Britain toughens driving school test

LONDON: Britain's Driving Standards Agency has decided that it will no longer use pre-published questions, an initiative that is designed to force candidates to think about applying the rules from the Highway Code and interpret the meanings of road signs, rather than learning the answers to questions by rote.

Revision questions for candidates are still contained in books and mobile phone applications published by The Stationary Office (TSO), so learner drivers can still test themselves and assess their progress. The books and apps also include exercises and revision support.

The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) welcomed the changes to the driving theory test, which took effect on Monday.

Steve Garrod, DIA general manager, welcomed the change, saying: “Drivers' knowledge of the Highway Code has been on the decline since the theory test was first introduced in 1996, with very few people ever opening a copy.

"Simply memorising answers to the theory test will not help anyone how to stay safe on increasingly busier roads and in more congested traffic conditions.

“The change is not so much to the test itself, but to the way new drivers learn the theory. It is essential that all new drivers understand how to apply the theory to their driving, to be able to recognise potentially hazardous situations and act accordingly, if they are to avoid becoming another accident statistic.”

Malaysian drivers fare not much better going by the high rate of accidents on local roads.

This has prompted a local transportation expert last August to state that many Malaysian drivers are not fit to drive.

“The driving licence does not stand as testimony to their driving skills," said Prof Abdul Rahim, who is also Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Social, Development and Environmental Studies School head.

“As soon as they get their licence, they start driving.

“They are really not fit enough to drive and just end up a nuisance on the roads.”

He had further said that the only way to overcome such incompetence was by revising the country’s driving school syllabus to produce motorists who not only knew how to drive, but to do so properly.

“Many are not yet ready to drive because they are not even aware if they have the right attitude to be on the road."

Thumbnail: Driving Standards Agency