense results in a disqualification from driving, that penalty cannot be enforced throughout the EU if the driver committed the offense in a Member State other than the one in which his driving license was issued.
Along the same lines, the EC also proposes to strengthen the procedures for the exchange of information on road safety between the Member States.
In this sense,
the current legislation on cross-border information, which includes offenses such as speeding or driving under the influence of drugs, should also be extended
to cases of driving without keeping a safe distance, dangerous overtaking, driving in the wrong direction or using overloaded vehicles.
Finally,
it is proposed to create a European digital version of the driving license,
which would be the first of its kind in the world and which would also make it easier for non-EU citizens to validate their foreign licenses in Community territory.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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