00:00Around 20,000 people lost their lives in car accidents in the EU last year.
00:20To help improve road safety, the blog is reviewing legislation on driving licenses.
00:26But some of the changes are controversial, namely the lorrying off of the minimum driving age.
00:32EU Decode takes you through the revision just agreed by the European Parliament and Council.
00:37Under the new rule, 17-year-olds will be allowed behind a car wheel when accompanied by a more experienced driver.
00:44They may also be licensed to drive lorries under certain conditions.
00:48You need to be 21 to do that now.
00:51New drivers will face a two-year probationary period with stricter rules and penalties for driving while intoxicated.
00:59Driving tests will check awareness of risks to pedestrians, cyclists and scooters.
01:06The directive also aims for new countries to harmonize medical screen for those taking tests for the first time or renewing their licenses.
01:15Let's see how all these changes are perceived by Europeans.
01:18Yes, I agree.
01:21I think it's a bit similar to the United States, in which they have licenses to be able to practice at home with someone responsible, who has a card.
01:29For that reason, in general, I think they must be subject to a period of labor.
01:34There are a lot of people there who should be able to do it, right?
01:38There is no exam.
01:40And perhaps even so, there are more rules and the older people, many times, they don't know these rules.
01:47The demon doesn't matter, because they're driving one another.
01:49The other can't do anything.
01:51If you say that the other is going on a bike or a bike or another, the other can't do anything.
01:55I believe that 18 years old, it's even a very small age for the people to guide themselves.
02:03We're not going to do anything.
02:08We're not going back to the cars near the distance of the kids.
02:12It's been a relief.
02:13It should be a bit more lofty, because during the age of new age, you cannot take a step.
02:20You cannot take a step at the risk.
02:24Euronews reporter Gerardo Fortuna will help us navigate through these rule changes.
02:30Statistics say that two out of five fatal car accidents involve people and 30 years old.
02:37What could change with these new rules for young drivers?
02:41It's striking statistics indeed.
02:43One key change is this two-year probation period for new drivers
02:48in which penalties, stricter penalties, will apply for not using seatbelts or drink driving.
02:56But also another interesting aspect is the so-called accompanied driver.
03:01So 17 years old can start practicing already under the supervision of a more experienced driver.
03:09These are rules that are already existing in certain countries,
03:12but these are going to become common standards at European level. This is what we call harmonization.
03:17The directive also aims to harmonize the medical screening process for people
03:23both obtaining license for the first time or renewing it. What will change?
03:28Some countries will keep doing mandatory health checks. Others could require to fill this self-assessment.
03:36Let's say it's still a bit controversial, but there's not going to be like a new wide rule,
03:42but there's the encouragement in the directive to have some consistency when it comes to the health assessments.
03:49And finally, the Parliament and the Council also agreed to review the law on driving disqualifications.
03:57What will be the changes?
03:59It's an important update because until now, if you commit a major offence, let's say you caught drink driving on holiday in another new countries,
04:12your licenses could be suspended in that particular country where you committed the offence and not elsewhere.
04:19So these new rules will fix this loophole. There are going to be three serious offences, they're called serious,
04:26and are being caught drink driving, injuring someone else while driving, and excessive speed limits driving above 50 km per hour than the limit.
04:40The review also aims to expand the use of the digital driver's license.
04:45They already exist in Denmark, Spain and Germany, but a uniform model should be available across the EU by 2028.
04:52However, drivers will continue to be entitled to a physical driving license.
04:57They can use it, for example, in countries outside the EU that don't use digital systems.
05:03Let's go deeper into our decoding with German Green MEP Jutta Paulos that led negotiations here at the European Parliament.
05:13How do you react to the statement by the European Transport Safety Council that allowing 17-year-old people to drive,
05:22including lorries, would worsen road safety and that this should be optional for member states?
05:28Well, of course, it is always a risk if you expand the possibility to drive heavier vehicles. This is clear.
05:35But I think there are sufficient safeguards. The accompanying person has to have a good education for that.
05:42And also member states will, of course, have a look at how do accidents develop, how do incidents develop,
05:48and will it actually help to tackle the driver shortage?
05:53And how confident are you that the member states will have enough means of enforcement to implement the two-year probation period,
06:03so that they monitor close when young people might, you know, having reckless conduct in terms of drunk driving and other behaviors?
06:12Well, in Germany we already have this probation period for quite a long time.
06:18And, of course, enforcement is always an issue on any regulation.
06:23But we have witnessed a very strong, let's say, responsibility also by those young people,
06:31because they know if they get caught driving with alcohol or drugs or whatever, their driving license will be withdrawn,
06:42and it was extremely expensive. So they have, let's say, a very good motivation to behave.
06:49What will be done to address the potential risks linked to the digital driving license?
06:56As some experts said that it might increase risks of cyber attacks, you know,
07:03insecurities in terms of protection of the driver's data.
07:07This is a test case also for the EU digital wallet, because this is something which we have already in other legislation,
07:14but right now we don't have anything that can go in that wallet.
07:18And around this digital wallet we have a lot of provisions concerning cyber security, concerning forgery,
07:27concerning fraud, concerning theft of digital data.
07:32If people use this EU digital wallet, I don't see a lot of problems, actually.
07:37Road safety is a shared responsibility between the European institutions and member states,
07:42although Brussels is playing a greater role now.
07:45The EU has set the so-called Vision Zero targets to reduce fatalities by 50% by 2030,
07:52and have zero road deaths by 2050.
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