Testing times as pandemic puts the brakes on driving
MADDY Dhesi got soaking wet doing her driving test. The rule was that you had to have the window wound down, but it was raining, hard, and the inevitable happened.
She also suffers from tinnitus, so the extra noise from the open window also caused her problems.
And Maddy is not alone in having a learning and driving test pandemic nightmare, as people across Wales struggle to get lessons, tests and complete everything within a fast enough timeline.
Multiple lockdowns and restrictions inbetween have made life extra difficult for people trying to pass their test, and led to big backlogs in trying to book one.
Just 2.97 million people aged 16 to 25 in Great Britain hold a full licence, down from 3.32 million in March 2020 and the lowest number in records dating back to 2012, when there were 3.42 million.
Maddy, 18, from Wrexham, believes she would have passed her test sooner if it wasn’t for the pandemic.
She has been trying to get a full licence before she starts university in Glasgow. But her first driving lesson was booked on the day that Boris Johnson announced the first lockdown.
She said she started her lessons as soon as restrictions were lifted in July last year and ended up having around five lessons a week.
“Because I did so many so fast, I had my first test in July or August last year and failed that one,” she said. “I definitely failed the test because I was freaked out by the test scenario and hadn’t really acclimated to it.”
After the most recent lockdown, Maddy re-started her lessons in May this year and has her next test in a few weeks.
“I’m a lot calmer re-starting, but there’s also the thought of ‘if I don’t get it this time’... I could have passed so quickly, in a normal amount of time, with a normal amount of money, but because of coronavirus, I’ve had to spend lots of money in short periods of time and it may not even come to fruition,” she said.
Maddy said driving tests under lockdown conditions had been “unpleasant.”
“In the test, you have the windows open. I have tinnitus so it puts a lot of pressure on my ears, because when you go fast it obviously gets a bit loud. At one point in my test, we were on the dual carriageway, and it was pouring it down. I was literally getting soaked.”
She believes that due to the pandemic, she has had to have more lessons than she normally would have.
“Obviously it’s not the worst experience in the world, but it has genuinely felt like it’s never going to come to fruition.”
After the latest lockdown, driving lessons in Wales resumed on April 12 with driving tests resuming 10 days later. But some learners, like Aled Llyr Griffiths, are struggling to book their tests due to a backlog.
Aled, 27, started learning to drive in November and booked onto an intensive course as he said his inability to drive was affecting his work.
He is a freelancer working in film as well as a full-time graphics assistant.
“Because I couldn’t drive, I wasn’t getting work, so I thought, ‘right, I’ll take a week off work and do one of those intensive courses’’,” Aled said.
While he said he found an intensive course in Cardiff easy, being able to pass his test had been a different experience.
“There was a mix-up with the dates and they scheduled my test for halfway through the week’s intensive course, so I had to wait a little longer for that. But then the second wave hit and everything was locked down with massively short notice.”
Aled has now picked up driving again, but due to working long hours says he’s finding it hard to fit in lessons.
His theory test also expires at the end of this month, meaning that if Aled doesn’t pass his practical test before then, he will have to sit the theory again.
Theory test certificates last two years and, if an individual doesn’t pass their practical test within this timeframe, the certificate expires.
Despite the disruption, the DVSA is not extending theory test certificates.
A spokesperson said: “DVSA’s priority is helping everyone through a lifetime of safe driving.
“Ensuring new drivers have current, relevant knowledge and skills to identify developing hazards is a vital part of the training for young and new drivers, who are disproportionately represented in casualty statistics.
“To ensure their safety, the government has decided not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.”
But Aled thought that was wrong. “The majority of the last year we haven’t been able to drive so I think it’s a bit ridiculous that they’re not willing to postpone the deadlines or anything,” he added. “My test has been paid for and booked, but there’s such a massive backlog it’s looking likely that I’ll have to get a cancellation spot.
“My instructor said it’s likely that we’ll get a cancellation spot, so it might be a case of you’ll have to be flexible enough, where it’s a case of they’ll call you and say, ‘your test is tomorrow at eight.’”
And due to his workig hours, Aled said it would be difficult to take time off last-minute to do a test.
He said a friend who was also learning to drive was unable to book their test until September.
“I’m test ready now. It’s just a case of there being a date that’s suitable. I think I’ve been test ready for about a month, there’s just such a massive backlog,” he added.
According to the DVSA, the average waiting time for a test in Britain is under 14 weeks.
The booking system currently allows bookings up to the beginning of December 2021.
As someone who has been learning to drive myself during the pandemic, both Aled and Maddy’s experiences ring true.
After putting off learning to drive due to exams, being away at university, and then moving to London for a few years, it wasn’t until I returned to Wales at the end of 2019 that I seriously started looking for lessons.
Then, a few months later, we went into the first lockdown.
Since starting with an instructor in October, I’ve only been able to have five lessons – partly due to the various lockdowns in Wales and partly due to an instructor cancelling some of my lessons.
Last month, I decided to look for instructors in Cardiff who would be more readily available. I added my name to waiting lists and either didn’t hear back, or was told that instructors were fully booked and that they’d let me know when one became available.
For some sense of certainty, I booked an instructor who was next available at the end of September.
Driving instructor Stephen Griffiths has more than 27 years of experience and runs Steve’s School of Motoring in Cardiff.
He said that, coming out of lockdown, “the phones really started to ring” with enquiries about driving lessons.
“I’ve even got people phoning me from the Valleys saying, ‘we’ll come down to Cardiff to have driving lessons,’” he said.
“The biggest problem you have with driving at the moment is booking a test. What the DVSA are doing at the moment is, if they haven’t got
spaces, they put you on hold.
“So, when you’re on hold, you either wait and they come back to you or you keep looking through their service until you find a date or you have a refund, which is not very good for a pupil who wants to get their licence.”
Mr Griffiths said that what he suggested to his pupils was to book a test anywhere in the UK just to get one.
“Doesn’t mean to say that we’re going to go to London or Birmingham to do a test,” he continued.
“What we do then, basically, we download an app, say Testi or Driving Scouts, and then look for a cancellation in Cardiff. And that’s the only way we’re moving.”
Mr Griffiths said a test centre manager told him that some of the retired examiners would come back to solve the issue, but that they would need to pass an assessment beforehand.
“I think the only solution to the problem is to extend the hours from Monday to Friday and to bring weekends into play to get the list down,” he continued.
Mr Griffiths said he had to give the pupils who missed their tests during the pandemic priority, but that some required extra lessons to “blow the rust off”.
“If you can’t book various pupils in, you have to put them on a waiting list,” he said. “If they don’t improve the situation, people who find it not essential to have their licence will put everything on hold.”
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “We are doing all we can to provide as many tests as possible so we can get our services back to normal.
“I know learners will be keen to take their test now, but it is important that candidates are properly prepared and don’t rush to take it.
“With more than half of candidates failing, and demand currently extremely high for tests, learners should take their test only when they are confident they can pass. This will help them to avoid a lengthy wait for a retest and help us by not adding to the backlog of tests.”
The DVSA said its aim was to increase testing whilst maintaining a Covid-secure service for customers and examiners.
Measures to do this include:
■ Offering overtime and annual leave buy back to driving examiners;
■ asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests;
■ inviting recently retired examiners to conduct tests;
■ conducting out of hours testing such as at weekends and on public holidays; and
■ a campaign to recruit an additional 300 examiners
The driving test booking system is live and when new appointments are made available, they are added to the system
From Monday, June 14, the DVSA said it would be increasing the number of tests its examiners in England, Scotland and Wales carried out each day to seven – this is the number carried out before the pandemic.
It said this change would allow it to increase capacity across the national network by an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tests per month.