Titi Aur, angry at driving instructors: Driving schools, the source of carnage on the roads

Rally drivers Titi Aur and Vali Porcișteanu warn that driving school programs can no longer train drivers who can handle current traffic. The exam to obtain the license is also not what it needs to be.

The two defensive driving experts point out that it only checks whether the future driver knows how to move the car, not whether he can react in extreme conditions. And all this is reflected in the carnage on the roads.

The high number of serious road accidents in Romania is a direct result of the way in which future drivers are prepared, points out, in an open letter, the multiple rally champion Titi Aur.

He claims that the programs of driving schools are completely outdated, and the tests to which future drivers are subjected are not in accordance with the realities of traffic.

“I’m Titi Aur and I’ve spent my whole life up to now in the field of driving cars: for pleasure, for necessity, for performance – many car races and many titles won, and in the last part of the sports activity, but also after I finished -o, I have been and am involved in increasing road safety, particularly in training drivers of motor vehicles and motorcycles to drive safely on public roads. (…) Since 2013, we have launched an extensive project to study and research the methods by which the safety of motor vehicle and motorcycle drivers can be improved. The quality of training has decreased, because before 1990, in order to obtain a driver’s license, the following had to be done:

– Psychological exam with testing of reflexes and skills with: turning wheel, hand/foot coordination test simulator, etc. – IT CAN’T BE DONE ANYMORE!

– Polygon and test in the polygon – NO MORE!

– Driving and examination at night – NO MORE!

– Attendance at theory classes at driving schools is on average 50% lower, compared to the 80s”, explains Titi Aur.

Poorly trained instructors

For his part, former national rally champion and defensive driving expert Valentin Porcişteanu told “Adevărul” why today’s drivers are very unprepared.

“Young drivers do not have many necessary notions. They don’t know how to handle dangerous situations, they don’t know how to avoid them, they have no training in this regard! They do not know how to drive at high speeds, they have no training for the use of highways. No one teaches them that. In addition, the psychological and medical testing is poor if not superficial. What needs to be done? The entire training system must be changed, that is, it must be updated to the times we live in, updated with all the necessary things. In addition, the training of instructors must be much more complex and the granting of instructor credentials must be much more stringent. Today anyone can be a driving instructor after a very easy exam and within anyone’s reach. Returning to those who want to become drivers, more hours of training are required, with a much more varied curriculum. In addition, the evaluation rules must be changed! Currently, the examiner checks whether the future driver knows how to “move the car” at a very low speed and respect the rules, he is not subject to more extensive tests, in extreme conditions. Finally, something must be done for those who have already been drivers for many years. I think that a series of courses every 5 years is necessary, so to speak”, stated Vali Porcișteanu.

8,000 serious accidents per year

“According to official data, between 2004-2019 we had, on average, approximately 8,000 serious accidents per year. In 2020, their number naturally decreased, because we traveled less (the COVID pandemic). And in 2021, according to the new reporting criteria, the number of serious accidents dropped SUDDENLY, to about 4,000 per year. I agree with the alignment with the European criteria, but this should not mean a total lack of action by the authorities, on the grounds that… “serious accidents decreased by 40%”. The ranking of the truth should be done by relating the number of dead, seriously injured and slightly injured respectively to the number of kilometers traveled. According to this criterion, the European situation is as follows: the Nordic countries have 22-25 deaths per 10 billion kilometers traveled, the European average is 70 deaths, the penultimate country, Bulgaria, has 180 deaths, and Romania has over 300 deaths per 10 billion kilometers traveled”, said Titi Aur.