Interview of Deputy Minister Dimitar Nedyalkov for ‘24 chasa’ [‘24 hours’], the conversation was conducted by Mariana Boykova.
Mr Nedyalkov, the Ministry is making important changes to the training and testing of driver applicants. The first attempt a few years ago failed because of protests by instructors. What are their reactions now, what are they proposing?
We are working on Regulation 37 — on training, and Regulation 38 — on the conduct of the examinations, and we hope that this time we will be able to see the process through. We want drivers who get a licence to be well prepared and so reduce casualties and trauma Reactions to the changes have been mixed, with a public consultation currently underway. We are ready to react, none of the changes are at any price. We are gathering everyone's views, but the responsibility is ours, the ministry's.
One of the main changes, which was announced by Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov at a discussion of ‘24 hours’, was to shorten the time limit for taking the exam to 4 times within 6 months. What would that lead to?
Currently, driver applicants can take the test countless times within a year. If within 6 months and with 4 appearances the candidate in question fails to pass the exam, then something is wrong and he/she has to retrain. This is a step towards ensuring as many prepared drivers as possible.
Earlier there was discussion of increasing driving hours. We don't see it now, why?
We have not discussed it now, there are other opinions, such as minimum mileage during training.
By what mechanisms will you achieve these minimum requirements to be met by a trainee seeking a licence?
The requirements are written down — the candidate must be able to drive in a busy urban environment, in the dark part of the day, as well as on expressways, be able to perform manoeuvres, to park. All of these things will be entered into software to keep track of whether the items are completed during the training. If he/she has not gone through these modules, the licence candidate will not be able to sit the exam All this is reflected in the electronic logbook, end of paper.
And how is training currently reported?
Now at the end of the day the instructor writes on a paper that he has trained the student to drive in the dark and he has to sign off. With the electronic diary, the beginning and end of the training are identified electronically. The fact that they have driven on a speedway will automatically be entered into a spreadsheet which will tick that this element of training has been passed.
The motor administration will monitor the training, correct?
Yes, there will be visibility. The entire log with all the details will be kept in the system for 24 months. If there is a traffic accident and court proceedings in the meantime, the time limit stops running until these are completed. All the details of the driver's training will be kept until the court proceedings are over, if God forbid there is an accident. The other benefit is the trainee's access to the data so they know where they are in the course and how they are doing.
What else is important in the training regulation?
We are removing administrative requirements for driving schools - what should be the square footage, lighting, heating and the like. The idea is to have a level playing field and free competition is the determining factor. We also propose to drop the cap on the number of trainees per stream.
And are there any changes to the licence test?
We are not changing anything there at the moment because a few months ago we introduced the Navigator system, which is used to determine the exam route by computer.
Many opponents had this idea, why?
It removes the subjective factor — no human intervention, choosing a route electronically, not by the examiner based on whether someone is more sympathetic or not. After about 5 minutes of driving the examiner says — get off, take your exam. As with the training, there are compulsory elements to the test — left and right turns, junction and other things, and finally parking - that must be completed to pass the test. The system ensures that the trainee has actually done them. Why there are fights, we can only guess.
Can I manually change the route?
It can't be done. You may not be strictly following the tablet route when the system has not updated and reflected that there is a repair somewhere. It's navigation, when there's a problem on the road it will reroute the car, the examiner can do this too but it will be reflected in the system. When there are often such redirects, we can see from the video system how the exam went.
You told our discussion that you had been to a school and there you found out that those who took a license or took a course did not drive out of town, in the dark, etc. How do you explain that?
We have reports that some schools are not going out with students from the neighbourhood. It is a process in which there are three stakeholders — the school, the person being trained and the parents if young. The interest of parents is that their child is trained well. With the electronic log it will be clear that the candidate has not passed these elements, which means they have not passed the course.
How many driving schools are there in Bulgaria?
About 1,000. I believe that they will be regulated on a market basis and the stricter rules we are introducing will force them to deliver the training to all requirements.
Is star categorization possible?
If we introduce criteria in this respect, it will be complicated to be fair. We've thought about those - success rates, the number of accidents caused by drivers who have graduated from a certain school, but many other factors also play into crashes. I think it is competition that will do the categorisation and the stricter rules that we are putting in place.
Should range training be brought back?
We are currently exploring the idea of extreme driving ranges. In Austria they are compulsory. There, between the third and the sixth month after taking a licence, the new driver is obliged to drive with his driving instructor to assess his behaviour on the road. From the sixth to the ninth month he has to drive one time on a polygon, which has more extreme conditions, passes through several obstacles — water, slippery surface. In the third quarter, he returned to the school and was monitored to see if he was driving economically. In Croatia, the polygon is also mandatory. We are studying the experience in several countries, but we cannot fully apply a foreign model here, we have to adapt it to our conditions. On these training grounds could be trained drivers of the Ministry of Interior, ambulances, fire brigades. But it is too early to offer a solution.
By July 22, the technical inspection stations must be linked to the system of the ‘Motor Administration’. How many have done it already?
So far, half of them have connected their systems to the one of the Road Administration. On 23 July, those stations that have not done so will not be open because they cannot issue a certificate of passing the annual technical inspection.
What else are you working on?
Overloaded trucks are a big problem. If they go out of our country, no one can afford 5 kg more. And in our country we chase each other on the roads, we put scales to measure them. If we add to this control tolling frameworks that can also measure weight, we will also reduce those violations that ruin the roads.