Question 8806 — road safety

Summary

Instruction, for a fee, in driving motor vehicles can only be organized “within the framework of an approved establishment” (article L. 213-1 of the Highway Code), the driving school. This approval is issued by the department prefect of the place of establishment. Within this establishment, teaching is provided by a teacher holding an authorization also issued by the department prefect. Article R. 212-1 specifies that this teaching authorization is valid throughout the national territory. The establishment is defined by the decree of January 8, 2001 as being made up of two elements: an operator and a premises. Until the adoption of Law No. 2015-990 of August 6, 2015 for growth, activity and equal economic opportunities, registration for a driving license could only be done locally, which prohibited the conclusion of contracts online. This obligation to register in the premises, which was also included in the decree of January 8, 2001, no longer exists since the aforementioned law of August 6, 2015 which included in article L. 213-2 of the Highway Code the possibility of concluding distance contracts. Thus, subject only to the fact that a prior assessment has been carried out in the premises or in the vehicle, an approved establishment may offer distance selling of driving training services. Furthermore, the new players in driving education also distinguish themselves from traditional establishments by not presenting their candidates for the exam. Their students are independent candidates, who complete their own procedures to apply for exam places with the prefecture (office in charge of exams) of their place of residence. Furthermore, the Teachers attached to the establishment generally work under a service provision contract and may therefore be based in another department. Thus, in the current state of the law, very recently clarified by case law, nothing prevents an establishment approved in a department from providing courses in all or part of the national territory. Highway code regulations should not be an obstacle to the emergence of new economic models, as long as the education provided allows learner drivers to learn to drive in complete safety and to present themselves with the best chance of passing the exam. However, the Government is very attentive to improving transparency and respecting other rules set by the highway code but also in terms of competition and labor law. The exercise illegal driving instruction outside an approved establishment constitutes an offense. As such, two instructions were sent on March 25, 2016 and May 6, 2017 to the prefects so that control operations could be carried out with the support of the departmental anti-fraud operational committee (CODAF) chaired by the prefect and the public prosecutor. The latter recall in particular the nature of administrative sanctions and criminal offenses provided for by the highway code and labor law. In this context, more than 1,160 control operations were carried out throughout the territory (dematerialized platforms included) and certain prefects contacted the public prosecutor in accordance with the provisions of article 40 of the code of criminal procedure in order to notify him of certain fraudulent practices. Thus, the executive is fully committed so that, without prejudice to the chosen economic model, the laws are respected by all and that young people can access a quality license, quickly and at a reasonable cost. Finally, the implementation of the “quality of training within driving schools” label, which came into force on March 2, 2018, will notably restore the importance of quality collective theoretical teaching. In fact, the latter was designed and designed to enable voluntary driving schools to respond to several issues and in particular provide transparent and clear information for the consumer allowing them to choose their driving school or approved association with full knowledge of the facts, as well as providing quality training to become a responsible driver, respectful of others and the environment. Quality training must allow the collective dimension of learning and must give full importance to the trainer. Collective theoretical training is a vector for effective learning and change thanks to interactions between students which are particularly beneficial for changing behavior. Collective training promotes exchanges between student drivers and thus makes it possible to develop positive attitudes through relation to road safety. This training allows, when carried out alternating with practice, better integration of knowledge, because knowledge and skills are assimilated more efficiently and more quickly, with the effect of better success in driving license tests and, consequently, a reduction in the number of hours of practical training, which produces a reduction in the cost of training. for the user. Several European states (Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Austria for example) also require the completion of a certain number of hours of theoretical courses before taking the exam. The alternation between periods of collective theoretical and practical training in a driving school and phases of accompanied driving with a loved one, even of short duration, contributes to training safer drivers, increases the chances of success in the exam and reduces the number of practical lessons needed. Quality training must rely on digital technology and new technologies when they are used as teaching tools and not as the only organizational or logistical tool, and on the driving simulator: digital media enrich the teaching content and improve the monitoring of the relationship between the student and the teacher. THE Driving simulators are a method that is still underused (in particular due to a low equipment rate) both to diversify learning situations (to improve the perception of risk) but also to reduce the overall cost of training. In addition, the Government wished to initiate a reflection on road education in France in order to take stock of the reforms put in place and to examine the possible developments. In this context, Ms Françoise DUMAS, MP for Gard and Mr Stanislas GUERINI, MP for Paris, were appointed, by the Prime Minister, parliamentarians on mission to the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior and the Minister of the Economy and Finance to lead, between now and the end of the year, this reflection with all those involved in road education. The parliamentary mission will formulate proposals making it possible to guarantee, over time and at any point in the territory, quality driving license training while ensuring its accessibility and that of the exams in terms of deadlines and prices.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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