Driving tests are being given a modern-day makeover with learner drivers having to show they can safely use a sat nav.
As well as this technological update, the independent driving section of the test will double in length to 20 minutes.
Remember when you had to reverse around a corner? Yes, it was useless then and it’s still useless now. So the good news is they’ve finally listened and decided to scrap it as a manoeuvre.
That useless manoeuvre will be replaced with more useful everyday situations like driving into a parking bay.
Transport minister Andrew Jones said:
We have some of the safest roads in the world but we are always looking to make them safer.
These changes announced today will help reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads and equip new drivers with the skills they need to use our roads safely.
Ensuring the driving test is relevant in the 21st century, for example the introduction of sat navs, will go a long way towards doing this.
About 50 per cent of car drivers own a sat nav, and plenty more will use Google maps on their phone, and the DVSA (we checked, not the DVLA) chief executive Gareth Llewellyn said it is ‘vital that the driving test keeps up to date with the new vehicle technology and the areas where new drivers face the greatest risk once they’ve passed their test’.
The first driving test was taken in 1935 and though it has evolved since then, it needs to be updated at the speed of technological change.
Road accidents account for over a quarter of all deaths of those aged between 15 and 19, making it the biggest killer of young people.
Specifically, other things that will be changing are the ‘show me’ question will take place on the move instead of at the beginning.
Candidates will have to use the sat navs provided by the instructor and the pass mark is staying the same (no more than 15 faults with no majors).
People say you never drive like you did in your test, and the AA president believed the new test can ‘better prepare them for real-world driving’.
The new driving test, which will remain the same duration, will come into play from December 4 this year.
