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A tougher driver
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theory test is being welcomed by the Irish road transport industry.
Brendan Nolan reports on why LGV applicants must do more homework.
0 n 21 October, Ireland introduced a revised driver theory test for all classes with the aim of raising driving standards. Applicants now answer 40 questions from a databank of 1,250an increase of 500 over the old list. Those sitting the theory test for Categories C and E (large goods vehicles) face 300 questions relating specifically to truck driving and must pass 35 out of the 40 they are required to answer Driveline.
The changes come following a five-year review of the driver theory test. "The areas for study have been expanded, and the way in which the questions are presented has been changed," says Garrett Sherry, director of the Driver Theory Testing Service.
"It's certainly going to be more difficult. and candidates will have to be more prepared but it is still straightforward. It's a question of ensuring you study the hook or CD in advance and how you are prepared for it," he says. "The idea is to raise standards, especially on the professional side and improve road safety."
Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) spokesman Ji mmy Quinn welcomes the changes, and does not believe they will deter new drivers from entering the industry: "If they improve the standard of driving, so much the better. We should embrace training in general to reduce accidents. Unfortunately, a truck driver can be confronted with an inexperienced 17-year-old motorist in a car at a roundabout who has been taught bad habits by somebody else."
Professional driver training in general should be conducted in a more structured way,with a log card for young drivers and supervised training in the workplace, says Quinn. The IRHA is in discussions with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) on driver training in the future.
The European Union's CompulsoryTraining Directive will be enacted for LGV drivers in 2009 and has at its centrepiece a more complex driving test. set to last up to six hours, including four hours of theory tests and case studies.The present l_CiV roadtest lasts up to an hour.
Details of how this directive will affect Irish operators are the subject of discussion between hauliers and the RSA's chief executive, Noel Brett. A public consultation document will be published before the end of 2006.
Meanwhile, Sherry says: "Drivers passing the current revised theory test will be betterinformed people who have demonstrated they know and understand basic rules and safety considerations and will make a positive contribution towards road safely."
Additional questions have been created and they are now in a different format. "For example. where there were three possible answers, now there are up to five," says Sherry. "It's all within the same topic area,but there are more questions and different formats."
Graphics will be used of specific traffic situations. and some tachograph images will be presented as part of questions.
Road layouts have changed since the theory test was introduced five years ago. The introduction of tunnels and new road systems. and the expansion of the motorway network with specific speed limits for trucks have fed into the updating and revision of the theory test.
Sherry does not foresee poorer test rates, as long as drivers prepare well. "The pass rate is around 80% anyway and even some of the other 20% could be marginal failures," he says. A test book and CD are available in shops, and a candidate can practice on computer, using the CD which simulates real-life situations."And it picks the questions at random, so you can use the whole databank as you would in a normal test," says Sherry. •