For many young people, getting a driver's license is now difficult to afford financially. The Union now wants to make it cheaper – including through simulator driving lessons.
If you want to get a driving license, you should start saving early. Because the “rag” can cost a lot of money. The costs vary enormously: According to a study, a driving license in different cities in Germany can cost between 2,700 and 4,200 euros. Of course, it can also be significantly more expensive if you need additional driving lessons or have to repeat one of the two tests. CDU transport politicians have now made a proposal that would make driving licenses significantly cheaper.
Driving simulator rides instead of “real” practical lessons are intended to reduce driving license costs
One of the ideas: According to a report by the
Rheinische Post,
more use should be made of driving simulators in practical training - including for the twelve mandatory special trips, in which five must take place "overland", four on the motorway and three in the dark. As a result, the number of practical units could be reduced overall, “and driving schools would no longer have to maintain a large fleet of vehicles,” says the concept, among other things. Simulator lessons are cheaper - and the driving schools save operating costs. There are no minimum legal requirements for “normal” practical driving lessons in Germany – the driving instructor weighs the needs based on the student’s talent and willingness to learn.
According to Union traffic experts, savings of up to 25 percent on driving licenses are possible
Some time ago, an automobile club warned that a driver's license should not become a luxury item. “With our measures, driving licenses will be up to 25 percent cheaper,” explained the Union’s traffic expert, Florian Müller (CDU), to the
Rheinische Post.
With a not unrealistic “driving license price” of 4,000 euros, that would be a saving of at least 1,000 euros. Another problem is the shortage of examiners: According to the report, the aim is to counteract this by facilitating the further training of driver instructors to become examiners and decoupling it from engineering training. In addition, theory lessons should partly take place digitally, as stated in a report from the
dpa
, which also has the measures paper.
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Driving lessons in the simulator: That is the opinion of the ADAC
According to a contribution from the ADAC, a driving simulator has its place in a driving school - but rather as a supplement: this way, the motor skills of actual driving can be practiced in a resource-saving manner without using any fuel. And exceptional situations, such as an approaching ambulance, could also be simulated. Nevertheless, the automobile club explains that the simulator cannot replace “any driving lesson in real traffic”.