EU-wide driving licence approved

[Pebb]

Source: 4 Car

The European parliament has approved a pan-European driving licence, to be introduced in 2013 and fully phased-in by 2032. This will replace the individual licence schemes of each member state and it is hoped that it will improve road safety as well as security.

The new licence will need to be renewed, perhaps as often as every 10 years. Licences to drive lorries and buses will need to be renewed every five years, and motorcyclists will not be able to ride large-engined bikes until they have completed a probationary period on less powerful machines.

The EU-wide database will be used to ensure that drivers banned in one country will not be able to obtain a new licence in another. Individual member states can opt, however, whether to issue the credit card-style licences with embedded microchips containing data on the driver.

 

[ExigeEvan]

And I bet it comes with a big massive price tag on it aswell

Otherwise I think it's a good idea. Hopefully it will lead to the tests being updated. The braking distance has become abit of a joke.

However, will this mean you will need to know the laws for all the countries involved?

 

[vladimir]

However, will this mean you will need to know the laws for all the countries involved?

not necessarily, i've already got an EU license...

the idea is not to make everybody learn all the different rules in different countries, but to stop license-tourism and to get the different standards onto one level.

and the braking distance will still be ridiculous

 

[RouWa]

Here in Germany you have to do at least 12 driving lessons (one lesson = 1 hour) plus the special driving lessons (driving at night/when it´s dark, driving on the Autobahn, etc) before you are allowed to do the driver´s license exam. There is also an exam in written form. It´s not just driving around some cones/pylones and get the license like in other countries. The result is a very good schooling, but a very expensive one. A driver´s license costs about 1.000 to 1.500 Euros here. All scholars learn on cars with manual gear change.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Bah. In the UK night driving and motorway lessons are optional

 

[Dave A]

Motorway driving is very easy once you've done it, the problem is for new drivers it may be a bit daunting at first. To go on a motorway with an instructor could be beneficial imo. The big problem I think with regards to motorway driving is that it's so easy it's boring. So you can lose concentration if your not careful or if your tired, which isn't a good thing at 70mph or more as the flow of traffic often is in the UK.

 

[Poverty]

What they need to do is sort out the system so us law abiding drivers dont suffer high insurance premiums due to all those people who drive with no insurance, particularly eastern europeans and nigerians.

Oh and they need to sort out this claim culture also. Cars are getting safer all teh time yet the personal injury claims are rising drastically.

I might not be able to get my A3 now cause for some reason over the last couple months insurance has skyrocketed, and its gonna rise another 20% in 2007 according to metro.

 

[TheCracker]

What they need to do is sort out the system so us law abiding drivers dont suffer high insurance premiums due to all those people who drive with no insurance, particularly eastern europeans and nigerians.

Oh and they need to sort out this claim culture also. Cars are getting safer all teh time yet the personal injury claims are rising drastically.

I might not be able to get my A3 now cause for some reason over the last couple months insurance has skyrocketed, and its gonna rise another 20% in 2007 according to metro.

That's a bit of a generalisation isn't it?

Cars might be getting safer - but this only serves to give people a false confidence in their car's safety therefore they perhaps drive with less care.

Cars are also more expensive to repair these days - so fewer claims still add up to just as much outlay for the insurance companies.

 

[Poverty]

Its a generalistaion that the police have homed in on. You would be surprised to see how many people drive in London without even a license let alone car insurance and tax. It gets on my tits big time.

Cars are getting more expensive to repair, but according to teh insurance companies the main reason for the price increase is due to uninsured drivers, and increased compensation claims. I mean prisoners are getting millions in compensation, it just shows that the compensation culture has gone crazy thanks to no good, Ultra PC do gooders.

Example.

Oct 2006, fully comp on a A3 2.0 FSI sport would have cost me 3.5 grand.
Dec 2006, same info yet for some reason the cheapest quote was 5.5 grand.

Can you see why im pissed? Its bloody stupid, thing I might aswell just buy another corsa or something like that untill I got a couple years NCB.

EDIT

apologies for being off topic and the double posting.

 

[Poverty]

Its a generalistaion that the police have homed in on. You would be surprised to see how many people drive in London without even a license let alone car insurance and tax. It gets on my tits big time.

Cars are getting more expensive to repair, but according to teh insurance companies the main reason for the price increase is due to uninsured drivers, and increased compensation claims. I mean prisoners are getting millions in compensation, it just shows that the compensation culture has gone crazy thanks to no good, Ultra PC do gooders.

Example.

Oct 2006, fully comp on a A3 2.0 FSI sport would have cost me 3.5 grand.
Dec 2006, same info yet for some reason the cheapest quote was 5.5 grand.

Can you see why im pissed? Its bloody stupid, thing I might aswell just buy another corsa or something like that untill I got a couple years NCB.

 

[RouWa]

all those people who drive with no insurance,

You are allowed to drive a car without an insurance? Not in Germany. You go to jail if you don´t have an insurance.

 

[YSSMAN]

...Isn't this something that should have been done years ago? I mean how hard is it to roughly standardize a license system? Certainly nations like Germany are far more strict than other nations, but I mean really, won't this be to the benefit of everyone?

Here in America we have an issue with state-by-state requirements that often throw wrenches into the system with different drivers. I simply cannot stand the way people from Illinois and Indiana drive when here in Michigan... They always go far too slow, have no idea what a "Michigan Turnaround" is, and seem to know little about how a stoplight works. In America, Michigan is known as one of the hardest states to receive a license, and it simply drives me crazy when out-of-state drivers are here, or when I'm driving in another state. People just do not understand how to drive anymore...

...I've always wondered how long it will be before America, Canada, and the EU get together and come up with some kind of standard. I don't see why it would be all that difficult, particularly with countries like Germany and Italy driving their cars the "right" way.

 

[Poverty]

You are allowed to drive a car without an insurance? Not in Germany. You go to jail if you don´t have an insurance.

Its the same in england, except you probably wont go to jail, but they might crush your car.but seeing as the people who drive without insurance usually have real crappy cars anyway they dont care.

 

[RouWa]

Its the same in england, except you probably wont go to jail, but they might crush your car.

Crushing the car is pretty cool!

but seeing as the people who drive without insurance usually have real crappy cars anyway they dont care.

In Germnay there is an organization called TÜV. They examine cars and decide whether the car is still safe (for the driver, other drivers and pedestrians) or not. They test lights, brakes, belts, tires etc. After the test, the car gets a badge for two years. You then have to renew the badge. A car without this badge is not allowed to roll on the streets. That´s why we have less crappy cars here. They simply would not pass the TÜV tests. This was also the reason why there is no "Pimp My Ride - German edition".

 

[ExigeEvan]

Crushing the car is pretty cool!



In Germnay there is an organization called TÜV. They examine cars and decide whether the car is still safe (for the driver, other drivers and pedestrians) or not. They test lights, brakes, belts, tires etc. After the test, the car gets a badge for two years. You then have to renew the badge. A car without this badge is not allowed to roll on the streets. That´s why we have less crappy cars here. They simply would not pass the TÜV tests. This was also the reason why there is no "Pimp My Ride - German edition".

In the UK we have the equivalent that is the MOT.

Once the car is 3 years old, it must be tested annually. We do still have crap cars, but they're still safe, to a certain extent.
And if you watch Pimp My Ride UK you'll notice that most the cars are actually in a decent condition just really, really lame.