The year 2018 for drivers: More motorways free of charge, driving licence from all offices19/12/2017|Press releasesNext year will bring a number of innovations and changes to drivers in the Czech Republic. Already from January they will be for example able to travel free of charge on five other sections of motorways, constituting city bypasses or through which category I roads pass. Staring in July, application for the driving licence can be made from outside the place of permanent residence in any office with extended powers. On the other hand, the Emission Measurement Stations will face a new duty: taking photodocumentation of the vehicles measured. You will find a more detailed overview of the changes below. More kilometres of motorways free of charge (January) From January, additional selected motorway sections will be exempt from charges. Another 41 kilometres on five motorway sections will be free of charge. The sticker will not be required on the D3 around Veselí nad Lužnicí, the D6 between Cheb and Karlovy Vary, the D55 around Otrokovice, the D52 near Pohořelice or part of the D46 motorway near Hněvotín thanks to the free use of the Olomouc bypass on the D35 motorway. This way, the ministry follows its decision from the past years when 145 km of motorways situated near cities were excluded from charges. Emission Measurement Stations will make photographs of all checked vehicles (January) Starting on 1 January, Emission Measurement Stations will have to take photodocumentation of the vehicles measured. At the same time, the stations will have to be connected to the Central Information System of the Ministry of Transport, where the video records and the measurement results will be stored on-line. The same system has worked for the Technical Inspection Stations since January 2016. The new emissions measurement recording system shall prevent fraud with the inspections. It will no longer be possible that a vehicle receives the report of successful inspection without actually visiting the station. At the same time, options will get slim for a vehicle that does not pass the inspection in one station but goes to another one where it is successful. The reason is that the times and inspection times will be recorded in the protocols. Like with the Technical Inspection Stations, the engineers will document the front and rear view of the vehicle as well as the production plate, the tachometer and the VIN code. The images will also serve as additional mileage verification. At the same time, the change will simplify administration for the emission measurement stations. Once a station writes the vehicle data in the system, it will only search and find the data with the next measurement and will not need to enter the data again. Stations that will want to carry out the emission measurements since January must register in the system. As of 1 January, motorists will be provided with an interactive map of the Emission Measurement Stations on the Ministry of Transport website. Licence plates with a hologram (January) From January 2018, more new holograms will be appearing on new vehicles. The self-destructive holographic stamp is a new protection feature; it replaced the previous one, which was made by laser on a protective, reflective foil. The supplier of the tables provides, supplies and sticks the holographic stamp to the licence plates. Similar stamps are used in some EU countries. Driving schools, updated eTests (mid year) Approximately in the middle of the year the eTest questions, used in the final test in road traffic regulations, will be updated. As part of this update, selected questions will be supplemented or deleted. It will be possible to apply for the driving license in any office (July) From 1 July 2018, motorists will be able to apply for the issuance or replacement of their driving license in any municipal office of a municipality with extended powers. It has been necessary so far to handle everything regarding drivers' agenda in the office in the place of permanent residence. Another simplification of administration for drivers is that from July 1 on they will not have to bring their printed photograph to the office. The officials will take digital photos like they do with ID cards. It will also be possible in any office of a municipality with extended powers to apply for the issuance of an international driving license, the statement from the driver's record card, the statement of driver's points balance but also return the driving licence. The possibility of handling the necessary documents in any office also applies to professional drivers, including the issuance of the driver's memory card or the recognition of the driver's professional competence.