Because of long waiting times for driving test dates, many driving schools have to scale back their business and criticize the TÜV. However, he refers to the corona pandemic. And he sees complicity in the driving schools.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - In mid-October, driving instructor Horst Wintgen applied for test dates at the TÜV. In the past, he could have counted on his learner drivers taking the test two to three weeks later. But at the moment the waiting times for exam dates are unusually long. Wintgen's students won't be able to prove their driving skills to the examiner until January.
The long waiting times for a test date are not only annoying for the learner drivers, they are also a problem for the driving schools, who therefore have to step on the brakes during training. "A driving instructor drives about 50 driving lessons per week, which is now being reduced by half so that not so many learner drivers come to the examination phase," report Wintgen and Kurt Bartels from the North Rhine Driving Instructors Association. This confuses the financial calculations of the driving schools. "Some of my colleagues have existential worries."
TÜV Rheinland also confirms that the waiting time for an examination date is currently unusually long. On average, a learner driver is currently waiting up to seven weeks for his test, it says. The main reason for the long waiting times is the sharp increase in corona diseases. The failure rate of driving tests is 15 percent and thus about 10 percentage points above the normal years. A total of around 11,000 practical driving license tests have already been canceled at short notice this year in NRW.
The driving schools are also responsible, according to the TÜV. Because of the bottlenecks, many driving schools would apply for more driving test dates in order to be able to plan better with their students. A large part of these appointments booked in advance are lost due to regular cancellations and thus contribute to the long waiting times, TÜV reported.
The overall picture also includes the fact that by the end of September 2022, TÜV Rheinland had taken 114,467 more driving tests than ever before. In the previous record year of 2019, there were a total of around 109,000.
In order to reduce waiting times, TÜV Rheinland now also wants to offer driver's license tests on Saturdays. In addition, they want to counter the long queues with more driving examiners. The number of driving examiners has been increased since the first year of the pandemic. In addition, retirees were also used.
There are also longer waiting times in the northern regions of North Rhine-Westphalia, where TÜV Nord conducts the driving tests. TÜV Nord points out that the need for practical driving tests has increased drastically in the second half of 2022 and that solutions are being sought for the bottlenecks: "As TÜV Nord, we have also been offering tests on Saturdays at many locations for many weeks, which, in addition to other measures, relief," said a spokesman for the German Press Agency.
