Driving license guidelines may change soon. The EU Parliament is currently discussing strict regulations that would also affect seniors.
Munich – The EU Parliament is currently working on an amendment to the driving license guidelines. There were already some significant driving license changes for drivers at the turn of 2023. This also included an obligation to exchange those who still had a paper driving license. The draft law that the EU is currently discussing would mean a significant change, especially for seniors.
EU draft driving license: The aim is to significantly reduce the number of accidents
The primary reason for the draft law is “Vision Zero”, a safety strategy that pursues a clear goal: “No deaths or serious injuries in road traffic,” like this German Road Safety Council explained. According to that Federal Statistical Office (Destasis) In 2022, 2,788 people died in road traffic accidents in Germany alone. The number of injured was 361,134 people.
Against this background, the EU Parliament had already held a debate earlier this year about stricter regulations for seniors. As people get older, their ability to react and move can decrease, potentially increasing the risk of accidents. Therefore, in the future, seniors aged 70 and over should only be issued a driving license with a validity of five years. This is intended to ensure regular checks of driving ability. Normally the document is valid for 15 years.
For seniors aged 80 and over, driving licenses should only be valid for two years
Following on from this, the EU Parliament is now discussing further regulations Focus with reference to a draft report that is available to the paper. This includes limited driving license validity for people aged 60 and over: their driving license should only be valid for a period of seven years. According to the draft, even stricter restrictions are planned for seniors aged 80 and over. Your driving licenses should only be valid for two years.
After the end of the validity period, a renewal of the driving license is required. The affected older people have to bear the costs themselves. The issuance of new documents is not just associated with a new driving test. The EU intends to carry out comprehensive medical and psychological tests to determine fitness to drive.
Driving license change for seniors: Federal Transport Minister Wissing has already expressed his opposition
While similar regulations for older drivers are already firmly established in some neighboring European countries, it remains to be seen whether and to what extent the planned changes will be implemented in Germany. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) had already spoken out against the first draft: “I don’t believe in the idea that seniors of a certain age have to regularly undergo a fitness test without any further reason,” he emphasized. The social association VdK also reacted indignantly to a possible check on the fitness to drive of seniors.
| Seniors over 60 | for seven years |
| Seniors over 70 | for five years |
| Seniors over 80 | for two years |
In Austria, many politicians have also clearly expressed their opposition to the draft. “This cannot be implemented in this form in Austria,” said Peter Kostelka, President of the Austrian Pensioners Association Austrian Radio quoted. The public transport company is also firmly against the proposal. “Our negotiating goal is that at the end of the day there will be a different law on the table than what we have now,” said ÖVP MEP Barbara Thaler. (tt)
Machine assistance was used for this article written by the editorial team. The article was carefully reviewed by editor Teresa Toth before publication.