18,000 seventeen-year-old drivers now on Czechia’s roads, but only eight accidents recorded so far
According to the Association of Driving Schools, almost 18,000 young drivers are already driving on Czech roads under the supervision of mentors. Despite the high number, according to police statistics, fears that they would increase the accident rate have not been confirmed.
At the beginning of 2024, the Czech Ministry of Transport gave the green light to seventeen-year-old drivers. Prior to the new rules, there were fears that the young motorists would cause accidents, with critics pointing to the fact that the majority of serious road accidents are caused by young, inexperienced drivers in their first five years of active driving. However, almost a year later, the fears seemed to have been unfounded; from January to the end of October, the police recorded only eight accidents involving seventeen-year-olds at the wheel, only five of which were caused by the young driver.
Seventeen-year-olds are specifically allowed to drive only with a mentor also within the car. Naturally, there are restrictions on who can be that mentor: only someone who does not have a single point on their driver's licence for any violation, has not been banned from driving, and has held a licence for at least ten years.
One explanation for the lack of increase in road accidents is that supervision and the ‘L17’ mentoring system make for safer new drivers. Aleš Horčička, chairman of the Association of Driving Schools, commented on the statistics:
“There are big differences between a driver in the L17 system who drives with a parent, and a solo driver, many of whom have unfortunately died on the roads. In the L17 system, not one has died.”
The police report that the under 18s have only so far caused material damage, in five traffic accidents, amounting to 600,000 crowns. In a few cases, it has been the mentor, not the driver in their charge, who has caused problems, as Alena Mühl, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport, stated:
“We have only had nineteen mentors with suspended driving licences or a ban on driving motor vehicles, or who were detained or surrendered their driving licences. At the same time, 494 mentors had to end their mentoring due to a points offence of their own.”
There has been great interest in supervising novice seventeen-year-old drivers; by the end of October, over 19,500 mentors had registered. Czechia is not the only European country where seventeen-year-old drivers are allowed to drive under the supervision of a mentor; this system is in place already in Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands and elsewhere, while an unrestricted licence is available at age seventeen in Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
