Ministers in the UK have announced changes to the UK driving test to better prepare learner driving for the modern advancements in motoring.
The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has announced changes to help introduce more “real life scenarios” into driving such as an additional focus on parking and also looking to double the amount of test time for ‘independent driving’ from 10 minutes to 20 minutes. It is hoped that such changes will update what are (thanks to modern innovations in driving) a progressively out-dated highway code.
Such proposed changes have also included the scrapping of redundant guidelines such as the ’10-2′ hand position, and also, there are calls to increase the national speed limit to 80mph.
The RAC Foundation have endorsed the changing saying that updates will provide a “far more realistic assessment” of a driver’s ability.
Also, it is also being proposed that the “show me/tell me” aspect (which occurs at the start of the test) will also incorporate questions while driving so that the assessor can determine how distracted the driver becomes. For example, turning on the heated rear screen. With over half of all UK cars now operating a SAT NAV system, instructors are also going to get drivings to follow a pre-determined route from the navigation system to determine how well the follow the instructions while also maintaining a good standard of driving.
With technology becomes more of an integrated part of driving, we can surely expect more adaptations to driving styles and training necessary to accommodate for this.
