Overview
- Driving schools across Hessen, Bavaria and Saxony report steep drops in new registrations, ranging from 20–40% to 70% at one school and, in a Bavarian survey, temporarily above 80%.
- The transport ministry’s package would cut theory questions from 1,169 to 840, shrink required special drives from 12 to 3, shorten the practical test to 25 minutes of driving and 40 minutes total, and expand online and simulator training.
- Plans also envision allowing parents or other close persons to complete parts of practical training under conditions, with unresolved questions on insurance and oversight.
- Instructor associations warn the measures would erode proven safety elements of training, while the TÜV association cautions against undoing road-safety gains.
- The ministry estimates a current average of about €3,400 for a Class B license, and many instructors doubt the package will pass unchanged even as some welcome online theory and a slimmer question bank.