BBC News | UK | Testing time for drivers

British learner drivers could face a longer driving test on higher-speed roads from spring 1999, the government has announced.

The new-style test could also see the scrapping of such moves as reversing round a corner.

Candidates may also receive a longer post-test discussion of where they went wrong.

The announcement came on Courtesy on the Road Day, when motorway message signs urged drivers to keep calm.

Heavy traffic pose hazards for learners
Congestion: an added test for learners
The planned changes were announced by Roads Minister Baroness Hayman. The Driving Standards Agency will now hold consultations.

"The current test has served us well, but has remained largely unchanged for many years, despite major advances in car design and traffic engineering," said Lady Hayman.

Proposals include:

A longer test than the current 30-40 minutes, which would be designed to assess a driver beyond urban congestion on higher speed roads and, where possible, on dual carriageways

Better feedback to candidates on their test performance

Reducing the emphasis on technical manoeuvres, to enable examiners to observe more of a candidate's driving in a wider range of road and traffic conditions

A totting up system where a string of small errors could mean failing the test.

Lady Hayman said the government was also working on a voluntary log book scheme for learners.

The book would include a recommended syllabus for learning to drive and modules on specific subjects to encourage novice drivers to gain experience of driving condition such as at night, in bad weather and on dual carriageways.

Lady Hayman said: "We cannot stand still. As car design and traffic conditions change, then so, too, do the demands on all of us as drivers.

"We need to consider now how best to prepare new drivers for the challenges that the driving environment produces."


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