Almost every second falls through the driver’s license test

For many learner drivers in Luxembourg, the practical driver’s license test is the fabric from which nightmares are: in 2024 almost every second candidate. This emerges from a response from Mobility Minister Yuriko Backes (DP) to a parliamentary request from Pirate MP Sven Clement.

Specifically, 18,243 people took part in the practical driver’s license test last year. Of these, 53.2 percent passed. Conversely, this means: 46.8 percent of the learner drivers failed. In comparison, the theoretical part of the exam does much better: 74.09 percent of the 13,640 written exams were passed. One of four candidates failed: 25.91 percent to be precise.

For many, this not only means a setback, but also an additional financial burden. Because if you fall through, you have to take further driving lessons and pay the exam again. In combination with increasing energy prices and general inflation, the price of a driver’s license has increased significantly in recent years, said the minister.

More complex than before

In order to reduce the high diarrhea rate in the practical driving test, the Ministry of Mobility is based on better preparation for learner drivers. « It is important that the candidates in driving license training are prepared as well as possible for the new circumstances, » emphasizes Yuriko Backes. Because modern vehicles with numerous assistance systems and increasingly complex road traffic presented prospective drivers with new challenges.

A new European driver’s license director is to remedy this, which is about to publish. This also provides for adjustments in training to react exactly to these developments. « If the candidates are better prepared, less of them should also fail during the practical exam, » said Backes. Last but not least, this would also have positive effects on the costs associated with the acquisition of the driver’s license.