Traffic
Driver’s license too expensive – Minister of Transport wants to act
The cost of driving license has risen sharply. The new federal government has promised to counteract. How is that supposed to work?
The acquisition of the driver’s license has become significantly more expensive – Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder is now planning to make it cheaper. In a video interview by the German Press Agency, the CDU politician said that a driver’s license is still important for many in Germany. “So we have to look, where can we dampen costs.” Schnieder announced a round table to develop solutions for a cheaper driver’s license with other ministries, countries and associations. “We have to make it financially more attractive because it is just too much stress.”
“The driver’s license has become very, very expensive in recent years. 4,000 or 4,500 euros for a driver’s license is very, a lot of money,” said Schnieder. “If you take a look at a family: the son, the daughter at the age of 18 or 19, 20 years of age does the driver’s license and there are other children, then that’s an incredible amount of money for families.” When asked how important an affordable driver’s license is for individual mobility, he said: “This is indispensable for rural areas at the moment. You usually need a car, you are dependent on it.”
As the Federal Statistical Office announced in April, the prices for driving school and driving license fee 2024 increased by 5.8 percent compared to the previous year. That was significantly more than the general increase in consumer prices. Already in the years before, the driving school and driver’s license prices rose above average.
The ADAC driver club speaks of costs of up to 4500 euros. The causes of the higher costs include increased vehicle, fuel and, above all, personnel costs as a result of inflation, according to the ADAC. “These cause the price level of many driving schools go up.”
The CDU, CSU and SPD have already announced in their coalition agreement: “During high standards, driving training is reformed in order to make driving license more affordable.”
Schnieder announced a round table in a “manageable period”. It should be considered: “What components are there? Where are the causes that it has become so much more expensive in recent years? Where can we dampen the price through measures?”
There are cost increases at driving schools, the minister said with a view to fuels, rents for rooms and personnel costs. Then there are fees for exams and the prices of the driving lessons. Another question is how many driving lessons would have to be completed and how many people fail.
In class B, the classic car driver’s license, there was a high diarrhea rate in 2024, as the TÜV association announced in March. Accordingly, 45 percent of learner drivers fell through the theory test, more than a third (37 percent) failed in the first practical exam.
“The car driver’s license usually costs 2500 to 3500 euros. But there are also outliers with 4000 euros,” says Kurt Bartels, Vice Chairman of the Federal Association of Driving instructor associations. But why is that so expensive? “We have to pass on increased costs to customers,” says Bartels, for example, with a view to inflation and higher energy prices. In addition, workshop appointments for a car, for example, have become much expensive.
In addition, learner students need more driving hours because there are higher examination requirements. Road traffic has become much more complex, as well as technology in the cars. “Young people need more and more driving hours.” In addition, the theoretical exams have become more complex. As a result, the likelihood of falling out has grown.
How can you make the driver’s license more affordable? “The questionnaire would have to be slimmed down and researched so that the likelihood increases to pass on the first attempt,” says Bartels. And: “If an affordable driver’s license is important to the legislator, driving training should be subsidized, we can then pass on to the customers.”
Better “mobility formation”
“Any repetition of an exam drives the costs up, because the exam fees, the performance costs by the driving school and usually costs for further driving lessons are again incurred,” says Fani Zaneta, a consultant at the TÜV association. Therefore, it is central to strengthen mobility education early – for example at school. “If you start driving training with more understanding, you often need fewer driving lessons and there is rather tests straight away.”
dpa
Source: Stern
