Driving lessons and driving exams must be done differently, says the special advisory committee that investigated the driving school sector on behalf of the government. The changes will lead to higher costs.
The special committee investigated the driving school sector for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and has prepared the draft report ‘From driving lessons to driving education’. RTL News got hold of it already. If it is up to the committee led by former SP leader Emile Roemer, students have to take several theoretical and practical tests to obtain a driving license. Driving instructors and driving schools must meet stricter requirements. There must also be a special inspection to monitor the quality of driving lessons. The driving school industry has been dealing with all kinds of abuses for years, such as exam fraud, instructors who teach badly and financial mismanagement. In addition, novice drivers are much more often involved in traffic accidents than experienced drivers.
All these possible measures will probably make it more expensive to obtain a driver’s license RTL. Due to the higher quality requirements, some of the 8,000 driving schools will disappear, and the survivors will then be able to charge higher prices. Moreover, driving instructors will have to follow more training courses and they will probably pass that on in the price. Now the average lesson price is € 42 per hour and you spend an average of € 2,500 to get a driving license. Calculations by the Roemer committee show that a driving school owner has to charge € 60 per hour if he wants to pay the costs. There are also the costs for the extra theoretical and practical exam. On the other hand, according to the committee, the new system ensures that candidates pass earlier. This would become apparent from the experiences of driving schools that are already experimenting with this new way of teaching and testing.
The committee’s advice will be presented by Chairman Emile Roemer to Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management on Wednesday.