subject: Driving Test Changes [print this page] Changes to the driving test were enforced today, with step-by step guidance from examiners scrapped for the first 10 minutes in favour of "independent" driving. Candidates will need to follow a previously shown course and set routes will no longer be displayed for public consumption. Despite this, candidates will still have the ability to ask for reminders and change routes without being failed, said the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).
Road Safety Minister Mike Penning praised the changes, which aim to prepare learners for more realistic scenarios once they have passed their test. Penning said that learning independent driving skills from the beginning of the driving process "will help make new drivers safer".
Peter Rodger, chief examiner of the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) agrees that this is a good step forward. He stated that "all new drivers have to learn that multi-tasking - controlling the car, looking out for hazards and planning ahead while navigating - is an integral part of day-to-day driving".
The change has been criticised as harsh. Candidates can fail with only a handful of minor driving faults, and the length of the test has been extended. There is also speculation that there will be a considerable fall in those passing the driving test, with a senior driving instructor's agreement. However, the test was not developed to make it more difficult but instead to produce a safer generation of young drivers. In fact, instructors were already teaching independent driving prior to the change, and the manoeuvres including in the test will fall from two to one.
The DSA have been accused of missing the public consensus that new drivers still pose the biggest hazard to road safety. More substantial changes to the test, and a longer period of learning have been proposed by the Association of British Insurers. In a poll of 2,500 people, they revealed that 75% wanted a minimum learning period of one year before learners were allowed to take their test. It is believed that this would cut the serious injury and death rate among new drivers.
