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VSPV warns against loosening the rules for volunteer driving services.
Volunteer driving services should be made easier. The Conference of Transport Ministers on 21 and 22 October 2026 made this its topic and asked the federal government to review the applicable regulations and to reduce the requirements. The Association of Private Commercial Road Passenger Transport in North Rhine-Westphalia (VSPV) regards this as the wrong path. In an open letter to Federal Minister of Transport Steffen Bilger, the association warns of the consequences for particularly vulnerable passengers.
"These passengers need more protection, not less," writes the VSPV.
Those who use volunteer driving services are often elderly, in need of care, suffering from dementia, or disabled. The affected individuals could hardly assess the driver's suitability and the condition of the vehicle themselves. Often they sit alone with the driver in the car. Whether he drives free of charge does not change the safety risk.
"Volunteerism describes the driver's motive, not the safety of the passenger," argues the association.
In licensed passenger transport there are clear requirements: drivers must hold a license to transport passengers, must prove their personal suitability and present a certificate of conduct as well as an extract from the Driving Aptitude Register. Operators and vehicles are also subject to inspections. If trips fall outside the scope of the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG), these requirements no longer apply. The VSPV regards the removal of the certificate of conduct as particularly critical. It is the central instrument to keep individuals with relevant prior convictions away from regular, unsupervised access to vulnerable passengers.
VSPV calls for evaluation instead of new exemptions
The association already sees gaps in the protection system today. Certain free-of-charge transports and trips, for which the remuneration does not exceed operating costs, do not fall under the law according to § 1 para. 2 PBefG. The Exemption Regulation also exempts certain school, kindergarten and disability transports from the requirements. The VSPV therefore calls to dismantle existing exemptions, rather than extending them to additional ride services. In justification the association points to earlier positions of the Federal Government. In 2021 the then Federal Government rejected a more far-reaching exemption for voluntary and social ride services. It also stressed in 2023 that the Passenger Transport Act should ensure minimum standards for quality and safety. Organized ride services, which are permanently offered across several municipalities and financed with substantial earmarked funds, are not readily classified as subordinate transport cases.
There is still no data basis for a loosening. An evaluation of the Exemption Regulation requested by the Federal Council in 2021 is still outstanding. The previous evaluation reports on PBefG dealt with other topics, but not the exempt passenger transports. That there are no robust data on accidents and assaults is not evidence of their safety, but also a consequence of lack of supervision.
Community buses show that volunteering and rules go together
That voluntary commitment and binding safety standards are not a contradiction, in the view of the VSPV, are shown by the community buses in North Rhine-Westphalia. They have operated for decades with voluntary drivers under a route license. There are also requirements for the driver's license to transport passengers. Municipalities also have, through taxis, rental cars and on-demand services, opportunities to safeguard mobility in rural areas. The VSPV warns that unregulated offerings could draw passengers and revenues away from the regulated transport. This would also put the financing of those transport services that are needed to provide coverage across the wider area under pressure.
The association therefore calls on Bilger to make passenger protection the benchmark for the announced review and to first catch up on the outstanding evaluation. Before the legislature relaxes requirements, it must know what risks the existing exemptions actually entail. For the VSPV the matter is clear: volunteering deserves support – but not at the expense of the safety of the people who rely on such ride services.
Content automatically translated.
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