High-tech overhaul for Britain’s driving test

LONDON—Learnerdrivers in Britain will have to show they can use satellite navigation devices as part of their official driving tests, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency announced on Saturday.

The test is undergoing one of its biggest changes since its introduction in 1934, with around 1.6 million rookie drivers a year taking it.

Changes being introduced from December 4 will include learners following directions using a navigation device and testing different maneuvers.

“The changes are designed to make sure new drivers have the skills they’ll need to help them through a lifetime of safe driving,” said a spokesman for DVSA.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “Britain’s roads are among the safest in the world. However, road collisions are the biggest killer of young people.

“These changes will help us to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads and equip new drivers with the skill they need to use our roads safely.”

The DVSA’s chief executive Gareth Llewellyn said: “It’s vital that the driving test keeps up to date with new vehicle technology and the areas where new drivers face the greatest risk once they’ve passed their test.”

The new test will also double to 20 minutes the amount of time spent driving without turn-by-turn directions from the driving examiner, with the whole road test taking an average 40 minutes.

Learners will have to follow a route from a device supplied for the driving test by the examiner.

Two of the features of the test dreaded by many learners, “reversing around a corner” and “turn-in-the-road maneuver,” commonly known as a “three point turn” will no longer be tested. But DVSA said they should still be taught to learners during lessons.