00:00Musica
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.
01:18Sim, concordo.
01:21Acho que pode ser um bocado parecido com os Estados Unidos, em que eles têm licenças para poderem praticar em casa com alguém responsável, que tem a carta.
01:29Portanto, por essa razão, em geral, acho que sim, devem ser sujeitos a um período preparatório.
01:34Há muita gente aí que também deveria voltar a fazer, não é?
01:39Novo exame.
01:41E se calhar mesmo assim não passava-me, cada vez há mais regras.
01:44E as pessoas mais antigas muitas vezes também já não sabem essas regras.
01:47Só que mônica, a hipopteria não existe, porque o dirigente é um.
01:50O dirigente não pode fazer nada.
01:51Não pode fazer nada.
01:51Se alguém pede um peixe ou um paix, não pode fazer nada.
01:56Sim, acredito que 18 anos é ainda muito pequeno.
02:00Il rio news reporter Gerardo Fortuna
02:27will help us navigate through these rule changes.
02:31Statistics say that 2 out of 5 fatal car accidents involve people and 30 years old.
02:38What could change with these new rules for young drivers?
02:41It's striking statistics indeed.
02:44One key change is this 2-year probation period for new drivers
02:48in which stricter penalties will apply for not using seatbelts or drink driving.
02:56But also another interesting aspect is the so-called accompanied driver.
03:02So 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
03:13but these are going to become common standards at European level.
03:16This is what we call harmonization.
03:17The directive also aims to harmonize the medical screening process
03:23for people both obtaining license for the first time or renewing it.
03:27What will change?
03:29Some countries will keep doing mandatory health checks.
03:33Others could require to fill this self-assessment.
03:37Let's say it's still a bit controversial but there's not going to be like a new wide rule
03:43but there's the encouragement in the directive to have some consistency
03:47when it comes to the health assessments.
03:49And finally, the Parliament and the Council also agreed to review the law
03:54on driving disqualifications.
03:58What will be the changes?
03:59It's an important update because until now if you commit a major offense,
04:06let's say you caught drink driving on holiday in another new country,
04:11your licenses could be suspended in that particular country
04:15where you committed the offense and not elsewhere.
04:19So these new rules will fix this loophole.
04:22There are going to be three serious offenses, they're called serious,
04:27and are being caught drink driving, injuring someone else while driving
04:33and 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,
04:48but a uniform model should be available across the EU by 2028.
04:53However, drivers will continue to be entitled to a physical driving license.
04:58They can use it, for example, in countries outside the EU
05:01that don't use digital systems.
05:03Let's go deeper into our decoding with German Green MEP Jutta Paulos
05:10that led negotiations here at the European Parliament.
05:14How do you react to the statement by the European Transport Safety Council
05:19that allowing 17-year-old people to drive, including glories,
05:24would 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
05:33to drive heavier vehicles. This is clear.
05:36But I think there are sufficient safeguards.
05:38The accompanying person has to have a good education for that.
05:43And also member states will, of course, have a look at how do accidents develop,
05:47how do incidents develop, and 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
05:58to implement the two-year probation period so that they monitor close
06:06when young people might, you know, having reckless conduct
06:09in terms of drunk driving and other behaviours?
06:13Well, in Germany we already have this probationary period for quite a long time.
06:18And, of course, enforcement is always an issue on any regulation.
06:24But 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,
06:40their driving licence will be withdrawn, and it was extremely expensive.
06:44So 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 licence?
06:56As some experts said, that it might increase risks of cyber attacks,
07:03you know, insecurities in terms of protection of the driver's data.
07:07This is a test case also for the EU digital wallet
07:10because 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.
07:19And around this digital wallet we have a lot of provisions
07:23concerning cyber security, concerning forgery, concerning fraud,
07:29concerning theft of digital data.
07:33If 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,
07:43although Brussels is playing a greater role now.
07:45The EU has set the so-called Vision Zero targets
07:48to reduce fatalities by 50% by 2030 and have zero road deaths by 2050.
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