in There has been a lot of talk about failure
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rates on the hgv driving test. Could you give any figures of these and explain why there should be so many failures?
AWe reported in CM on February 19 that
34 per cent of all hgv driving tests since the start of the scheme had resulted in failure. Up to that time a total of 29,337 tests had been carried out.
Some of the Licensing Authorities in their annual reports to the Secretary of State for the Environment, which were published recently, quoted statistics showing hgv driving test failure rates. In the Northern area the figure was 38 per cent, in Yorkshire 42 per cent, while in the West Midlands 446 candidates out of a total of 1527 failed and in the East Midltrids 611 out of 1950 failed. The Eastern area LA reported 455 failures out of 1079 tests.
Reports from the other LAs did not specify failure rates.
It is difficult to explain why there should be so many failures other than to suggest that in general drivers are not sufficiently prepared and trained before taking the test. It must also indicate that normal driving standards are not sufficient to meet the high standards demanded by the examiners. Adequate training of both driving techniques and the theoretical aspects of the test is absolutely necessary to ensure success in the test.
An indication of the laxity with which this gerteral subject is being approached in some quarters may be gained by comments in the LAs report about HGV driving licence applications. Some 60 per cent of application forms have to be returned to the applicant because they have not been correctly completed. A sure sign that insufficient attention has been paid to reading and studying the licence and test instructions.
Detailed information on both the licence and the test is available free in the form of two booklets issued by the DOE. Heavy Goods Vehicle Drivers' Licence and Heavy Goods Vehicle Driving Test, Copies of both can be obtained from the DoE, St Christopher I-louse, Southwark Street, London 3E1, and the former is also obtainable from roost main Post Offices,