Almost 600 driving school teachers, examiners and representatives of the professional public attended the Future of Drivers' Education conference in Prague today. The professional public learnt new rules that will be in force from 1 January 2024 at this biggest event dedicated to driver education since 1989. These rules involve options for beginning drivers such as trial driving licence or the mentor-led driving scheme from the age of 17 (L17). Minister Martin Kupka also presented awards to important personalities for their long-standing contribution to Czech driver education.
The Government Council for National Road Safety supported a change of penalty-point system and an increase of sanctions for the most serious road offences in a government amendment to Road Traffic Act. The Council also gave its consent on an amendment to Act on Police and Customs, which should allow the police to withhold a vehicle’s licence plate if the driver had an unpaid fine and refused to pay the debt.
Last year, the death toll of traffic accidents dropped to a historic minimum. For the first time, the overall death toll fell under 500 casualties (460 deaths). The number of serious injuries also decreased significantly. Similar to other EU Member States, the accident rate was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced transport and mobility, mainly in spring season. The Police of the Czech Republic published a detailed assessment of accident rate in 2020.
According to preliminary information, 103 people died in road accidents in the Czech Republic between January and March 2020, i.e. 15 more year-on-year. After three years in which no more than 88 people were killed in the first quarter, this is almost the same number as four years ago (106). Accidents in which the driver drove at an excessive speed, did not pay attention to driving, went over to the opposite direction or knocked down a pedestrian at the pedestrian crossing significantly contributed to the increase in the number of victims.
Cleaning the car from snow and ice is the basic prerequisite for safe driving in winter. The removal of dirt, which prevents the driver from seeing well to the front, to the sides and to the back, is also required under the road traffic act. The law amendment which stipulated this obligation came into effect two years ago. The driver is obliged to remove pieces of ice and snow, which might get loose during the drive, from the car before starting driving.
BESIP celebrates 50 years of existence in May 2017. Over this long period of time, it has "experienced" a number of social and political changes, and has, for example, had to cope with the emergence of modern technologies that we consider today in our everyday life to be a matter of fact. But are drivers and all road users really different from those 50 years ago? One thing definitely remains the same. It is a must to be considerate to one another on the road and realize that we are not alone on the road and must drive safely. This is also included in the name of BESIP – Bezpečnost Silničního Provozu (road safety).