The overall quality of the driving school sector must improve, according to a special committee of inquiry led by Emile Roemer in the report ‘From Rijles to Driving Education – advice on improving the driving school sector’. On Wednesday, he officially handed over the advisory report to outgoing Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, who wants to work on this subject.
Most of what the report said was already known, but now it has officially been handed over to the currently responsible minister. Van Nieuwenhuizen is concerned about the quality of the driving school sector, she says in a response to the transfer to trade journal, among others. Driving school pro. “Many accidents occur among young drivers who have just obtained their driving license. The chance is even five times higher under the age of 24,” she says. The low success rate also worries the outgoing minister. “Of the ten people who take the exam, five pass. That is really not enough.”
Van Nieuwenhuizen finds three things from the report especially important: the emphasis should be more on driving education and driving schools and not so much on the driving test, training and exams should be organized differently in order to learn to better anticipate and anticipate young drivers. to recognize dangers and there must be more control over the driving schools themselves, whereby Van Nieuwenhuizen mentions the setting up of a quality register. In doing so, it appears to be broadly adopting the recommendations of the committee, which advocates, among other things, multiple theoretical and practical tests and a special inspection that monitors the quality of driving lessons.
Higher costs
The next Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management can only get started with the advice. How these points will ultimately emerge in policy remains to be seen. According to RTL News, previously handled by the report, the proposed changes will most likely lead to higher costs for obtaining a driver’s license. Due to the higher quality requirements, fewer driving schools are expected to remain and the instructors will have to follow more courses, which they will probably pass on in the price. The committee’s calculations show that an hourly rate of € 60 for the driving school holder is sufficient to cover the costs. This does not include the costs of the extra exams. By way of comparison: currently the average lesson price is € 42 per hour and obtaining a driving license costs an average of € 2,500.