New legislation that puts an end to the mandatory nature of driving schools makes the process of obtaining a driver's license even more flexible
The CNH do Brasil, along with its new rules, is already practically a reality in Brazil. The updated dynamics of obtaining the National Driver’s License has a new application to get the license and carry the document, as well as rules officially published by the National Traffic Council (Contran) in Resolution No. 1,020, of December 1, 2025.
The measure, in addition to putting an end to the mandatory nature of classes in driving schools, makes the process more accessible and flexible. It establishes the end of the obligation of driving schools, free and online theoretical course, regularization of autonomous instructors, among other changes. One of the changes that draws the most attention is the new list of criteria for practical classes and the driving test.
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This is because, especially from the perspective of professionals in the area, the rules have been made too flexible, which can put at risk the training of drivers and road safety in the future. For Roberta Torres, a specialist in traffic education with more than 24 years of studies in the area, the measure is not focused on the training process.
According to the scholar, “the discussion is totally focused on price and a false idea of ‘debureaucratization’. The only thing they are trying to exclude is the mandatory learning part.”
As soon as the CNH do Brasil candidate passes the theoretical test and acquires the Vehicle Learning License, he is released to take practical classes. Before the changes, it was necessary to take 20 hours of driving lessons taught by instructors associated with a driving school.
However, now the workload has decreased drastically, falling to only two class hours that, once completed, allow the student to take the practical test. The new rules also determine that these classes can be taught by:
Candidates who want to can obtain qualification in categories A and B at the same time, just by completing a minimum workload of two hours of practical classes for each category.
In this way, the student can, at his discretion, start practical driving classes by choosing the number of classes he prefers (as long as he takes at least two) and decide whether to hire an autonomous instructor or a driving school. The professional hired for the training may even be replaced at any time.
One of the main modifications provided for by the CNH do Brasil is the permission for instructors to act independently of the Driver Training Centers (CFCs). Anyone who wants to be an official traffic instructor will still have the path made easier, thanks to the new course made available online by the federal government.
This training can be done through the CNH do Brasil app, using a computer or smartphone. This is possible as long as the driver meets the following requirements:
However, the validation made by the government system has flaws, since it was possible to complete the course and obtain a traffic instructor certificate on behalf of a child of only three years old. In addition, according to reports from people who have completed the training process, the modules are completed easily and quickly, and it is possible to receive certification in just one hour.
Despite the course completed with certification, the authorization to exercise the activity depends on registration with the State Traffic Department (Detran). When this body validates the registration, the instructor’s name is included in the list of the Ministry of Transport.
According to Resolution 789/20 of Contran, a rule that governed the rules and standards for obtaining the CNH before the recent changes, the instructor course provided for a workload of 116 class hours. This total included several modules and a limit of 10 class hours per day.
Now, in the digital version, this entire path is replaced by texts that can be read quickly or even ignored. It is enough to get 70% of the questions right in each module to be approved, with immediate issuance of the traffic instructor certificate.
These changes raise concerns about the quality of the professionals who will be teaching classes in traffic.
According to Resolution 1.020/25, “the vehicle used in the practical classes may be made available by the traffic instructor or by the candidate himself”. This can be done as long as some criteria are met.
The old legislation provided that, in addition to the identification of a learning vehicle, a model equipped with brakes and a dual-camshaft clutch was required. But currently this is no longer necessary, opening the door for candidates to use even non-adapted or automatic cars.
In the latter case, the aspiring driver will be able to get a B license in an automatic car and, once he has the CNH in hand, drive a manual car, even if he has never done it before. And there will be no creation of a subcategory for automatic vehicles.
The car only needs to meet the circulation and safety conditions provided for in the CTB and in the complementary rules of Contran. Therefore, according to article 154 of the Traffic Code, there are two options for identifying vehicles:
Vehicles intended for driver training will be identified by a yellow stripe, twenty centimeters wide, painted along the bodywork, at mid-height, with the inscription AUTO-ESCOLA in black.
In the vehicle eventually used for learning, when authorized to serve this purpose, a removable white strip, twenty centimeters wide, with the inscription AUTO-ESCOLA in black, must be affixed along its bodywork, at mid-height.”
This possible change raises concerns especially regarding security. Roberta Torres says that “this is one of the weakest and most irresponsible points of the proposed draft”.
According to the scholar:
Putting an apprentice in a car with an examiner, without the aid of the double brake and clutch command in an examination area with pedestrians, other vehicles and other apprentices is like creating an environment totally conducive to serious accidents, which today we call traffic accidents, especially run-overs.”
The former Resolution 789 of June 2020 provided for the following evaluation process for the CNH practical test:
Article 18. The candidate will be evaluated in the Vehicle Driving Test according to the negative score for faults committed during all stages of the exam, assigning the following score:
– An eliminatory fault: failure;
– A serious fault: three negative points;
– One average fault: two negative points;
– A slight foul: a negative point.”
Therefore, the candidate who committed an eliminatory fault or whose sum of negative points exceeds three was considered to have failed. Thus, to obtain approval, the person can only commit one serious infraction, three light infractions or one medium and one light.
Article 19 of the resolution also lists which are the valid absences for categories B, C, D and E; and in what degrees of severity they fall:
Eliminatory Faults: advancing a traffic light or mandatory stop; advance on the curb; not placing the vehicle in the marked area, in a maximum of three attempts, within the established time; advance on the demarcated marking; driving the wrong way; advance the preferential route; etc.
Serious Faults: disobeying road signs or traffic agents; not observing the rules of overtaking or changing direction; not giving way to pedestrians who are crossing the road; keep the vehicle door open or semi-open during the course of the race; not wearing the seat belt properly; etc.
Medium Faults: execute the course of the test without the handbrake being entirely free; traveling at an inappropriate speed for the conditions of the place; interrupt the operation of the engine, without just reason; make an incorrect conversion; using a horn unnecessarily or in a prohibited place; disengage the vehicle on slopes; etc.
Minor Faults: causing irregular movements in the vehicle, for no reason; not adjusting the rearview mirrors properly; rest the foot on the clutch pedal with the vehicle in gear and moving; starting the vehicle with the traction gear on; etc.
A few months ago , the Secretary of Traffic categorically stated to AutoPapo that the CNH without driving school project would not change the practical tests. However, the vehicle exam was changed by the new rules of the CNH do Brasil.
The candidate will start the test with zero points and, as he commits faults, he will have points added for each traffic violation he commits. To be approved, the aspiring driver must have a maximum score of 10 points.
Each irregularity will be worth one point, which must be multiplied by the weight of the seriousness of the infraction. In practice, the score is equivalent to the weight of the absence, which can range from one to six:
Thus, now the candidate can lose ten points and still be approved, while the previous legislation established only three errors. He may commit a very serious fault and a serious fault (or two medium) and will not fail.
In practice, this means that he will be able to do all this in the exam and still pass:
About this flexibility in the evaluation of the exam, Roberta Torres asks: “what kind of driver will be the candidate who commits very serious infractions and is still approved? What kind of message does this send to the population?”
For her:
This draft is an aberration with no pedagogical foundation and no responsibility for traffic safety. We are going in the opposite direction of what we agreed for the Decade of Action for Road Safety and the commitment to reduce the number of traffic deaths and accidents by 50% by 2030.”
In addition, the failed candidate will be able to make new assessments, without limitation of attempts, until approval, and the second attempt can be scheduled without charging additional fees.
The text also provides for the possibility of modernizing practical tests with electronic monitoring. The tools will help to attest to compliance with the evaluation criteria and support the decision of the examining committee.
In this case, the vehicle driving test commission may carry out the evaluation remotely, provided that access to the necessary information is ensured. In addition, it is the right of the aspiring driver to have access to all the electronic information generated, being able to use it in any contestation of the results.
