Fitness to drive
Fitness to drive comprises the physical, mental and character aptitude of motor vehicle drivers .
Fitness to drive is an indefinite legal term , so it needs to be interpreted in individual cases. It must be given when a new driver's license is issued. In Germany, it is determined when a decision is made to withdraw and re-issue a driving license as part of an MPU . The term fitness to drive is often used synonymously. In contrast to this, fitness to drive is carried out by means of an examination of fitness to drive as part of the acquisition, renewal or extension of a driving license . The driving ability in turn, depending on the situation, describes the current willingness and ability to properly control a vehicle.
Regulations in Germany
The term “suitability” plays a central role in driving license law . What is meant is the ability to drive vehicles. In Section 2, Paragraph 4 of the StVG , it says: "Those who meet the necessary physical and mental requirements and have not violated traffic regulations or criminal laws significantly or repeatedly are suitable for driving motor vehicles."
German driving license law does not require a general test of the driving ability of drivers before a driving license is issued, but only the test of driving ability (physical aptitude, personal aptitude is not the subject of the examination) and the passing of the driving test to prove the ability to drive motor vehicles. This is documented by the handing over of the driver's license .
After a driver's license has been withdrawn due to 1.6 ‰ or twice driving under the influence of alcohol or drug use, proof of restoration of fitness to drive must be provided by an officially recognized assessment body for driving fitness (so-called MPU report), which must be submitted to the responsible driving license authority is. Doctors and psychologists ( traffic medicine and traffic psychology ) work together on an interdisciplinary basis when preparing a driving suitability report .
Reasons for the arrangement
The Road Traffic Act lists a number of criminal offenses for which, as a rule, the person is no longer fit to drive: (a) Drunkenness in traffic (driving under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicating substances), (b) Endangering road traffic (as a result of consuming alcoholic beverages or other intoxicating beverages Means as a result of mental or physical deficiencies or in the event of grossly illegal or inconsiderate behavior), (c) unauthorized removal from the scene of the accident and (d) full intoxication .
Assessment guidelines and assessment criteria
Detailed regulations on this can be found in the "Assessment Guidelines for Driving Suitability " of the Federal Highway Research Institute (publisher), as well as the assessment criteria in the driving suitability assessment (publisher: DGVP / DGVM). All guidelines and assessment criteria are publicly available. They must be taken into account when assessing suitability to drive.
Information offers
Many of those affected are not aware of the criteria for passing an MPU . The information offered by the assessment bodies for driving fitness are usually not used or used much too late. In many cases, those affected only take care of it shortly before an MPU, instead of at the beginning of the blocking period. The embargo period as a safeguard and improvement measure often passes unused.
Voluntariness
The implementation of an MPU is always voluntary , at least "de jure" . In fact , the people affected by the revocation of their driving license often undergo an MPU for professional or family reasons in order to re-issue their driving license. No social criteria are used as a basis for the decision, only the suspected individual risk of relapse. The driver's license will only be issued again if the ordered report is submitted to the driving license authority. In the case of a check of the fitness to drive (for license holders, e.g. after driving under the influence of drugs), the decision is bound by deadlines. After the official revocation of the driver's license, there is no legal entitlement to a new license.
Limited fitness to drive
Section 23 of the Driving License Ordinance (FeV) states, among other things: "If the applicant is only partially suitable for driving motor vehicles, the driving license authority canissue the driving license [...] subject to the necessary conditions. The restriction can in particular extend to […] a specific vehicle with special equipment. ”These restrictions and requirements are entered on the back of the EU driving license in column 12 in the form of coded key numbers. These key figures are in principle uniformly regulated throughout Europe in Directive 2006/126 / EC. In the version according to German law, the same isspecified and describedwith some national additions in Annex 9 (to Section 25 Paragraph 3 FeV).
In the event that a driver's license holder needs special modifications to the vehicle after illness or an accident with remaining physical impairment, the "precaution" according to § 2 FeV could be carried out independently without a new driving test. However, this behavior becomes critical for the physically handicapped driver if there is an accident and those affected express doubts about their ability to drive.
A report to the driver's license office with subsequent entry of the vehicle adaptations in the driver's license, on the other hand, would officially prove the vehicle's ability to drive and that adequate precautions are taken. Section 11 (4) sentence 2 FeV states: "The submission of an opinion from an officially recognized expert or inspector for motor vehicle traffic can be ordered to clarify doubts about suitability [...] [...] in the case of disabilities of the musculoskeletal system in order to determine whether the disabled person can safely drive the vehicle with the necessary special technical aids. "
This report can take the form of a test drive with the converted vehicle accompanied by the examiner from the registration office. If the process is satisfactory, the examiner will enter the EU code number ("key numbers") for the technical equipment he has found during the exam directly in the existing driver's license.
A number of "more frequent illnesses and deficiencies that impair or impair the ability to drive motor vehicles for a long time" are listed in Appendix 4 to § 11 FeV (suitability) and § 12 FeV (vision) of the Driving License Ordinance described. These include diseases that are associated with sudden loss of consciousness, such as cardiac arrhythmias and epilepsy, as well as addictions related to alcohol and narcotics .
Elderly car drivers are fit to drive
Due to spectacular accidents, a mandatory driving test for older car drivers is required again and again. The fitness of seniors to drive depends largely on individual performance and age. While the ability to see and perceive decreases linearly with age, a “gradual decrease” is observed in mental function. “Significant differences often only appear from the age of 75.” In the case of those over 75 years of age, involvement with the car was the main culprit in three out of four accidents.
The Deutsche Verkehrswacht has "spoken out against age-discriminatory medical and psychological tests." In its 40th session (2002), the German Traffic Court Day saw no need for the legislature to act. The German Road Safety Council considers a compulsory examination for older car drivers "not [to] make sense", since older drivers compensate for their declining performance through their driving style. The Federal Highway Research Institute recommends preventive measures u. a. by general practitioners "who should inform their patients early on about possible health-related impairments in performance". However, voluntary health checks should be done regularly; more than half of the seniors would voluntarily surrender their driver's license if a specialist found them unfit to drive after a test drive. The TÜV Süd recommends a driving test with the feedback from relatives or a driving school .
In Germany there is a fitness to drive examination for the driving license classes C, CE, C1, C1E, D, DE, D1, D1E from the age of 50 and every 5 years thereafter. European countries have already made regulations on medical examinations for car drivers who are aged 60 (Czech Republic), 65 (Greece, Croatia, Portugal) and 70 (Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain).
See also
Web links
- Assessment of fitness to drive in epilepsy . In: Deutsches Ärzteblatt . 107, No. 13, April 2, 2010, pp. 217-223. doi : 10.3238 / arztebl.2010.0217 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 3rd edition of the assessment criteria for fitness to drive (in preparation)
- ↑ Directive 2006/126 / EC (PDF) of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 20, 2006 on driving licenses (new version)
- ↑ Traffic portal , FeV Annex 9
- ↑ Annex 4 (to §§ 11, 13 and 14 ) FeV suitability and conditional suitability for driving motor vehicles
- ↑ spiegel.de Check the pensioners! (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ sueddeutsche.de Greens want tests for senior citizens at the wheel. (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ uvd.de ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Elderly fitness to drive (accessed May 26, 2016)
- ↑ destatis.de Accidents involving senior citizens in road traffic., 2014, p. 10.
- ↑ deutsche-verkehrswacht.de Seniors at the wheel - is it still possible !? (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ deutscher-verkehrsgerichtstag.de 40th German Traffic Court Day (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ DVR-report 1/2016, p. 6.
- ↑ bast.de ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Seniors in road traffic: individual support instead of mandatory health checks. (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ wdr.de/ Seniors at the wheel (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ tuev-sued.de seniors at the wheel - ownership is required. (accessed on May 26, 2016)
- ↑ Driving license regulation : § 11 (9)
