Car manufacturers are increasingly offering drivers more and more high tech conveniences in new vehicles. Touch screens have firmly taken up residence in new cars, and so has Bluetooth; the impact of smart phone technology upon the motor industry simply cannot be underestimated. Who would have thought that Bluetooth would also be put to fraudulent use in a driving context but it has been and that is giving the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency [DVSA] serious cause for concern.
Almost unbelievably new prospective drivers are using Bluetooth technology to cheat in driving theory tests. Things are getting so bad in some test centres that the DVSA is to install CCTV cameras in test centres in a bid to catch offenders after a 50% rise in suspected cases of fraud in the past year. How do the cheaters do it, you may ask? It seems they typically use a miniature ear piece which is linked via Bluetooth to a concealed mobile phone which, in turn, is connected to a third party sat somewhere outside the test centre who’s either extremely knowledgeable about the Highway Code or has ready access to a copy with all the answers in.
Invigilators at test centres are becoming adept at spotting these cheats and one can well understand why. There must be a degree of odd behaviour by the cheats which sets them apart from honest candidates and maybe some mumbling the questions in order that the co-conspirator can hear what’s needed for the answers. One individual from Sheffield was recently sentenced to four months in jail for fraud after having a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone stuffed in his sock during a theory test.
The problem is growing and from a figure of 308 frauds in 2015 the numbers in the past year have climbed to 467 cases.
Of course the theory test is but one part of the overall driving test but all drivers should be concerned that there are increasing numbers prepared to go to any lengths to get that driving licence by fair means or foul.
And the cheats? Well if they’re caught, like a Zaid Sultan from Sheffield, then it is more than likely that the only road they will be taking will be the one leading them direct to prison.
