The Motor Vehicle Driver Instruction Act has laid down the required competence to offer driving instruction since 1974. On January 1, 1995, the new Motor Vehicle Driver Instruction Act (the 1993 WRM) came into operation in the Netherlands. The revised legislation imposes stricter requirements on driving instructors. The intention of the 1993 WRM is that by enhancing the instruction quality, a better driving education can be offered to candidate drivers, one that is appropriate to the requirements as imposed by the current Road Traffic Act (WVW). The means used for this purpose are as follows: (1) setting preparatory training requirements for candidate instructors prior to admission to the instructor examination; to the instructor examination; (2) expanding the content of the instructor examination; (3) appointing a central examination institute; and (4) introducing a compulsory five-year application test. In the June-October 1996 period, a qualitative study was performed to take stock of the experiences of organisations with the 1993 WRM implementation. Quantifiable data were also collected to allow the developments to be charted. With the 1993 WRM implementation, the main problem areas found are: (i) coordination between instructor training and the examination; (ii) verification of the examination quality; (iii) the examination regulations; and (iv) the nature and duration of the vocational training procedure.
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