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Driver’s license revolution: New EU rules bring digital driver’s licenses, stricter driving bans, and changes for drivers and new drivers.
The EU is tightening the reins on road traffic: On Tuesday, the European Parliament will vote on new driver’s license rules – and these will bring serious changes for millions of drivers and novice drivers.
Member states have three years to incorporate the requirements into national law, plus another year to implement everything. Overview of the most important planned changes:
By 2030 at the latest, driver’s licenses are to become digital. In Austria, digital driver’s licenses are already available on smartphones – but currently they are only valid within the country. In the future, the mobile phone driver’s license will be valid throughout the EU.
Those who prefer to carry a plastic card in their wallet will retain this right: both versions are considered equivalent.
Speeding drivers, tailgaters, and drunk drivers need to brace themselves: serious violations of traffic rules in one EU country can result in a driving ban throughout the EU. This means that traffic offenders will in future be held accountable in all member states, regardless of where they obtained their driver’s license.
This applies, for example, to alcohol or drugs at the wheel, fatal accidents, or extreme speeding. Things will get serious when the new rules are transposed into national law.
What has long been reality in Austria will soon apply throughout the EU: young drivers will be allowed to get behind the wheel under supervision from the age of 17. This is practical for vacation trips, for example.
To combat the shortage of drivers in the transport industry, the EU is lowering the minimum age: in future, truck drivers’ licenses can be obtained at 18 and bus drivers’ licenses at 21. This should enable freight forwarders and transport companies to recruit new talent more quickly.
Much discussed, but ultimately scrapped: there will be no mandatory medical checks for older drivers. Member states can decide for themselves whether to introduce medical assessments or self-tests.
Mobile phones at the wheel, blind spots, assistance systems – all these topics are to be given greater emphasis in driving schools. Dealing with pedestrians, children, and cyclists will also be given greater focus.
Those who want to drive a motorhome will find it easier: with a class B driver’s license, special training or a test will be sufficient to drive vehicles up to 4.25 tons in the future. Each state can decide for itself whether training or a test will be necessa
The new rules are part of the EU’s major road safety plan. The aim is to halve the number of road deaths by 2030 – but we are currently a long way from achieving this. Over the past five years, the number of road deaths has fallen by only around 12 percent. According to the latest figures from the EU Commission, there were 19,940 deaths in road traffic accidents across the EU in 2024. This represents a two percent decrease compared to the previous year.
Measured by population, the roads in Sweden (20 deaths per million inhabitants) and Denmark (24 deaths per million inhabitants) are the safest.
- Source: Heute.at/picture:
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