For the first time in over 20 years, major changes have been made to the driving test… and not everyone’s happy about it, either.
The alterations, which will be introduced by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency from December 4, will see the amount of independent driving time doubled from ten minutes to 20. The examiner will be able to decide whether this will be done with satnav or through using traffic signs.
The inclusion of satnav is itself one of the main new changes to be brought in, with 80% of people doing their test expected to be asked to use one. A standardised TomTom Start 52 model will be used on every test.
There will also be changes to the manoeuvres element of the test, too. Reversing around a corner and turning in the road will no longer be assessed. Instead, one of the following three manoeuvres will be tested:
- parallel park at the side of the road
- park in a bay – either driving in and reversing out, or reversing in and driving out (the examiner will tell you which you have to do)
- pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for 2 car lengths and rejoin the traffic
Finally, the other significant change will be to the ‘show me, tell me’ questions about car safety. While the ‘tell me’ question will still be asked at the beginning of a test, the ‘show me’ question will now be asked during it.
In response to the changes, examiners are launching 48-hour strikes on Monday and Tuesday, with members of the Public and Commercial Services union saying that they are being asked to work for longer with no extra pay.
The video below explains how the new test will work.
