The proposed changes to the Driving test to improve road safety

On the 14^th of July the DVSA launched a consultation on changes to the driving test. Lesley Young (the Chief Driving Examiner for DVSA) wants to make changes to the UK’s driving exam format to improve road safety.

The proposals are for:

~The ‘independent driving’ part of the exam to be Increased from 10 to 20 minutes

~Candidates to follow directions on a sat nav instead of following road signs

~More real life scenarios (driving into and reversing out of a parking bay) to replace current manoeuvres such as ‘reverse around a corner’

~Candidates will be asked one of the two vehicle safety questions while the candidate is driving

Chart 9: Casualties by severity and road type, GB: 2015; Source: ‘Reported road casualties in Great Britain: main results 2015’ (Department for Transport)

Young people are one of the most vulnerable road users. Road collisions are the biggest killer of young people.

One in 5 people killed or seriously injured on the roads are in a collision where a car driver is aged between 17 and 24.

Road traffic collisions:

~are the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 24

~account for over a quarter of all deaths of those aged between 15 and 19

Most deaths happen on rural roads. These are roads where the speed limit is 40 mph or faster.

It’s not always possible to use these rural roads in the driving test because:

~driving test routes at the moment rely on good signage for candidates to follow, these don’t always lead to rural or other higher risk roads

~access is needed to side roads and other quieter roads to carry out the current manoeuvres

Lesley wants to make changes to the format of the test so higher risk roads can be used more. She believes the introduction of following directions from a sat nav to open up these types of roads.

DVSA has published a consultation asking for views on the changes. The deadline to have your say is 25 August 2016.

Article by Fiona Pawsey

Fiona has been practicing family law for over 12 years initially as a Legal Executive and then subsequently as a solicitor. Fiona is a trained collaborative solicitor, as well as a Resolution Panel Member. She is experienced in advising clients going through divorce or family breakdown, including financial settlements and disputes over children, in particular complex contact and residence issues. In addition to family law Fiona also deals with litigation, property transactions and residential Conveyancing