Filenews 26 January 2022
A proposal of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works regarding the amendment of the Driving License Law was approved at today's meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The final text of the amending bill was formulated in its present form following decisions taken at an extraordinary meeting of the Road Safety Council, which had as its main issue the road safety of motorcyclists. The data from road collisions on the road network, according to which 16 motorcyclists and motorcycle passengers lost their lives in 2019, 14 in 2020 and 14 in 2021, were also taken into account, as well as the suggestions that emerged from the consultations held by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works with almost all organized groups of motorcyclists.
With the proposed amendments to the relevant Law, the aim is to properly regulate the driving of apprentice drivers on the road network, so as to stop the phenomenon of their self-training. In addition, the period of validity of the student licence and the appropriate protective clothing that trainee drivers and drivers of mopeds and motorcycles must use during their work, as the most prone to road collisions, especially during their work, are specified.
Specifically, the Driving License (Amendment) Law of 2022 provides for the following:
1. The period of validity of the student licence shall be set at two years. After the expiry of the two-year period and in case the driver has not received a regular driving license, he must undergo again the process of examination and issue of his student license.
2. Driving on the road network by an apprentice driver shall be regulated in such a way that trainees of all categories of mopeds and motorcycles can be trained on the road network, provided that they are accompanied (in another vehicle) and are under the direct supervision of a licensed driver trainer.
3. Trainee drivers must, in addition to the protective helmet, wear the appropriate protective clothing to be worn by a motorcyclist. More specifically, in addition to the protective helmet, they must wear:
Jacket or vest with phosphorous strips,
Pants and boots or shoes, and
Protective leg guards and elbow pads, gloves and back and hip protectors.
4. Drivers of mopeds and motorcycles during their work must, in addition to the protective helmet, wear the appropriate protective clothing to be worn by a motorcyclist. More specifically, in addition to the protective helmet, they must wear:
Jacket or vest with phosphorous strips,
Pants and boots or shoes,
Protective leg guards and elbow pads, gloves and back and hip protectors, and
Airbag, special for use of vehicles categories AM, A1, A2 and A.
The bill will soon be submitted to the House of Representatives for passage into law.
Today's decision of the Council of Ministers is part of a series of actions taken to ensure the greatest possible protection and safety of motorcyclists on the road network.
To this end, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works is in the final stage for the determination of the parameters and the implementation in 2022 of the mandatory technical inspection of motorcycles.
In the same direction, the Ministry will put in the coming days in public consultation a bill, which regulates the establishment and operation of driving training schools, in order to provide a comprehensive solution to the issue and introduce modern regulations, such as the lifelong learning obligation of driver trainers, the introduction of the institution of the School of Training of Driver Trainers, the categorization of trainers and schools according to the knowledge and educational means available to them respectively, the introduction of a procedure to ensure the quality of the operation of schools, etc.
In addition, within the first half of 2022, a grant scheme for protective equipment for motorcyclists will be implemented for the period 2022-2024, with a budget of €1 million. and €50,000 for the three-year period. Through the Scheme, all types of protective equipment will be subsidized, with priority being given to subsidising the purchase of protective equipment of the vest-airbag type.
