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New rules for driving tests have been set out by the DVSA under its plan to reduce waiting times and help drivers get on the road.<\/p>\n
The agency says it will review and improve the rules for booking driving tests, aiming to make the system more efficient and easier to use. <\/p>\n
The average waiting time in England currently stands at 21 weeks, or just under five months \u2013 but can often reach six months or more.<\/p>\n
The change is just one part of a seven-step plan to bring improvements to the current system. The DVSA has also announced that it will be recruiting 450 driving examiners across the country to improve the availability of tests.<\/p>\n
Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this year indicated that the number of tests taken reached a record level in the 12 months to the end of March, at 1.9 million.<\/p>\n
Learners in England can expect a wait of nearly five months for a driving test (Andrew Matthews\/PA) (PA Wire)The measures will also see an increase to the period for changing or cancelling a test without losing money, in a bid to discourage late cancellations. This period will rise from three to 10 working days.<\/p>\n
This will come alongside changes to the system used by driving instructors to book tests in an attempt to free up more slots, as well as a call for evidence to examine how to prevent candidates being ripped off by third parties buying up slots.<\/p>\n
Lilian Greenwood, minister for the future of roads, said: \u201cPassing your driving test is a life changing opportunity for millions \u2013 but sky-high waiting times for tests in recent years have denied that opportunity to too many people.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one should have to wait six months when they\u2019re ready to pass, travel to the other side of the country to take a driving test or be ripped off by unscrupulous websites just because they can\u2019t afford to wait.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale of the backlog we have inherited is huge, but today\u2019s measures are a crucial step to tackle the long driving test wait times, protect learner drivers from being exploited, and support more people to hit the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
In October a parliamentary debate heard that delays to driving tests had hit trainee paramedics and an aspiring police officer.<\/p>\n
Labour\u2019s Kevin McKenna told MPs that he met a constituent whose daughter was \u201cdesperate\u201d to become a police officer.<\/p>\n
The MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey in Kent said: \u201cShe can\u2019t start a job because she needs to be able to drive for the job, she\u2019ll be working in shifts, all she could find was a driving test months down the line in Birmingham, 150 miles away. She\u2019s one of the luckier constituents in that she could actually find one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailSign up to our free Morning Headlines email I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our\u00a0privacy policy New rules for driving tests have been set out by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n