Sir, – The average national pass rate for the driving test in 2018 was 52.49 per cent.
A system which fails almost half of those being tested is not working efficiently. Either the number of compulsory lessons is insufficient, or the quality of instruction is not good enough, or both. One unintended consequence of this high failure rate is that many learner drivers drive unaccompanied, and thus uninsured.
In order to improve driving skills in the long-term and ease the pandemic-created backlog for driving tests in the short term, why not increase the number of compulsory lessons to 20, include night-time and motorway experience as part of the training, and then allow instructors to make a professional judgment on their students’ ability to drive unaccompanied.
Instructors naturally have a far better understanding of their students’ driving ability than any examiner could realistically be expected to have after spending just 25 minutes in a car with a stressed stranger.
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Random testing of just one in 10 novice drivers deemed proficient by their instructors would ensure standards are kept, and solve the problem of unacceptable waiting times for driving tests.
The test becomes an assessment of the instructors’ teaching ability and judgment, and any instructor found to be passing students who were not ready to drive unaccompanied would face serious sanctions. If a learner driver failed to meet the standards, they would be fast-tracked for another free test, and offered additional lessons at a subsidised price. The instructor would have to justify his or her original assessment. – Yours, etc,
DAVID HARE,
Caherdaniel,
Co Kerry.