Cologne (dpa / lnw) – Due to long waiting times, driving license tests in North Rhine-Westphalia should also be carried out on Saturdays. TÜV Rheinland announced on Wednesday that the start date was already next Saturday (October 22nd). “With this additional offer, we can gradually shorten the waiting time, which is currently seven to eight weeks in some regions of North Rhine-Westphalia,” said Ralf Strunk from TÜV Rheinland. First of all, the sixth day of the exam is to be introduced in the Mönchengladbach and Düsseldorf area, in the next few weeks this will also be offered in other regions of North Rhine-Westphalia.
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 percent 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.
Nevertheless, by the end of September, 114,467 more exams could have taken place than ever before. In the previous record year of 2019, there were a total of around 109,000.
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.