Driver Education ABC

No. Even if the driving school uses electronic format in the theory course for category B, at least six lessons take place in a classroom in initial theory training (subsection 32 (5) of the regulation), and at least one lesson in a classroom and one practical course on a slippery training track in the final stage.

No. A combination of vehicles with a maximum mass of 4,500 kg belongs in category BE. If you obtain a category CE driving licence, you will automatically be granted the right to drive category BE because you can drive a category BE combination of vehicles with a category CE right to drive.

Despite the relatively similar name, these are very different trainings. Persons who have lost their right to drive due to a serious traffic violation are referred to retraining. Such violations could be driving a vehicle while intoxicated, for example, or exceeding the maximum allowed speed limit by more than 20 km/h. Continued driver training is required from persons who have failed three state driving exams.

Usually, no. Health certificates are issued for five (professional driver) or ten (motor vehicle driver) years, based on the group, but usually they expire before the driving licence.

Therefore, it would be reasonable to check your health certificate details in the e-service of the Transport Administration when handling procedures related to your right to drive so that your applications would be processed as quickly as possible.

If you are at least 16 years old, you do not need a licence to ride on a carriageway. You are also not required to wear a helmet. Taking into account that you as a cyclist are a weaker party compared to drivers or motorcyclists, wearing a helmet and knowing driving theory well are strongly recommended. A person between the ages of 10 and 15 must have the right to drive a bicycle, verified by a cyclist’s licence or the data in the motor register, to ride on a carriageway. Remember that a bicycle lane is a part of a carriageway.

The vehicle commonly known as an electric scooter is a personal light electric vehicle within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act. Only one person at a time can ride a personal light electric vehicle. You may drive on a pavement, footpath, cycle lane, cycle track, and a cycle and pedestrian track. You may only drive onto a carriageway or a paved shoulder when you have nowhere else to drive.

The maximum allowed speed limit is 25 km/h. A driver of a personal light electric vehicle does not have the right of way on an unregulated pedestrian crossing. A driver of a personal light electric vehicle must overtake a pedestrian in their immediate vicinity at a speed that does not considerably differ from the speed of the pedestrian and allows overtaking the latter safely. A driver of a personal light electric vehicle approaching an intersection of a footpath, a pavement, a cycle and pedestrian track, or a cycle track with a carriageway must reduce speed and cross the carriageway at the normal speed of a pedestrian (5 km/h).

When driving a personal light electric vehicle, a driver who is under 16 years of age is obligated to wear a strapped cycle helmet; however, wearing a helmet is strongly recommended to all drivers of such vehicles. In built-up areas, a personal light electric vehicle can stop and park on a pavement, but it must leave 1.5 metres free for pedestrians. You must be sober when driving a personal light electric vehicle.

A person who is between 10 and 15 years old must hold a cyclist’s licence to drive a personal light electric vehicle on the carriageway. Please remember that a cycle lane is part of the carriageway.

Suspension of the right to drive motor vehicles means that a person is temporarily prohibited to drive motor vehicles. If your driving licence and/or health certificate have expired, your right to drive is also suspended and you can no longer drive a vehicle. In order to be allowed to drive a vehicle again, you need a new valid driving licence and/or a health certificate.

Suspension of the right to drive is not the absence of the right to drive, but a temporary ban on driving a vehicle. The Transport Administration suspends the right to drive a motor vehicle when the health of the driver does not meet the established health requirements. A court suspends the right to drive a motor vehicle pursuant to clause § 177² (1) 2 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure (child maintenance debt). The police suspends the right to drive a motor vehicle for violating traffic regulations.

If you are not sure that your driving licence is valid (e.g. you do not have your licence at hand), then you can check the validity of the driving licence on the homepage of the Transport Administration. Knowing the validity of a driving licence is extremely important because if you have not replaced your driving licence within five years of its expiry, you need to retake the theory and driving tests to restore your right to drive a motor vehicle.

Withdrawal of the right to drive is the principal or a supplementary penalty imposed by a court or an extra-judicial body (the Police and Border Guard Board) for an offence relating to a violation of the requirements of the Road Traffic Act or legislation issued on the basis thereof, which entails the prohibition to drive a vehicle. It is important to remember that a penalty imposed on a person residing in Estonia by the court or an extra-judicial body of a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation, which entails the prohibition of driving a vehicle, is also considered a withdrawal of the right to drive. In Estonia, the starting point of the enforcement of a decision that has entered into force is the entry of the decision in the motor register.

To restore the right to drive, the person must pass a health examination, based on which a new health certificate is issued. For more information on the health certificate, please click here. Once a new health certificate is issued, the right to drive is restored.

Where the right to drive motor vehicles has been withdrawn from a person as the principal or supplementary penalty for at least six months but for no longer than 12 months, the right to drive motor vehicles can be restored when the person successfully passes the theory test. The theory test can also be taken during the period when the right to drive has been revoked as a penalty, but the right to drive in such an event is restored after the expiration of the penalty term.

Where the right to drive motor vehicles has been withdrawn from a person as a principal or supplementary penalty for 12 months or longer, the right to drive motor vehicles can be restored when the person successfully passes the required theory and driving test. The theory test can also be taken during the period when the right to drive has been revoked as a penalty, but no sooner than 12 months before the expiration of the penalty term. The driving test cannot be taken before the expiration of the penalty term.

If the right to drive motor vehicles has been withdrawn for up to six months, the person does not have to pass any tests but they also cannot drive a motor vehicle while the penalty is in force.

Some specific conditions apply to the holders of a provisional driving licence. Where a person who holds a provisional driving licence has been penalised by withdrawing the right to drive a motor vehicle (the duration is not important), their right to drive a motor vehicle and the provisional driving licence issued to them are revoked. Violations warranting this could be, for example, driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated or exceeding the speed limit by over 20 km/h. The right to drive a motor vehicle and a new provisional driving licence may be applied for after completing retraining (järelkoolitus) and a successful passing of the theory test and driving test. The calculation of your driving experience begins again after passing the driving test.

The symbol of a slow vehicle must be mounted close to the left edge or in the middle of the rear side of the following vehicles:

• car, tractor, mobile machinery, combination of vehicles and combination of tractors that is not permitted to ride faster than 40 kilometres per hour;
• four-wheel moped.

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