Hesse's Ministry of Transport is critical of the possible general benefits of driving safety training. Studies on the effects of driver training with safety training on the risk of accidents for beginners did not yield any clear results, the ministry said at the request of the SPD parliamentary group in Wiesbaden.

The Social Democratic deputies Tobias Eckert and Heike Hofmann had declared that a nationwide offer of driver safety training is of central importance for road safety. Such courses have proven particularly useful for novice drivers.

The Ministry of Transport, on the other hand, stated that there were isolated positive, but also no or even clearly negative effects on road safety. "Driving safety training is not anchored in German driver's license law," explained the ministry. They are neither part of the driver's license training nor intended after the driver's license has been obtained. "Participation in driver safety training courses is entirely on a voluntary basis."

The voluntary further training seminars for novice drivers, which were offered in Germany between 2003 and 2010 and included driving safety training, had not proven to reduce accidents, the ministry added. On the contrary: The participants in the seminars had shown a significantly higher level of traffic conspicuousness than non-participants.

The ministry said it wanted to examine with an open mind to what extent driver safety training courses can make the roads safer.

Answer to parliamentary question