Learner driving with an electronic parking brake – allowed or not?

In principle, during a learner drive the accompanying person must be able to brake the vehicle immediately in an emergency. This requires either a brake pedal on the passenger side (as in a driving school car) or a fully functional handbrake. The problem: many modern vehicles no longer have mechanical handbrakes, but electronic parking brakes. Did you know that a large proportion of these newer models are not approved for learner drives? 🤯

What is legally required?

The police regularly fine learner drivers and their accompanying persons up to CHF 500 if the electronic parking brake of the learner vehicle does not meet the legal requirements.

According to the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), an electronic parking brake is only approved for learner driving if “its effect is comparable to that of a conventional, manual handbrake.” But what does that actually mean?

Specifically, the electronic parking brake of a learner vehicle must meet the following criteria:

• The handbrake must be easily reachable from the passenger seat while wearing a seat belt.
• The electronic parking brake must function while driving.
• The braking effect must not be interrupted or overridden by the accelerator pedal.
• The handbrake must be adjustable in several stages and must have an anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Important: If your car does not meet one or more of these requirements, neither learner drives nor driving tests are permitted with this vehicle!

Is my handbrake suitable for learner driving?

Unfortunately, there is currently no reliable list of vehicle models that are (not) approved due to their electronic parking brake.

However, with the following three checks, you can easily determine whether a handbrake is suitable for learner driving. These tests must only be carried out by an authorized accompanying person (not by the learner driver) and never on public roads.

Check 1: Position of the handbrake

In many modern cars, the handbrake is located to the left of the driver’s seat or directly on the steering wheel, making it inaccessible to the accompanying person in an emergency.

At the car-sharing cooperative Mobility, this now affects almost every third vehicle. In particular, models from Mercedes and Toyota fall into this category and are therefore strictly prohibited for learner driving.

How to perform the check:

• Check whether the handbrake is located between the driver and the front passenger and is easily reachable from the passenger seat.

✅ If this is the case, continue with Check 2.

❌ If the handbrake is located to the left of the driver’s seat or directly on the steering wheel, learner driving with this vehicle is not permitted.

Check 2: Emergency braking and anti-lock braking system

Some electronic parking brakes do not react at speeds above 6 km/h, while others fully lock the wheels (no ABS), which can cause the vehicle to skid. In Check 2, we therefore verify whether full braking with ABS is possible.

How to perform the check:

• Accelerate the car to about 20 km/h on a large, empty parking lot.

• Release the accelerator pedal and pull and hold the electronic parking brake.

• The wheels must not lock completely; instead, the vehicle must be brought to a stop by several braking impulses (ABS anti-lock braking system).

✅ If Check 2 is successful, Check 3 can be carried out.

❌ If the car does not brake or the wheels lock, no practice drive is allowed with this vehicle.

Check 3: Override and controllability

The third check verifies whether the handbrake is controllable (adjustable) and cannot be overridden by the accelerator pedal.

In practice, it would be disastrous if a learner driver panicked and confused the accelerator and brake pedals, leaving the accompanying person with no control over the vehicle. Among others, newer models from Audi, VW, Toyota and Renault fail this test.

How to perform the check:

• Accelerate the car again to about 20 km/h.

• Release the accelerator pedal and slowly engage the electronic parking brake.

• Immediately press the accelerator pedal again

• The electronic parking brake must override the accelerator pedal. The vehicle must not continue driving.

✅ If Checks 1, 2 and 3 are successful, the tested handbrake meets the legal requirements.

❌ If the car continues to drive despite the engaged handbrake and can be overridden by the accelerator pedal, learner driving with this vehicle is not permitted.