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Safety men worried about test failures
Page 28
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• Members of the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers expressed concern at their meeting on Wednesday at the high failure rate of drivers taking the heavy goods vehicle driving test. Examples were given of drivers with many years' experience, and after undergoing pre-test training, failing on a number of points.
Mr. J. A. Fazackerley, of the MoT. answered questions about the standard of experience of the driving examiners and whether they were sufficiently experienced to understand the difficulties of manoeuvring large vehicles, especially maximum-length articulated types, in congested areas and on narrow roads. He assured the meeting that, first, all examiners were carefully and extensively trained to understand these problems and also to observe and make some allowance for test nerves.
The overriding factor at all times, Mr. Fazackerley emphasized, was one of safety. A possible explanation for experienced drivers failing the test was because of bad habits incorporated in their normal driving and, in the case of trained drivers repeatedly failing, this should be overcome by instructors being fully aware of the requirements of the test.
Mr. Fazackerley was asked why drivers who failed were not given exact details of the reasons for failure. This practice, he said, was dropped many years ago because of the argument which might arise in the case of disagreement. Any driver, however, had the right to apply to the area certifying examiner for these details.
When asked about drivers knowing the test route so that they could practise, Mr. Fazackerley said that while details were not published they were certainly not kept secret. Anybody could discover the routes and practise on them, but training on a specific route just to pass the test was not the real object of the legislation, which was to improve the overall standard of driving.