EDITORIAL: Is it time to change the driving test to replicate real life situations?

There have been many advancements in the way people go about learning to drive in Ireland.

Over the years, the actual test itself has gone from being a relatively straight forward affair in which people could learn to drive from a parent or friend to one where a theory test has to be passed before a learner permit is secured and then a mandatory number of lessons needs to be done before one can actually sit the test.

In theory all of this is positive because the overall aim is to ensure that when a new driver, regardless of their age, passes their test they will be able to take to the roads and drive safely.

However, there are still aspects to the overall process that could certainly do with improving, or at least reviewing.

There is a valid argument to say the actual test itself is something that is in need of overhauling in a major way.

Think about the scenario for a minute; the person being tested is in the car with only the tester for company. 

The tester guides the applicant in terms of where he or she wants the person to go and observed their driving habits while doing so.

Ordinarily, not another word passes between them other than the directions of the tester and the physical response of the applicant.

The radio, CD player or bluetooth connection is off and other than the tester's questions there is complete silence in the car.

Perhaps, the theory behind that is that it enables the person being tested to completely concentrate on the task in hand.

However, and this is where a review of the testing procedure might be called for, the actual circumstances in which a person is tested are more or less unique and unlike any other scenario which the person being tested will find themselves in again once they pass their test.

The reality is a person can sit their test, pass it successfully and then walk out of the centre and welcome his or her mates into the car and drive down the road talking, having the craic and music blaring; a completely different scenario to that in which the test was passed.

Would it not be logical, when someone is sitting their test, that their friends are in the car with them, the radio is on and there is conversation going on. In other words the exact situation in which most people will find themselves when they are driving. 

It's somewhat ironic that people are tested circumstances that for the most part they will never find themselves in again.

Would it not make sense for the test to be redesigned in such a way as to replicate as much as possible a more real life scenario? 

The tester could actually sit in the back and still give instruction while observing how the person sitting the test responds while being distracted from what's going on in the car - in other words a real life situation that the majority of drivers find themselves in more often than not.

Is it not time that the test itself was structured in a way that is more applicable to real life situations?