Starting the 1st of June 2025, the Road Traffic Safety Directorate (CSDD) will introduce a new task in category B (passenger car) driving exams. Candidates will be required to drive for approximately five minutes using navigation system directions, according to CSDD representatives.
The new requirement does not change the overall exam structure but will be implemented near the final part of the exam. The examiner will set a short route lasting about five minutes, which the candidate must follow using navigation instructions.
CSDD representatives emphasized that the driving exam should reflect real-world driving conditions.
Since drivers increasingly rely on navigation systems in daily life, the previous free-driving segment—where candidates drove without examiner instructions—will now be replaced by navigation-guided driving.
This change aims to assess a new driver’s ability to divide their attention and safely operate a vehicle while following navigation instructions.
Using navigation systems during a portion of the driving exam is already a common practice in several European Union (EU) countries, including Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, noted CSDD.
CSDD statistics show the following number of new driver’s licenses issued over the years:
- 2024: 15 947 licenses
- 2023: 16 355 licenses
- 2022: 17 791 licenses
- 2021: 15 687 licenses
- 2020: 18 193 licenses
- 2019: 18 643 licenses
- 2018: 16 792 licenses
- 2017: 19 373 licenses
- 2016: 21 475 licenses
- 2015: 21 608 licenses
- 2014: 21 226 licenses
CSDD is a state-owned enterprise responsible for vehicle registration, driver’s license issuance, vehicle technical inspections, and other services in Latvia. The Ministry of Transport is the shareholder of the organization.