THIS IS THE SECTION TITLE.The German Road Safety Council (DVR) - an umbrella organization with a wide range and importance
What is the German Road Safety Council?
It was founded in 1969 with the aim of promoting measures to improve the safety of all road users. The DVR has remained true to its focus. They essentially include questions of human behavior, traffic technology, traffic education and awareness, traffic law and traffic monitoring as well as traffic medicine.
In 2016, the DVR had over 200 member organizations, including such influential representatives as the federal and state ministries responsible for transport. Politics, business and industry are equally represented and interlinked in the umbrella organization. In addition to all federal states, members include large companies such as BMW AG, Volkswagen, Audi and Daimler Benz, but also ADAC, Deutsche Verkehrswacht, AVD, the Bundesverband der Motorradfahrer e. V. and many more.
The work in the German Road Safety Council is supported by six executive committees for adults, vehicle technology, young drivers, children and young people, traffic technology and traffic medicine.
In times of a united Europe, one should know that the DVR is a co-founder of the "European Road Safety Council ETSC", which was founded in 1993.
The training of moderators for motorcyclists is only a smaller area of the DVR's activities in the overall context, but an important one in terms of transport policy.
There are many rumors in the motorcycle scene about the moderator training of the German Road Safety Council, the conditions under which such training can take place and what it costs. In order to shed light on the darkness, I spoke to the head of the practical driving programs of the DVR, Jürgen Bente.
An interview with Jürgen Bente, Head of DVR Unit
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Editorial staff:
Mr. Bente, what is the DVR and what does it stand for in the context of the moderator training for motorcycles? What does it mean to train according to the guidelines of the DRV?
“The German Road Safety Council (DVR) is purely an umbrella organization. The training system of the organization and the associated guidelines can be viewed on the homepage at www.dvr.de/sht. We do not conduct any training courses for motorcyclists ourselves. You cannot book courses for safety training or the like with us.
The DVR designs for its members, that is the affiliated organizations such as associations, clubs or companies, the program development as well as the trainers training and further education as well as quality assurance. I would like to explain exactly how this works with a few examples.
I single out the Deutsche Verkehrswacht, which, as a member and implementer of the DVR, offers training in the motorcycle sector according to the guidelines of the DVR. This means that the traffic watch uses the DVR's QM system (quality management system). What this means in detail can be viewed and downloaded from our homepage. Here are two key data:
No more than 12 participants may be trained at the same time. The trainer must be trained.
So there are formal requirements for such training. We want an open system for the customer. He must be able to read what to expect when he registers for a training session. Among other things, it is mandatory that the provider, in the example Deutsche Verkehrswacht, must have accident insurance and event organizer liability. That means according to the guidelines of the DVR.
The member association, here the Deutsche Verkehrswacht, offers training for motorcyclists, not the DVR itself. The traffic watch has committed itself to the DVR, however, to train according to the guidelines already mentioned here. "
Editorial staff:
Now it becomes clear that the DVR does not train itself, but leaves this exclusively to the clubs, companies and associations that act as members and implementers. But how can someone who is interested in training as a moderator register with you?
“You cannot apply directly to the DVR as a trainer / moderator. This application is made to the so-called converters. These are the members of the umbrella organization. Clubs, companies or associations, in our example the Deutsche Verkehrswacht, which is the largest implementer. There is only a contractual relationship with the implementers, not with the trainers. These in turn are only obliged to the respective implementer. "
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Editorial staff:
In this context, the ADAC comes to mind. Is it also connected to you?
"The ADAC is also affiliated with us, but trains according to the equivalent and content-identical German quality seal. We mutually recognize our training. This means that the ADAC moderators could also work with one of our implementers and vice versa.
In addition to the Deutsche Verkehrswacht, there are also many other implementers. They can be viewed on our homepage. "
Editorial staff:
Perhaps you can give an example of what path a trainer / moderator candidate has to take before he can finally train.
"As already mentioned, the trainers / moderators apply exclusively to the implementers. You choose your own personnel and send them to the DVR for training, which then acts according to the request of the implementer.
We assume that the implementers will make a selection. There are preconditions here. One should have experience in adult education, among other things. The applicant must also have completed a relatively recent first aid course.
If the candidate has been sent to us, he will attend a three-day so-called basic seminar of the DVR, where he will receive methodical and didactic training. The seminar is followed by three observation phases with the implementer. Afterwards, the candidate must complete a two-day technology seminar organized by the DVR in cooperation with the Institute for Two-Wheeler Safety.
Once the participant has completed all of this, he comes to the DVR for a program-specific seminar over a week. This seminar ends with an intermediate examination, which is carried out by an external examiner. The trainee trainer receives the status of an assistant trainer after successfully passing the exam. "
Editorial staff:
And how does the assistant coach become a fully-fledged coach?
"The assistant trainer is allowed to conduct training independently. Ideally together with an experienced trainer. The final examination takes place within one year.
In this exam, an examiner looks at a training day for this assistant trainer. A maximum of two assistant trainers can be tested in one day, each of which must demonstrate at least three hours of training time. So it is not possible that one only moderates and the other leads the course. "
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Editorial staff:
Who is responsible for putting together the groups in which the assistant coaches will be tested?
“The implementers are responsible for putting the groups together. They also register their candidates for examination. It is also not possible for the assistant trainer to act independently as a person. He is always bound to the implementer, in whose name and on behalf of him he acts. "
Editorial staff:
Where do the examiners come from and how are they qualified?
“The auditors come from the DVR's 17-strong team of speakers, who are trained internally but are subject to an annual audit by Dekra. The speakers have to undergo a re-certification every four years. You are therefore subject to permanent review and external control. "
Editorial staff:
That sounds like a long training. How long does it take for an approved moderator training candidate to become a trainer?
"So he should plan a total of two years."
Editorial staff:
If the trainer is finished after two years, what did the training cost him in total?
"That is different. There are implementers who take on the costs of the training. You will also benefit from it later. There are other implementers, so the trainer has to pay for the training himself. The prices are on our homepage and are transparent. The total cost of the training is around 4500 euros. "
Editorial staff:
When the trainer is fully trained, does he have any commitments with you afterwards?
“The trainer does not enter into any obligations with the DVR, only with the implementer.
We have a contract with the implementer stating that they only use trainers who have been trained according to our guidelines and that they oblige their trainers to attend the training courses on a regular basis, as stated in the QM system.
We have a central database with a traffic light system for all trainers. Those who are authorized to conduct training courses are highlighted in green. Anyone who is within a three-month waiting period for further training is shown in yellow.
Anyone who exceeds this time without further training receives the red label and may then no longer be used. "
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Editorial staff:
The implementer or trainer will have to carry out further training and costs.
"The moderator is subject to the mandatory training obligation.Every two years he has to prove two days of advanced training. That costs between 500 and 700 euros. "
Editorial staff:
What happens if the moderator separates from his implementer and wants to carry out training courses on his own responsibility?
“Then he has to look for a new implementer. It doesn't work without it. The trainer is not allowed to conduct trainings privately or as his own company without an implementer. "
Editorial staff:
I heard that you still have to make annual payments if you want to advertise your seal, is that correct?
"No that is not correct. The converters are members of the DVR. Only they are allowed to offer the training. You pay your membership fee,
It's not cheap, though. That's 3900 euros a year. This is not much for large associations, but it is for small clubs.
The DVR does not determine the contribution, it is decided by the members. These include federal states, employers' liability insurance associations and large companies. So we have to start from the acceptance of the contribution amount. "
Editorial staff:
I have one more question. What happens if you advertise that you are training according to your DVR guidelines, but are actually not part of an implementer?
“It must be clear in whose name the training is being carried out. As I said, it must be one of our implementers. The further obligations then result from the contractual relationship between the converter and the DVR.
If the provider is not an implementer and we become aware of this fact of unauthorized advertising, he will be warned by a lawyer. We are only legally protected by a legal warning and cannot be made liable by duped course participants, for example, for uninsured consequences of an accident during training. "
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Editorial staff:
Is it sufficient for an implementer to train a trainer with you, who then passes on his knowledge via the multiplier, or do all of the implementers' trainers have to be appropriately qualified?
"No, all trainers have to be qualified accordingly."
Editorial staff:
Does the DVR also train moderators for motorcyclists?
“No, the DVR doesn't do that. The training courses are funded by the German statutory accident insurance, namely by preventing accidents on business trips. This is a preventive approach. The professional associations / accident insurance companies are responsible for this. You can say that 60% of all training courses in Germany are subsidized. We have to justify ourselves. Driving a team is a hobby. That has nothing to do with official channels of accident prevention. We do not have motorhome or caravan training courses. None of this is professional. Some implementers offer something like this. But this is not an official DVR program. "
Editorial staff:
Do you know an implementer who offers team training?
“I don't know any implementer who offers team training. The easiest way would be to contact the IFZ. There is a page on which all trainings in Germany are listed, also for trailer drivers. There are also training courses that are not subsidized by the employers' liability insurance association. The file is current for the year. In this way, you can also search for a local training course on the Internet by postcode. "
Editor: Is it possible for a club or association to proceed in two directions, that is to say that you have trainers as well as train your own trainers and have them work?
"In principle, that works. But then it must also be clearly separated from each other in advertising."
Editor: So a club can say: on the one hand we have trainers who are trained according to DVR guidelines, but on the other hand we also have other trainers.
"Yes. But that must be strictly separated.
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And, what is very important in view of the fact that 60%
the training are subsidized, the club or association is then not allowed to settle accounts with a professional association. That is the great danger. That must be entirely from the advertising appearance here
be clearly separated from each other.
I know one case from a driving instructor training facility in Baden-Württemberg that offers a one-week training course for motorcycle trainers. The graduates of this training called me and asked for a DVR card. Of course that doesn't work. "
Editor: Can one of your movers also drive two tracks?
“That was also done once by an implementer, namely the Federal Association of Motorcyclists. They are founding members of the DVR. In the past you trained your own trainers for years.
This has led to disharmonies in the implementing group. According to the other implementers, it cannot be that one implementer makes two different offers, one cheap variant and another. But that's an internal discussion.
Such a double procedure is not in the sense of the DVR. But it cannot be banned. Everyone is responsible for themselves. It is only important that there is a strict separation. A quality claim must then not be presented to the outside world. It's difficult when everything is under the same flag. But in principle, the term driver training is not protected in Germany. Anyone can offer that. But it must not be said that this is done according to DVR guidelines. "
Editor: If DVR guidelines are used for advertising, this may only refer to training that is also carried out by DVR-trained trainers.
"I agree. No other procedure is permitted.
However, we cannot prohibit any member from doing business just because he is a DVR member. The
would not work under antitrust law. Anyone can offer training.
The Federal Association of Motorcyclists has pursued a two-pronged approach in the past. But there is now a new speaker for driver safety training. I spoke to him about eight weeks ago. He wants to put everything back on its feet again. BVDM's own training should
dropped
will. He just wants to work with the DVR.
That is also better for the customer. I find it disadvantageous because an outsider who is not involved in the scene cannot understand this separation. He books a training session. And he thinks, if he also looks at the provider's website, that good training is provided according to DVR guidelines. And then he gets put in front of some trainer who has completed rapid training. In my sense, such a procedure is not, even if we cannot prohibit it for the purpose of the association.But the BVDM is the only one who has ever done something like this in the past. "
Editorial staff:
Mr Bente, thank you for the informative interview. You have helped clear up many rumors and misrepresentations.
Text: Günter Heumann-Storp
Images: DVR Copyright
Images: DVR Copyright