EFA has released its new video on hazard perception for all of us!

The video, reminiscent of the “yellow car game,” aims to raise awareness among road users about hazard perception and paying attention to the road. EFA is having the video translated into many languages, with the goal of being shown and understood at as many driving schools, conferences, and other international events as possible. Special thanks to JellyLearn, whose expertise and technology made the video possible. Enjoy the video here! Help us disseminate it as widely as possible!

EFA participates to the Trendline event on the new road safety KPIs

EFA participated in the Trendline project presentation event, presenting the latest developments regarding the new Driving Licence Directive and the role played by the European Federation of Driving Schools.

The Trendline project brings together 25 EU Member States for data collection, data analysis, delivery of road safety KPIs, and for using them within road safety policies.

The Key Performance Indicators provide information about factors associated with crash and injury risks, e.g., speeding or drink driving.

All the project information can be found at https://trendlineproject.eu/dashboard

The results can be downloaded at https://trendlineproject.eu/trendline-results

Beyond the time-on-task: an EEG-driven approach for effective physiological assessment of mental fatigue in simulated and real driving

Fatigue is a major factor contributing to road accidents, and extensive research has focused on its physiological and behavioral characterization. Due to safety and economic constraints, studies on driving fatigue are commonly conducted in simulated environments, where fatigue is typically induced through prolonged tasks and assessed using a Time-on-Task (ToT) approach. Some EFA collaborators contributed to the publication of this article. 

Exploring the impact of autonomous vehicles on youth mobility through focus groups and simulations

The imminent introduction of autonomous vehicles (AVs) represents a significant revolution in transportation, offering unique opportunities to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of urban transport systems. This study uniquely combines qualitative focus groups with European school students and quantitative activity-based simulation models to compare teenagers’ reactions to AVs. Focus groups gathered insights into their current mobility habits and perceptions of AVs. The simulation model then evaluated the potential impacts of AVs, specifically robotaxis and autonomous shuttles, on teenagers’ travel behaviour in Santander, Spain. The results reveal a strong interest in AVs among teenagers, particularly for the independence and flexibility they offer. However, practical considerations such as cost, availability, and parental preferences continue to influence their mobility choices. The simulation results indicate a significant shift towards robotaxis, reducing walking and public transport usage. Gender-specific preferences were also noted, with girls being more likely to use robotaxis. The findings underscore the need for policies that balance AV usage with active modes and public transport, address safety concerns, and ensure equitable access to AVs. The study highlights the benefits and challenges of integrating AVs into teenagers’ lives, offering insights for policymakers and technologists. Further research is needed to validate these findings through real-world trials and to explore the long-term impacts of AVs on teenagers’ mobility, physical activity, and social interactions.

Download the study here

Tapping the potential for reducing work-related road deaths and injuries

Travelling for work is an essential part of Europe’s economy and daily life. Millions of people drive, ride, walk or work on the road as part of their job, whether delivering goods, visiting clients, building and maintaining infrastructure, or commuting to and from their workplace. During these trips, they may be killed or injured, and they may kill or injure another road user. Yet, despite its scale, the risks associated with work-related road use remain insufficiently recognised within both road safety and occupational safety frameworks. Read more about:

https://etsc.eu/tapping-the-potential-for-reducing-work-related-road-deaths-and-inj

International Organisations commit for UN Decade of Sustainable Transport

The International Road Federation (IRF), with a global coalition of partners, announced a voluntary commitment to support the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Transport (2026–2035) to accelerate the transformation towards inclusive, safe, green and efficient road systems for all.

Building on shared expertise and a unified vision for sustainable mobility, the coalition aims to help countries strengthen the way roads are planned, designed and managed to meet the social, environmental and economic challenges of the decade ahead. Read the report

Motorcycle Protection Systems & Safety Aspects Of Management Of Traffic For Motorcycles Report

This document is the outcome of the PIARC Special Project on Motorcycle Protection Systems and Safety Aspects of the Management of Traffic for Motorcycles, conducted under the framework of the PIARC Strategic Plan 2024–2027. The study was initiated by the World Road Association (PIARC) in response to the continuing global challenge of improving the safety of powered two-wheeler users, who remain one of the most vulnerable groups of road users worldwide. 

To download the report you have to register in the PIARC website at https://www.piarc.org/en/order-library?publication=47533&solo

The BVF’s Congress, the German Association of Driving Schools, took place in Berlin on November 14th and 15th.

This year’s meeting was once again impressive, with approximately 2,000 attendees. BVF President Jurgen Kopp and Vice President Kurt Bartels performed excellently.

It was a pleasure for the EFA Board to participate in the event and to send a message that Europe is united and has often followed the German training model as a point of reference.

The German training model, as it is currently structured, is a reference for all European Countries.

It is hoped that in the coming years there will be no changes to the training model that could reduce the level of quality training offered daily by German driving schools.

EFA Vice Presidents Stefan Ebner and Manuel Picardi presented some of the latest developments related to the new Driving Licences Directive and the role EFA has played in introducing training as a replacement for part of the exams. These include the possibility of eliminating the Code 78 and obtaining a BE license, both through mandatory training. The possibility for Member States to introduce a mandatory First Aid Course as an alternative to part of the theory exam was also mentioned.

BVF Event

BVF and WKO Board Members

EFA visits EDISER Stand

Jurgen Kopp, Manuel Picardi, Stefan Ebner

TRUST Project Meeting in Athens and New TRUST Website

The second meeting of the EU-funded TRUST project, of which EFA is an active partner, was held in Greece on November 18th and 19th.

Special thanks go to George Yannis of NTUA for hosting the event at the Athens School of Engineering.

The progress made by some partners in determining the strategy to be pursued to achieve the desired results, namely the definition of a Road Safety Culture, was very interesting. In upcoming articles, you can find a description of the new TRUST project website.

EFA was asked to join the international consortium to contribute to the project’s road safety training, in collaboration with several universities and research centers, particularly in the introduction of new training modules for light mobility, aimed at young people aged 15 to 18.

The TRUST website has been completed: Traffic Safety Culture used to be an ambiguous term and a boundary concept, used in different and sometimes contradictory ways. If we want to leverage Traffic Safety Culture, we need to know what it is but also what it is not. Only then can we concisely measure it to assess in an evidence-based way whether we are actually making progress with cultural interventions.

We are providing an operational definition of Traffic Safety Culture and its constituting factors (such as beliefs, attitudes, norms, values) that is suitable for modelling the impact on road safety, developing measuring tools to assess where we are at as well as for planning and testing appropriate interventions.

Visit the website of the new road safety project funded by the European Union!

The Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic has elected new leadership for the period 2026-2031

The General Meeting of the Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic was held on Friday, November 21st in the pleasant surroundings of the Port Hotel near Máchova Jezera. The event was attended by more than 110 driving school teachers, 10 partners of the Association of Driving Schools and other exhibitors from the field of driver education. After a short introduction of all the important guests and partners, the Chairman of the Association of Driving Schools Aleš Horčička took the floor.

He presented a number of successful events that the Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic has implemented in recent months and years. These include projects to increase road safety Movitren, StartDriving, Days for Mentors L17, Digital Driving School, the Academy of Driving School Education and others. More than 100 thousand mentors have already participated in the L17 project.

The program then moved on to the elections of the new Executive Board of the Association of Driving Schools for the period 2026-2031. First, the members of the Association of Driving Schools thanked Mr. Jan Černý for his many years of activity, who has already reached retirement age and will not continue on the Executive Board. Subsequently, a new Executive Board was elected, which was newly joined by Michal Hebeda from Pilsen.

The newly elected Executive Board then left the meeting room and elected new statutory bodies for the period 2026-2030.

New Executive Board:

· Vítězslav Fila

· Martin Aujezdský

· Václav Volf

· Radek Šetka

· Jiří Martínek

· Michal Kubeš

· Miloš Šlajchrt

· Michal Hebeda

· Ondřej Horázný – Vice-Chairman of the Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic

· Jiří Novotný – Vice-Chairman of the Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic

· Aleš Horčička – Chairman of the Association of Driving Schools of the Czech Republic

However, the General Meeting was not only about the election of the new Executive Board and statutory bodies, but a number of exhibitors were prepared in the foyer, who presented various teaching options through virtual reality, teaching simulators, teaching aids and books, training vehicles and motorcycles and more.

The election of the Executive Board was followed by a series of expert lectures by the Ministry of Transport, CENDIS and also a speech by Jiří Novotný, who presented current events and news from the activities of the EFA (European Federation of Driving Schools). The Driving School Association also honoured members of the Driving School Ombudsman project team, which helps raise the level and sophistication of the field of driver education.

Jiří Novotný – Aleš Horčička – Ondřej Horázný

Aleš Horčička

Jiří Novotný

Ondřej Horázný

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) – ERSC

Despite progress in reducing road fatalities, alcohol and drug abuse continues to cause thousands of preventable accidents each year. The European Road Safety Charter (ERSC) organised an online session bringing together road safety experts, researchers, and civil society representatives to share the latest data, prevention strategies, and innovative initiatives that make a real difference.

The topics covered were:

– Cutting-edge research on drunk driving

– Successful national campaigns, such as “High Lässt fahren”

– Practical approaches to rehabilitation and law enforcement

– Results of the EU-funded FitDRIVE and PANACEA projects

On 19th November our EFA member from Lithuania, The Guild of Driving teachers, participated in the webinar, organised by European Road Safety Charter „Driving Under the Influence – A Road Safety Priority“, dedicated to one of Europe’s most persistent road safety challenges – DUI.

Dr. Mindaugas Vilkickas, the executive of the Guild, presented the report „The current system of Driving course for Traffic offenders in Lithuania“, about the officially mandatory courses for traffic offenders in Lithuania, also known as „Additional training for drivers“. These courses are also mandatory for the drivers, sanctioned for DUI; this is a part of administrative penalties in order to regain their driving licenses.

The content of this training was presented, including a little bit of available statistical information. The problems and challenges, which encountered during the implementation of these trainings, were also presented. This may be valuable insights for countries that intend to implement similar trainings.

Below you can download the Dr. Vilkickas’s presentation

Dr. Mindaugas Vilkickas

Driving Licence Directive Technical Roundtable

On November 27^th, the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) organised an online session focused on the implementation of international driving licence legislation and emphasized the need for collaboration among stakeholders. Participants outlined the necessary steps for effective implementation and discussed the importance of financial support for new drivers in Member States.

EFA presented the collaboration with ERC that began in 2021 and the tangible results achieved in the new Driving License Directive.

The EFA and ERC collaboration will continue in 2026 for driving instructor training. Stay connected with us!

Driving Licence Directives 

It’s official: The new European Directives on driving licenses and driver disqualification were published in early November 2025!

Below you will find links to EUR-Lex, available in multiple languages.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202502205

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AL_202502206

EFA is very satisfied with the work done and the contribution the association has made to the EU Commission in publishing a directive that increasingly takes training into account.

Quality driver training is an investment, not a cost.

Music as an underestimated prevention factor: The Europe-wide campaign “Max-Achtzig: A Trucker’s Fate – Watch out!”

Rear-end collisions in European road freight transport are rare but extremely severe, especially for truck drivers. Since 2018, the initiative Hellwach mit 80 km/h has been committed to preventing these fatal crashes. With its new campaign, “Max-Achtzig: A Trucker’s Fate – Watch out!”, the association introduces a completely new idea: using a song as an emotional communication tool to reach professional drivers more directly and effectively.

The campaign is based on the insight that music strongly influences emotions, attention and awareness. Since drivers spend long hours on the road listening to music, the association created a track specifically designed for them — a song that speaks about the risks of rear-end collisions and the psychological pressures of the profession in an empathetic and immediate way. This approach aims to have a greater impact than traditional communication based on facts, slogans or formal appeals, which often fail under conditions of stress, fatigue and monotony.

The campaign also highlights the significant psychological impact of accidents, affecting not only victims but also the drivers involved. Recent studies show that each road fatality leads to dozens of stress disorders, many of which affect professional drivers.

Independent monitoring started in 2019 shows that today truck drivers are more than three times as likely to die in rear-end collisions at the end of traffic jams as car occupants — a figure that contradicts common stereotypes and calls for a new type of communication.

In this context, the campaign’s song becomes an innovative tool to raise awareness, create emotional engagement and keep drivers alert on the road.

EU transport in figures – Statistical pocketbook 2025

Transport represents a crucial sector of the economy. This publication provides an overview of the most recent and most pertinent annual transport-related statistics in Europe. It covers the European Union and its 27 Member States (EU-27) and, as far as possible, the current EU candidate countries, the EFTA countries and UK. The content of this pocketbook is based on a range of sources including Eurostat, international organisations and associations, national statistics and, where no data were available, own estimates. Own estimates have mainly been produced to get an idea of the EU total. At the level of individual countries, they are merely indicative and should by no means be interpreted as official data.

Cardiac arrest is a major health problem in Europe and around the world. Every year over 400,000 people in Europe and 60,000 in Italy are affected by cardiac arrest. In 70% of cases, cardiac arrest is seen by laypeople who could start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if they knew how to do it.

The immediate initiation of CPR can double or triple survival from cardiac arrest. In fact, if witnesses of cardiac arrest start CPR before the ambulance arrives, the victims’ chances of survival increase two to three times compared to cases in which CPR is not started.

The Basic Life Support Project is promoted by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and European Driving Schools Association (EFA).