"It's a shame that in Slovenia there are people on the road which should not have been given a driving licence," said Minister Omerzel at presentation of the findings of the extraordinary supervision of the Transport Directorate and the Traffic Safety Agency.
Samo Omerzel, Minister of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, disclosed that the inspection established that in 2010 and 2011 no expert supervision were performed by the Traffic Safety Agency. IN 2012 only 10 supervisions were performed, while last year only 66 supervisions took place.
The extraordinary supervision of the Transport Directorate revealed that the irregularities in driving schools were not listed in the handover report at the occasion of the rotation of ministers, or occurred only in the handover report between the resigned acting General Director of the Transport Directorate Bojan Žlender and the new acting General Director Miran Sečki.
Supposedly the irregularities had happened in 36 driving schools. The office of the public prosecutor established that no irregularities had occurred in 14 driving schools, for 16 driving schools pre-trial procedure is being conducted, and against four driving schools criminal complaints have been filed, for one the final indictment, and the final judgment has already been passed.
The Traffic Safety Agency has already revoked the authority to four schools, two are still under supervision, but the names have not been revealed. The Ministry of Justice has already started to re-entering penalty points for those drivers whose penalty points have been erased in a disputable manner.
The most disputable are safe-driving test certificates
The Ministry of Infrastructure put under the magnifying glass also the controversial training of novice drivers, and safe-driving trainings. The pre-trial procedures are going ahead regarding 1,614 certificates, i.e. for safe-driving tests, for deletion of penalty points, and for repeat driving offenders. For 868 certificates criminal complaints have been filed, and for 52 certificates the final judgement has already been passed. For 161 controversial driving licences the pre-trial procedure is going on as well.
Proceeding from the established irregularities the Transport directorate has predicted the introduction of a number of measures – reduction of number of driving schools, modification of law on drivers, more expert supervisions, and electronically performed theory tests.
By upgrading the drivers' register in future it should be possible to follow the driver from his inscription into a driving school on, and to establish a traceable system of responsibilities which would allow verification of eventual abuses.
The first charges were filed last year in November
In November the Police announced 26 people were denounced, suspected of 483 criminal acts, among others of sale of driving licences. They also found out that at the additional safe-driving trainings for novice drivers at least in 1,200 cases certificates have been issued, although no test driving has been performed.
A few days later Bojan Žlender, the acting director of the Transport Directorate, and the president of the board of the Traffic Safety Agency, resigned, and his position at the Transport Directorate was taken by Miran Sečki.
On Thursday the government relieved Žlender from the position of the member of the Agency board, and nominated Lidija Flajs.
Minister Omerzel is facing an interpellation in the Parliament because of the driving schools, filed by the SDS and NSi parties. The opposition parties blame him of misleading the public on conditions in driving schools, but Omerzel has already denied that.