As of: 02/11/2022 5:07 p.m
The Federal Council has agreed to extend the first deadline for the driver’s license exchange. In addition, cheating in the theoretical driver’s license test should be punished more severely and online lessons should be made possible.
Due to delays in the corona pandemic, the first deadline for the mandatory exchange of driving licenses has been extended. The Federal Council decided that.
The extension applies to drivers born between 1953 and 1958 with an old paper driving license that was issued before 1999. Instead of January 19, they now have until July 19, 2022 to exchange it.
Staggered deadlines apply
Subsequent deadlines will not be extended. Other birth cohorts must have the old paper driving licences deliver in stages:
For driver’s licenses issued between 1999 and 2013, the deadlines vary according to the year of issue until 2033. All newer driver’s licenses do not have to be exchanged.
Counterfeit-proof and uniform throughout the EU
By 2033, 43 million driving licenses are to be exchanged in Germany so that they are forgery-proof and uniform throughout the EU. In order to prevent misuse, they should also be recorded in a database.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, the driving license is invalid after the respective deadlines have expired. There is a warning fine of ten euros. However, the driver’s license remains in place and a new test is not necessary.
Stricter penalties for cheating on exams
In addition, the Federal Council approved an ordinance according to which examinees can be banned for up to nine months if they cheat on their driving test. Currently, they can only be banned for six weeks. This has “not a sufficient deterrent effect”.
According to TÜV, there have been significantly more attempts at manipulation in the theoretical driving test in recent years. “We also have to assume that the number of unreported cases is high,” says TÜV consultant Marc-Philipp Waschke. “We welcome that a possible blocking period of nine months is now expressly mentioned in the regulation.”
Online teaching should be made possible
The ordinance also provides that, in justified exceptional cases, it is possible to dispense with classroom instruction in theoretical driver training and to use digital offers instead. However, the Federal Council called for improvements to be made at this point.
Online lessons must also be possible if face-to-face lessons are subject to certain restrictions. “It is incomprehensible why online teaching should only be permitted if the situation is so dramatic that face-to-face teaching cannot be carried out,” says the Federal Council’s committee recommendation. The Federal Ministries of Transport and the Interior must now discuss this.