Virtual truckies
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0 t looks like the days of going into an exam and sitting nervously fiddling with your pens and pencils will soon be over, at least for those taking the theory part of the driving test. Following successful trials carried out on more than 1,500 volunteers throughout the country, touch screen technology is being introduced for the 40-minute driving theory exam.
So they can get used to the computer, candidates will go through a dry run with six sample questions, after which they will answer multiple-choice questions by simply touching the screen. The computer has a prompt in case candidates miss out or answer too many questions, and they will get an instant result at the end.
It is thought that this could be the first stage on the road to a virtual test. The Driving Standards Agency has already commissioned work at the Transport Road Research Laboratory on using simulated driving conditions. It is thought that companies training truck drivers will be the first to benefit from this technology. Gordon Court, the DSA's theory test manager, says: "It is very expensive to train a lorry driver—so it could prove costeffective to hold some of the lessons in a simulator."