The move comes as figures suggest more than half of motorists now use sat-navs.
Advertisement
Around 1.6 million tests are administered every year, and in the past five years three per cent of reported road accidents involved driver inexperience as a factor.
The new test is created to better reflect real-life driving and are aimed at reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads, as well as ensuring safer drivers and journeys.
Figures from the road safety charity Brake show that a quarter of all newly qualified 18-24 year olds crash within two years of passing the test, while new drivers are also a third more likely to be involved in a fatal auto crash than more experienced road users.
Significant changes to the UK’s driving tests are now under trial, as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) looks to prepare new road users for the 21st century-and sat-navs feature prominently.
“Making sure the test better assesses a driver’s ability to drive safely and independently is part of our strategy to help every driver through a lifetime of safe driving”.
The changes are created to help reduce the number of collisions on higher-risk roads. The 6-week consultation starts today and closes on 25 August 2016.
DVSA chief driving examiner, Lesley Young, said: “Candidates will be given more responsibility for making decisions during the test”.
The changes have been trialled for a year with more than 4,500 learners and 850 instructors in 32 locations, and will be introduced following a six-week consultation.
“The new approach will be deemed a success if, in the longer term, it produces better-prepared drivers and we experience fewer road casualties”. This is the time in a test where the driver follows traffic signs, verbal directions, or a combination of both. “We have already had positive feedback from our instructors and their pupils and therefore fully support these proposed changes”.
John Lepine, general manager of The Motor Schools Association of Great Britain, also said the new test would better prepare drivers for the distractions they face on modern roads.
Advertisement
UK Drivers hoping to tear up those L plates will soon need to prove they’re able to use a sat nav before earning a passing grade.
