On Tuesday, the Latvian Government approved a draft regulation prepared by the Ministry of Transport that would suspend the licenses of driving instructors with low student success rates.
The amendments stipulate that if, during the previous year, less than 10% of an instructor’s students pass their first attempt at the practical driving exam, the instructor’s or teacher’s license will be suspended.
The Ministry notes that currently, approximately 8% of all instructors have a student success rate below 10% in first-attempt driving exams.
Until now, existing regulations allowed measures to be taken against driving schools with low success rates in theory and driving exams. However, because many instructors are registered as self-employed and work at multiple schools, it has been difficult to directly influence the quality of their work.
Therefore,
the changes aim to introduce direct measures for instructors whose students consistently perform poorly.
To regain a suspended instructor or teacher license, a specialized exam will have to be passed.
Additionally, the amendments stipulate that a person with more than seven penalty points on their driving record will not be eligible to receive an instructor or teacher license. For current instructors with more than seven points, the license will be suspended until the points are cleared.
Further changes will prohibit individuals from becoming instructors or teachers if their driving license has been revoked at any point in the past three years.
Previously, there was no regulation addressing cases in which instructors or teachers had discontinued their professional activity for extended periods. Now, if an instructor or teacher has not engaged in training for two years, their license will be suspended until they pass a specialized exam.
The rules also update the training program for specialists in line with developments in the automotive industry, with increased emphasis on traffic safety and cooperation among road users.
The amendments also introduce a mandatory requirement for motorcycle instructors and students to wear appropriate clothing and footwear during training, in response to reports of accidents occurring during motorcycle instruction.
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