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Driving Standards Agency figures show 1,605,599 practical driving tests were taken in England, Wales and Scotland in 2010-11, of which 744,044 were passed, a success rate of 46.3%.
Learner drivers were most likely to fail the test for poor observation at junctions (65,988 dangerous and 296,341 serious faults recorded) or bad use of mirrors (32,827 dangerous and 172,945 serious faults).
Many people including business leaders have expressed concern about the standard of new drivers and the fact that they are not fully prepared for the demands of driving on company business. The finger of blame, in many cases, is being pointed at the quality of the training learners receive before attending the DSA test.
Autoglass managing director Matthew Mycock said; "Of course people are going to make mistakes during the course of a test. But it is worrying that so many dangerous or serious errors are happening, not only from the point of view of candidates and examiners but also other road users and pedestrians."( Daily Mail 25/5/2011)
So with a pass rate of just 46.3% what is going wrong?
First let's look at the Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) industry. At this point I should say I am taking a general view and I know there are a lot of good dedicated ADI's.
Most people drift into the industry following a career that, for whatever reason, has ended i.e. redundancy. After handing over the training fee they study the theory and pass the ADI part 1 test, next is the part 2 - the ADI driving test. Having passed the part 2 test, they can now apply for a trainee licence and start teaching learners. The conditions of the trainee licence ensures that the new instructor receives 40 hours of training prior to the issue of the licence and then is either supervised for 20% of the lessons they give, or undergo a further 20 hours of training within the first 3 months. The training must be 25% in vehicle, which means 75% of the training can be classroom based and the instructor doesn't need any qualifications except to have passed part 3 of the ADI test. In my opinion this system is often 'abused' as the training/supervision is in some cases, signed off without it actually being conducted.
So based on what I have said you might think the answer is simple - we need better qualified instructors. But my problem with this conclusion is that there is evidence that shows the pass rate amongst learners that learn to drive with their parents is better than learners who used an Approved Driving Instructor. Surely ADI's (even the not so good ones) have to be better than amateurs?
The reason that those learners that learn with Mum and Dad do better in the test, can only be due to the amount of pre test practice they get. If you learn with Mum and Dad you will probably drive every day and at different times, but if you only learn with an ADI you will get 1 or 2 hours a week, mostly on the same day/time and on the same local roads each lesson.
Now let's look at that pass rate. You have to ask the question; over the last 20 years the DSA have brought in many initiatives to improve the standard of driving. We have seen the recommended syllabus, introduction of the Theory and Hazard Perception tests, changing the test to include higher speed roads etc.... However, the pass rate has remained the same within a percentage every year. Some might say the reason is they have pass rate quotas, the DSA will deny they have quotas and this is true, except they do monitor examiners via their pass rates. If you were an examiner and knew your supervisor would be speaking to you if either you passed or failed too many candidates, wouldn't you ensure your pass rate was within 1 % of the national pass rate?
If we want safer roads and better new drivers driving our company vehicles, we need to look at every aspect of the way we train instructors and learner drivers, and the way the DSA tests both. Unfortunately as the recently launched Strategic Framework for Road Safety shows, this government is only playing lip service to road safety. If you don't agree with me take a look at the document and find any new initiative and before you say the new fixed penalty for careless driving, that will only make money for lawyers. The only real thing that is new is the removal of targets, so the government can't fail.
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