Driving Test and Independent Driving

Independent driving - where the candidate is not following the directions given at each stage by the instructor but rather following a route, e.g. following road signs to Town X until the instructor tells them - is going to form part of the driving test from October 2010 in Great Britain.

The candidate will be required to drive for around 10 minutes, and during that time they will have directions to follow, or traffic signs, or a combination of the two. They may get shown a diagram too.

Newspapers have claimed this is going to lead to a further lowering of the pass rate in the practical test, but the DSA says on its website that this claim was based on early research and not on the final design of this element in the test.

There is more information on this story on the DSA website here:

http://dsa.gov.uk/News.asp?id=SXD005-A7835A58

Related Articles...

driving theory test
Road position and large vehicles
In a car there are of course blind spots, but as soon as you drive a lorry you realise how significant the blind spots are for those vehicles. For one simple thing even with vans you can't...

How to learn UK road signs
Learning UK road signs is something that will unfortunately require you to take the time to study them all. Many signs turn up in the theory test so you do need to take the time to do this. But...

Nervous Driver Tips
Many people who learn to drive have a combination of nerves and excitement. Even if someone says they have no nerves and are perfectly confident when it comes to driving, the first time you get...

Taking the theory test if you don't speak English
Not everyone who takes the Driving Theory Test will be confident enough in their ability to speak and understand English to take the test. Whilst some people in Wales will want to take the test in...

What to do if horses are on the road
It may sound quite rare, but actually on country journeys you will from time to time encounter horses and their riders using the road. And you may also come across other animals too. When you...

The different types of tyre and maintenance
You might tire of talking about tyres, but these are extremely important elements of your car, being the only part that touches the road. And they need to be in good working order to do their...

Your ignition system explained
The ignition system is of course an essential part of the technology that allows cars to function, and without it you would not get very far. But what does it do? Well the system provides the...

Reversing Exercises in the driving test
There are three reversing exercises that you could be tested on in the driving practical test. You will be asked to perform two out of these three so that the person undertaking your test (the...

The multiple choice theory test
This is the first part of the theory test, and is done at a computer rather than on paper. There are many places around the country whereby you are able to take the theory test. Your driving...

The risk of accidents - some statistics
No-one wants to think that they will be involved in an accident, but being aware that an accident could happen to you and the statistics is important. Accidents happen to ordinary people, so anyone...


Back to home page of driving theory test questions