These are the new changes to the driving licence

The driving licence is about to undergo some changes that will affect, above all, how it is obtained

The driving licence will undergo some changes this very year. The amendments are imminent, as the Directorate-General for Traffic has already prepared a draft Royal Decree intended to amend the General Drivers’ Regulation that governs the rules.

It seems this will happen this summer, more specifically in the month of July, when these reforms will begin to be put into effect. These amendments could have come sooner, but the recent general elections held in our country have slowed down the whole process.

Obtaining the driving licence will become harder

The first of the aspects that will change is when taking the driving test. Examination fees will increase in price: 92.20 euros to sit the tests that will allow us to obtain the permit, and a further 43.70 euros to obtain the driving licences.

Another of the changes that will affect students who are in the process of obtaining the class B (passenger cars) permit is the obligation to attend driving school for a minimum of eight hours of theory classes. This requirement becomes an essential condition in order to sit the theory test.

Furthermore, the syllabus that students must cover in order to pass the exam will include new content or, failing that, a greater extent of what was already there. This new content will cover topics such as the correct use of safety systems, the danger that distractions at the wheel or the consumption of alcohol and drugs may pose. In addition, the syllabus will also include aspects such as the victims of road accidents and the most vulnerable groups on the roads, namely cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians.

The exams are being toughened

We continue with the news on obtaining the class B driving permit. Once the syllabus mentioned above has been studied, prospective drivers will have to deal with more complicated questions in the exam, in which they may also find audiovisual content. Furthermore, in the theory test the sieve will be finer: only 10% of questions may be answered wrongly, compared with the 20% allowed until now.

As for the practical test, the draft Royal Decree drawn up by the DGT states that, should the candidate fail to pass it, they must wait a minimum of 15 days before sitting it again. If the test is not passed a second or third time, the waiting period before the next attempt will be 30 days. From the fourth failed attempt onwards, the period between tests will become 20 days.

More vehicles may be driven with the class B driving permit

The changes the Directorate-General for Traffic proposes to introduce do not only affect the moment of taking the driving test. Holders of the class B driving licence, upon reaching two years of seniority, will be able to drive goods vehicles whose Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) is between 3,500 and 4,250 kilograms.

This new amendment is worth highlighting, since until now the class B licence only allows driving vehicles whose MAM never exceeds 3,500 kilograms and which are approved to carry up to nine people inside.

As for the driving permit for motorcycles (AM, A1 and A2), there are also changes affecting how they are obtained. The new amendments stipulate that to sit the theory test one must attend theory classes for a minimum of six hours, where the correct way to ride a motorcycle will be explained.

To take the practical test, it is proposed that candidates must wear a helmet, gloves, boots, trousers and a jacket approved for riding two-wheeled vehicles.