DRIVERS MUST USE SATNAV TO PASS TEST

Three-point turns and reversing round corners are axed, but in huge shake-up...

LEARNERS will have to show they can use a satnav in a shake- up of the driving test.

Rather than reading road signs, they will be expected to follow directions from a device on the dashboard. But critics warned the move was a safety risk because it could increase motorists’ dependence on their satnavs.

Studies have found drivers ‘switch off’ parts of their brain when the devices are on. The change to the practical driving test is one of several announced today in the biggest overhaul for more than 20 years.

Learners will no longer do a three-point turn in the road or reverse around a corner. Instead, they will park in a bay

and reverse out as if they were ‘in a B&Q car park’. Ministers said the changes were designed to modernise the test and cut the number of accidents on the roads.

Last night, however, AA president Edmund King said every driver should have to take the traditional ‘ follow signs’ element of the test without the help of a navigation device.

He added: ‘ Following signs is a stricter test of a driver’s skill than satnav. They have to be very observant, ask themselves where they need to position themselves, and prepare to turn or avoid a bus lane.

‘We’ve had plenty of cases where people go down one-way streets because the satnav is not up to date or road layout has changed. When satnav goes wrong, people can get really stuck.

‘There’s a risk of becoming over dependent on satnav. It tells you to turn left or turn right at a junction. But when you follow signs, you have to be mentally, physically and psychologically alert.’

The new test, to be used from December 4, follows a two-year consultation and trials with thousands of drivers.

Other key changes include novices having to carry out safety manoeuvres – such as switching on the rear window heater – while driving instead of before the test.

The ‘ independent driving’ section will also be increased from ten to 20 minutes.

Instead of focusing on slow speed manoeuvres in quiet roads, the changes will allow examiners to assess the learners’ ability in busier areas, where new drivers have more crashes, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said.

The practical test will still take about 40 minutes and the £62 cost will stay the same. Currently, learners are told to follow signs to a specific destination while their driving is assessed. But in four out of five of the new tests they will instead follow directions from a satnav along a route set by the instructor.

In the remaining cases, they

‘Stuck down village lanes’

will drive to a destination as before. They will not know in advance which test they face.

Half of drivers own a satnav and the consultation showed widespread support for training motorists to use them.

But critics point to studies that have shown the brain is less active when we use satnavs than when we work out the route ourselves.

In 2014 scientists at University College London found that the two areas of the brain thought to be important for navigating – the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus – lit up when volunteers were asked to calculate a route.

Yet when they simply followed instructions, the brain abandoned its calculations.

In 2015 Darren Longden, 37, was killed while sitting in traffic after a lorry whose driver was fiddling with his satnav crashed into his car. Motorists have also been directed by satnavs into fields, while lorries have become stuck after being sent down village lanes. When driving licences were introduced in 1903 no test was needed. Nearly 30 years later, one was brought in – but only for disabled drivers. A test for all was finally introduced in 1934. It became compulsory a year later, with a written theory exam introduced in 1996.

Transport minister Andrew Jones said: ‘ The changes announced today will help reduce the number of people killed or injured on our roads.

‘Ensuring the driving test is relevant in the 21st century, for example the introduction of satnavs, will go a long way towards doing this.’

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: ‘It must be right the test evolves, just as the cars we drive are themselves changing to incorporate ever more technology.’