Driving tests set for 21st century revamp
2 minute read | July 25, 2016
First up on the list of ideas is to ditch reading road signs in favour of following directions on a sat nav. Before the masses become enraged at the prospect of new drivers failing to understand road signs, you’re not about to see a school of drivers going the wrong way up a one-way side street.
Instead, learners will be expected to focus and multitask as they listen to the directions of the sat nav while traversing busy roads. What better way to think on your feet than the sat nav telling you to turn right and realising the next right is a newly built car park for a Tesco Express.
Next up for the chop is the always interesting reversing around a corner. This is to be dropped in favour of reversing out of a parking bay. There aren’t many situations where you would expect to blindly reverse around a corner, unless you planned on robbing a bank or being cast in the next Fast and Furious film.
With most people making frequent use of parking bays, and said bay spaces becoming smaller and smaller, it is refreshing to see this change being introduced. The next logical step would be to park equidistant to the white lines and making sure you have paid for your parking before attempting to exit the multi-storey.
Independent driving will also be upped from 10 minutes to 20 minutes. There’s no funny retort here, just cold hard facts.
The changes have been trialled in more than 32 locations across Britain with more than 4,500 learner drivers. Pass rates have not been released for these trials, as they are still ongoing. They are expected to be released following their conclusion at the end of 2016.
The DVSA has published a consultation open until 11:45pm on the 25th August 2016 for people to get involved and have their say. Although, I can only assume that those with anything negative to say about the changes are people who perceive them as making the test easier.
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