The Council of Ministers approved the new law on driver training (The Driving Instructors and Schools Law) which modernizes and changes the whole philosophy of the regulation.
According to an announcement from the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works with the proposed bill, “Driver Instructor Training Schools” are introduced for the first time, i.e. post-secondary institutions that will provide training and examination to prospective new driver instructors, contrary to the practice is now implemented, on the basis of which no structured training is provided and the examinations are conducted by the TOM.
Also introduced, the obligation for lifelong learning of driver instructors, at regular intervals, through Driver Instructor Training Schools , the categorization of instructors and schools according to the knowledge and educational means they have respectively and the repeal of the anachronistic regulation that prohibits a licensed and qualified instructor from training prospective drivers unless he practices this activity as his “main profession” of.
The abolition of the anachronistic regulation that prohibits a licensed and qualified instructor from training a prospective driver unless he has worked for a certain period of time in an existing school is also introduced, as well as the abolition of the right of driver examiners (i.e. TOM employees ) to become trainers automatically upon their retirement, without complying with the remaining procedures and obligations.
Based on the proposed bill, the introduction of a procedure to ensure the quality of the schools' operation is also foreseen, through their obligation to compliance with standards and/or quality assurance procedures for the provision of their services as well as the introduction of a Code of Conduct for driver trainers.
In the announcement it is noted that “the above changes in legislation are actions in a series of measures that promoted by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works to improve road safety”.
