‘IMPROVEMENTS’ to Theory Test
Yes folks – you guessed it! The theory test is changing – AGAIN!!!
Learner Drivers Face New Theory Test Questions
• DSA introduces case studies into the theory test
• Candidates to be tested on understanding as well as knowledge
• Case studies are widely used in education to put learning into context
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) will start to introduce case studies into the driving theory test from the end of this month, it has announced today. From 28 September 2009, one case study will be included in the exam for car drivers, moped and motorcycle riders.
As part of the multiple choice section of the test, the case study will assess candidates’ understanding of driving theory, whilst the multiple choice questions will continue to assess their knowledge of the subject.
The introductory theory test case study will take the form of a scenario, or short story, on which five questions will be based. Candidates will answer the questions in the same way as they do now, using either the touch screen or mouse.
DSA’s Director of Driver Education and Learning, Jill Lewis, said: “Case studies are widely used in education to put learning into context and test comprehension of a subject, so many candidates will have encountered this type of question before.
“Initially we are introducing one case study based on existing questions in the theory test question bank, to get candidates used to the concept. It will also allow us to monitor any impact on the theory test. Over time, we plan to introduce more case studies into the theory test to assess candidates’ understanding of what they have learned.”
Changes to the theory test are part of Learning to Drive, a long-term programme of major reforms that will progressively strengthen the way that people learn to drive and are tested. This approach received general support from the almost 7,000 people who responded to the consultation.
Driver Training & Lessons – Liverpool North West
With a wide network of in-house trained Department for Transport Approved Driving Instructors at Grade 5 or above throughout Merseyside, we can provide a variety of structured training specifically designed to suit the different needs of the entire range of pre and post-test drivers. Our objective is to provide high quality training that reflects the needs and aspirations of each individual candidate. Instead of the usual ‘one size fits all’ approach to driving instruction, we tailor our tuition to the individual. People learn best when the experience is interesting and fun. We want our candidates to enjoy learning which results in safer and more competent drivers.Poor driver behaviour is the cause of 95% of car crashes: Directions’ tuition and coaching is based on the belief that behaviour and attitude are as important as skills. We can provide the training you need including:
- Driver training and lessons liverpool
- ADI Driving Instructor Training parts 1, 2 & 3
- ADI check test training
- NVQ Assessments
- Novice Driver Training
- Advanced driver Training
- Fleet & Defensive Driver Training
Costs and prices for all budgets Our tuition costs are competitively priced across Merseyside, the North West and UK. There are very few driver training schools that are able to deliver you such quality training across so many driving disciplines. We also add value to your driving tuition costs because we can provide many of the extra resources you’ll need through this website, saving you time and money, whilst you get to concentrate on your individual training programme.
Learning to Drive – Consultation
Finally, major changes to the driving test and the driver learning process, including a star-rating system for instructors, have been proposed by the Government.
Aimed at reducing the high accident rate among young drivers, the proposals, which will now be consulted on, could see changes in place within two to three years.
Announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, the plans include an improved driving test which will require candidates to demonstrate independent driving skills and a clear understanding of different situations on the roads.
The star-rating system for instructors will give learners an informed choice based on pass rates.
The proposals also include a foundation course in safe road use for under 17-year-olds, which will be piloted in schools and colleges in Scotland from this Autumn. This will lead to a qualification that will be available across Britain.
The driving test will be revised to place less emphasis on mechanical manoeuvres. For example drivers could be asked to find their way to a specific point during the test.
Get Involved
So that members of the public have everything they need to join in the consultation the DSA have published a wide range of information and created a number of feedback mechanisms. You have from now until 8th September 2008 (when the public consultation closes) to get involved.
A special Learning to Drive consultation web site has been setup, have your say and get involved here
YOUNG DRIVERS TRAIN FOR SUCCESS
Scheme offers hope for improving road safety
Nine young people received an award on Saturday (7th February) after successfully completing a pioneering road safety driving course aimed at giving over 16’s the opportunity to learn more about road safety and responsibility and also to gain experience of vehicle control off the public highway, in a safe and controlled environment.
With over 233 road collisions across Liverpool in 2007 involving 16-24 year olds, the course has been aimed at reducing this figure in years to come. The scheme has been developed by Knowsley based Directions Driver Training, in a joint venture with Liverpool Youth Service. The group of 16 – 21 year olds have been undertaking a combination of theory workshops and in-car training sessions over several weeks.
Tina Preston, Head of Training at Directions Driver Training who has been working on the project for a year said, “By helping young people to understand where, why and how they are at risk, and giving them some practical skills to cope on today’s busy roads, they are less likely to become involved in a road collision. We are encouraging them to take responsibility for their attitudes and resultant behaviour, and giving them a viable alternative.”
Local businesses have also backed this innovative approach to tackling what is a growing problem, by helping to get the scheme off the ground. Jaguar at Halewood allowed Directions Driver Training to develop the student’s car control skills on their private land and Morrisons kindly provided use of their new training room at their popular Speke supermarket. Neil McCarthey, Store Manager commented, “We are pleased to be able to offer our support and improve the opportunities for young people in Liverpool. It’s great to see their enthusiasm for learning new skills and responsibilities.”
A further course is already underway giving young people in Speke something interesting and extremely useful to put their energies into. Carole Darnell, Senior Youth Worker at Parklands, Speke, commented, “We can see that the course will engage 16year olds and older in something that interests them. This training scheme gives them important skills as well as building their confidence.”
Setting the standard?
Having read a recent press release from the Driving Standard Agency (DSA) one couldn’t help wonder why only ‘new drivers’ are targeted when it comes to death & serious injury in road related incidents. Sensibly the Agency is advising newly-qualified drivers to take up a course aimed to producing safer drivers, helping to reduce road deaths and injuries in the process.
DSA Chief Executive Rosemary Thew was quoted in the press release as saying that “one in five deaths on British roads involves newly-qualified drivers”. We agree this figure makes grim reading and this is the perfect time of year to drive in typical British weather; but I feel we may be missing the bigger picture. These figures are also saying that four out of every five deaths on British roads each year involve experienced drivers, yet what is being done to promote ‘safe driving for life?’ I appreciate that newly qualified drivers make up only a small percentage of all drivers and that they are over represented in KSI statistics, but what example are novice drivers being set by these supposedly better qualified drivers?
Older, not wiser
Only the other day I was following a driver displaying P-plates, who was obeying the 20mph speed limit, along a road containing a series of blind summits, hidden junctions and a continuous white line system. A following 4×4, driven by a well dressed middle-aged gentleman, decided to overtake the pair of us, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic, while on the wrong side of the carriageway, before cutting up in front of us while braking sharply, down to avoid setting off a safety camera. One could argue that just because the gentleman was driving a 4×4 and well dressed doesn’t necessarily mean he was an experienced driver; but how often have you heard drivers say “If I took my driving test again I know I wouldn’t pass,” and then offer you a lift home? It is as if they take great pleasure from being incompetent.
How many electricians do you hear say “If I wired up a house today it would probably burn down,” and then give you a quote? If you take some time to look at the drivers, who block junctions, break speed limits or drive dangerously, it is generally not the ‘at risk’ age groups. If we want newly qualified drivers to act responsibly they have to see responsible driving as the norm. we spend too much time stereotyping sections of the driving public and focusing on what they do badly rather than promoting what they are doing competently. For example: we tend to label older drivers as ‘dithery and always driving up motorways the wrong way’ and youngsters as ‘hooligans with no respect for anyone other than themselves’.
Pass Plus vs advanced
If you consider that around 11 per cent of new drivers take up Pass Plus, which some may see as disappointing, and then compare this figure with the number of drivers as a whole who undertake an advanced driving test each year, you will find those taking Pass Plus outweigh the advanced candidates by almost ten to one. Those people taking Pass Plus are to be congratulated rather than tarred with the same brush. Presentations have been made to shock youngsters into developing safer attitudes or planning what might happen to them once they lose their licence. All of which contain sound advice and do make them think; but all of the time they see other people getting away with bad driving it is hard to convince them that they could end up the same way as those unfortunate people in the presentations.
Setting the standard
As in many countries experienced drivers set their own highway code and decide on what rules they wish to break. The current ‘Think’ campaign has helped to bring the subject of road safety into the public domain, but we do need to build on this positive initiative. In France they are making encouraging progress by labelling dangerous driving as ‘road violence’. Gradually it is becoming socially irresponsible to speed and this is already having a knock on effect for less experienced drivers. Recent partnerships between DIAmond, Lancashire County Council and the Army have seen young soldiers benefit from our ‘Enhanced Driving’ Course. Although many have held their licences for just a few months they respond well to the additional training in exactly the same way as the more experienced drivers. It is noticeable while training, on a ratio of two trainees to one trainer, how the more competent driver can set a positive example. These novices do not want to drive badly – quite the opposite: the majority are responsive and enjoy the experience of tackling new situations.
Learning to drive
As for ‘safe driving for life’, the Learning to Drive consultation document indicated that vocational qualifications would be set up to help employers who feel that the current standards of the driving test do not provide them with the confidence to employ new drivers. Ever since I began to deliver fleet training it became clear there really isn’t a uniform standard for trainers to follow, or a recognised qualification for the poor unwilling company driver who is told “You’re on a driving course tomorrow”. Rewarding drivers with recognised qualifications could be a positive step forward to improving road safety and one that would relieve the ‘duty of care’ burden now placed on employers. Let’s hope that in 2009 we can put as much effort into finding solutions as we have done researching the problems.
Transport Commitee’s Report
The long awaited report from the Transport Committee outlining recommended reforms to the driver licensing system, aimed at tackling the high number of casualties on the roads among young drivers was presented to Parliament and the Media last week.
A radical overhaul has been recommended to the driver training system in the UK, including a mandatory 12-month minimum learning period taken with a qualified A.D.I., a raise in the minimum age of learner drivers to 18 years of age and a rudimentary form of graduated licensing. The proposals were released to the media last week amongst much anticipation and are included in a report entitled Novice Drivers and includes 6 out of 9 recommendations made in a DIA report, Safer Drivers, Safer Roads. If taken up by Parliament, the changes would represent the most radical shake up of the driving training process since the introduction of the driving test itself.
Other recommendations in the report include: a new structured syllabus with hazard perception training; mandatory dual controls for all cars presented for test; an extension of the driving test to include motorway driving; and restrictions on newly qualified drivers (regardless of age) for a 12-month post-test period (e.g. a zero alcohol limit and a prohibition on carrying passengers aged 10 – 20 between the hours of 11pm and 5am.
There have been many unsubstantiated claims and interpretations of the (now) proposed changes but remember – it is not law until passed by Parliament and until that time the current rules still apply!
Despite representing only one in eight licence holders, 17 – 25 year olds are involved in a third of all deaths on UK roads.
Chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee (responsible for the report and its recommendations), Gwyneth Dunwoody MP said, “Bold measures are required to reduce the number of people killed and injured in crashes involving young drivers. Novice drivers are extremely vulnerable and pose considerable risks to their passengers and other road users. Our report recommends a wholesale reform of the driver licensing regulations. Anything less will not address the reality of the risks.
“We cannot continue to waste young lives. The implementation of the measures in this report would go a long way to improve the safety of young and novice drivers, and other road users. The government and the police must ensure that no-one can ignore the licensing system and drive illegally. There may be in excess of a million people driving without a valid license. Enforcing existing traffic law, must be a top priority.”
The Chief Executive of the D.I.A. Eddie Barnaville said, “This represents a victory for common sense. The Transport Committee’s report must not be left to gather dust and die like so many young people.”
Read the full report at: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtran.htm.
Changes In The Driving Test
From October 2010 there’ll be a new bit in the practical driving test where you’ll have to chose your own route to a certain place to prove you can drive independently. And the “pre-driver qualification” will be rolled out in schools and colleges around the UK over the next two years. This three month course is optional but if you pass you’ll be able to do a shorter theory test. Lessons will cover drink-driving and how to be a safe passenger, but there’ll be hands-on stuff too- like how to top up the oil and make sure your tyres are safe.
More about “pre-driver qualification.”
Steve Garrod, chief examiner for the Driving Instructors Association, discusses the proposed changes on the BBC radio 4 programme. Listen
