Sometimes the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has to cancel or stop driving and riding tests because of things like bad weather or vehicle problems. Find out what happens if your test is cancelled or stopped, and what you need to do when there's bad weather.

What happens if your test is cancelled or stopped, and what you need to do when there's bad weather?



Bad Weather And Driving Tests

Practical driving tests are not conducted in adverse weather conditions, for example when the roads are icy. This is for the safety of both the person taking the test and the examiner.

If you are due to take your practical test, follow the advice given on your appointment email or letter. Only call your test centre if there is snow or ice in your local area on the day of your test.

When To Phone Your Test Centre

If your test is early in the morning, call as soon as you can on the day. If you call the day before, the test centre won't be able to tell you if your test will go ahead.

If your test is in the afternoon, call the test centre later in the morning. The test centre is more likely to know if the roads will be suitable for your test.

What To Do If There's No Answer From The Test Centre

If nobody answers the phone, and the conditions in your area aren't looking too bad, it's likely that the driving examiners are:

•checking the local roads to see if driving tests can go ahead
•taking driving tests because the conditions are suitable
However, this isn't a guarantee that your test will go ahead. Please call the test centre again or go there in time for your test.

If Your Test Can't Go Ahead

If your practical driving test is cancelled because of bad weather, another appointment will be arranged automatically at no further cost. However, DSA doesn't pay any out-of-pocket expenses.

A new appointment date is usually sent within three working days. This may take up to seven days when there's a period of prolonged bad weather.

Waiting Times For A Practical Driving Test

As well as causing cancellations, bad weather can lead to longer waiting times in some areas. DSA tries to keep waiting times as short as possible.

Fire crews hope to shock young drivers into taking care on the roads with a hard-hitting mock-up of a crash scene.

Bay firefighters will take their Car'n'age roadshow to Herne Bay High School next month to show pupils the shocking aftermath of a crash.

The event will show how the emergency services deal with a serious accident, including cutting out mock casualties from crashed vehicles. Experts will be on hand to explain all the procedures.

Herne Bay watch manager Leon Dyball said: "By holding this event, we aim to reach as many newly-qualified and inexperienced drivers as we can.

"Our aim is to educate them on the sobering realities of being involved in a road traffic collision and it is hoped that they will make road safety a priority.

"If just one life is saved by holding this event, it will be worthwhile."

They hope to remind the teenagers about the importance of wearing seatbelts, the dangers of driving while drunk or on drugs and the consequences of speeding.

Youngsters will also be told that using a mobile phone while driving puts them at risk of crashing.

Bay firefighter David Franks demonstrated some of the equipment to the Times, including a saw for slicing windscreens open, pedal cutters, hydraulic pumps and the "jaws of life", used to force open crushed doors on crashed cars.

He said: "Hopefully this will be particularly timely given the treacherous conditions on the roads this week."

The IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) is renewing its call on the government to make driving on rural A-roads a mandatory part of the driving test. 

IAM research shows that 82 per cent of rural fatal and serious casualties are on single carriageway roads compared with just 18 per cent on motorways and dual carriageway roads*. 

However the current driving test fails to take this into account. While good instructors understand that experience on a wide variety of roads in different conditions gives young people the best chance of survival, all too many merely educate up to the existing test standard. Knowledge of parking, emergency stops and low speed manoeuvres is important but dealing with high speed corners, bad weather, and overtaking are far more vital skills. 

The recent report from the IAM The fast and the curious*1, found that new drivers themselves felt unprepared for real life scenarios and would welcome extra help. 

The IAM has written to the road safety minister to outline its views on how it believes the government should tackle deaths and accidents of the highest risk group on our roads, young drivers. This starts with improving the driving test to include training on our most dangerous roads – single-carriageway rural A-roads.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “More than half the cars on our roads are rated as four or the maximum five star in European safety tests, and the figure is even higher for new cars. Our roads are also getting safer in their design*2.

“But the roads where drivers, especially young drivers, are most frequently killed and injured are still not consistently part of the driving test. The minister recently announced young drivers would be allowed to use motorways when accompanied by an instructor, but it is single carriageway A-roads where the real problem lies. 

“Driver and rider error is a contributory factor in two thirds of accidents*3. We can only improve our cars and roads so far. The challenge now is to improve the humans that drive them, to continue our outstanding record of road safety.” 

Foreign languages barred in driving tests: Evidence of rogue translators helping immigrants to cheat their way to a licence

Nearly 800 people have licences revoked in the past two years after DSA finds evidence of cheating.

Immigrants are to be banned from taking the driving test in their native  language amid mounting evidence that rogue translators are helping them cheat their way to a licence.

Government sources last night said that it would ditch the rules ‘within months’ that let learners sit the theory test in any of 19 foreign languages – including Urdu, Russian and Albanian – and ban translators who can currently sit in on the practical test to explain the examiner’s instructions.

Nearly 800 people have had licences revoked in the past two years, after investigations by the Driving Standards Agency uncovered evidence of rogue translators coaching learners during their test.

There are dozens more cases in the pipeline and nine translators have been struck off the approved list.

A Department for Transport source said each investigation costs an average of £10,000 – and warned that the cases uncovered so far may be just the ‘tip of the iceberg’.

Ministers are also concerned about the safety implications of handing driving licences to thousands of people who do not speak English and cannot read road signs.

In 2010, some 93,407 driving theory tests were sat in a foreign language. More than 1,500 people also took the theory test for a bus driver’s licence in a foreign language.

Transport minister Mike Penning said the existing rules, which were introduced by  the last Labour Government, also acted as a disincentive for immigrants to learn English.
He said: ‘This practice is wrong on many levels, and we are going to end it. It  is very hard to fathom the logic of why  it was ever allowed in the first place. Road safety should be our priority, not  political correctness.
‘It cannot be right to be handing British driving licences to people who are unable to read warning signs flashed up on motorway gantries. There is also evidence of fraud.
‘But there is also a wider point about community cohesion – we should be encouraging people to learn English, instead of offering them ways to avoid it.’ 
Government sources said the change, which could be brought in by the autumn, did not require a change in the law. In future, drivers will be able to take their test in only English or Welsh.
However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has privately warned ministers that the ban may breach anti-discrimination laws unless the Government can produce firm evidence that allowing people to take the driving test in a foreign language is a threat to road safety. 
But Mr Penning said he was confident that there was ‘just cause’ for the ban, and pointed out that most other EU countries do not allow learners to take their driving test in a foreign language.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095190/Foreign-languages-barred-driving-tests-amid-evidence-rogue-translators-help-immigrants-cheat-way-licence.html#ixzz1lDK61QjT

Up to four million UK motorists fail to meet minimum eyesight requirements for driving. Do we need stricter rules 

I’m driving a Jaguar S-Type through a busy town centre: road signs, pedestrians, trucks and corners compete for my attention. But something’s wrong. It’s hard to stay in lane, I have to swerve around a cyclist I failed to spot in time and I nearly hit a van when it lurches out of a driveway. Intoxicated? It feels like it, but in fact I’m in a simulator and simply doing what millions do – driving with poor eyesight.


Experts estimate that around four million UK motorists fail to meet even the legal minimum eyesight requirement, with many more suspected of falling well below the standard. The rules state that driving test candidates must be able to read a number plate at 65 feet – with glasses or lenses if they need them – before the driving part of the test. But it’s relatively undemanding: only 1,500-2,000 fail each year.


What many forget, however, is that legally, they should meet this same standard as long as they hold a licence. And the evidence suggests that thousands don’t, not least because our vision worsens with advancing years and the average age of our driving population is rising.


Now, as the Government decides whether to make changes to the vision test, the UK’s eyesight driving regulations are under attack, with experts saying they’re no longer fit for purpose. Which explains my trip in that Jaguar driving simulator to see for myself.


First I drive a seven-mile course at Brunel University’s School of Engineering and Design with my usual 20/20 vision. It’s easy. Then, Dr Mark Young – who recently conducted the UK’s most comprehensive study of vision and driving – hands me special glasses that reduce my vision to the legal minimum. I can just about see the number plate at 65 feet. Things are a little blurry and I feel less confident. It’s hard to stay in lane and concentrate. I don’t feel in full control.


Next, my vision is adjusted to just below the legal minimum. Now – according to figures from BBC medical expert Dr Mark Porter – my eyesight is the same as that of those four million other motorists. The effect is alarming. It’s harder to tell when the car in front slows down, forcing me to jab the brakes. I can still see bends, but when I reach them it’s harder to keep a steady course and I’m struggling to pick out hazards. I’ve missed several speed limit signs and Dr Young says I’m going too fast. Finally, I stop and turn off the ignition. It’s been a rough ride.


“The results of our study are clear. At a time when there are more distractions and traffic on the roads, the current eyesight test is not fit for purpose,” says Dr Young, who is a leading driver behaviour specialist. He adds that the current eyesight test – introduced in 1937 – is flawed because it only tests visual acuity (sharpness), which is “not the most important factor when you’re driving a car”.


Dr Young says the test should also examine a driver’s field of view (as is done in some US states) to check whether motorists can see and react to what’s happening around them He adds: “We also need regular, compulsory eyesight checks for all drivers to identify those with poor vision. Too many are driving with no margin for error – what if a child runs out in front?


“The rules should change so that no one receives a provisional driving licence until they have passed a proper eye test.”


In addition, he points out that, once drivers have passed their test, there are no further compulsory checks on their eyesight. As a result, no one knows exactly how many of the UK’s 31 million motorists are ‘driving blind’. Even at age 70, drivers reapplying for a licence only have to tick a box to confirm that their vision is at the required standard.


Dr Young’s views put him on a direct collision course with the Government, which is suggesting that the current number plate test is relaxed to fall in line with EU regulations. It proposes that the distance should fall from 20 metres to 17.5 for new-style number plates. A decision is expected later this year.


However, in a recent RAC Foundation survey of 991 adults, four out of five respondents backed compulsory eye tests for drivers each decade, while 79 per cent said they were prepared to pay for the tests.


“Introducing an eye test to coincide with the 10-year driving licence renewal period would be a medically robust and practical way to ensure vision is up to scratch,” says Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation. His organisation wants a consultation room eye test for drivers. “The plate test gives only a very basic indication, but a full exam looks at all aspects of sight and its effect on driving,” he adds.


The RAC’s argument is backed up by the figures. In the Brunel study of 19 drivers, those who barely met the minimum legal eyesight standard were only able to recall three-quarters of the six road signs they encountered, compared to 100 per cent for those with 20/20 vision. A huge 62 per cent strayed out of their lane more frequently while driving with slightly blurred vision. They also found it harder to concentrate, which could lead to fatigue.


A survey of 2,021 adults by the RSA Insurance Group – which sponsored the Brunel study and together with road safety charity Brake is demanding tougher eye tests – found that almost a fifth of drivers struggled to read signs while driving, while a fifth hadn’t had an eye test in two years.


Eyecare Trust research reveals that one in 10 drivers would fail a driving test if they took it today, due to poor eyesight. And in our own Auto Express number plate test, conducted by Specsavers, four out of 20 drivers failed.


However, road transport minister Mike Penning told Auto Express: “Britain has some of the safest roads in the world and licensing rules have an important role in maintaining this record.


“The current eyesight testing arrangements ensure that only those who are safe to drive are allowed to, without placing unnecessary restrictions or burdens on motorists. The number plate test is a simple and effective assessment of vision that can be reproduced regularly by the police at the roadside, and by motorists themselves.


“DVLA reminds drivers of the ongoing requirement to meet the eyesight standard and that failure to meet it is an offence – this is also part of the Highway Code.”


The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and the AA are also not convinced that the case is strong enough to justify the expense of tightening the rules.But Dr Young is adamant, saying: “It’s time to ditch the plate test and replace it with a computer exam built into the Theory Test. It could be equivalent to reading a number plate at 20 metres, but should incorporate a field-of-view test, too.” He also wants drivers to be re-tested each decade.


“Nobody knows how good their sight is until it’s tested,” he continues. “If your sight has deteriorated and you’ve become used to it, you may think it’s perfectly good – until it’s too late. Making the right changes now would save lives.”


The study results
Dr Mark Young of Brunel University’s School of Engineering and Design is a leading expert on driver behaviour. He tested 19 motorists on the university’s advanced driving simulator to determine the effect poor eyesight has when at the wheel.


Vision Lane departures (Average) Road signs spotted (Average out of 6) Test difficulty (%**) 
20/20 4.5 6 27.3 
EU standard* 7.4 4.6 41.3 
Poor/blurry 8.4 4.6 54.9 



Source: Brunel University study of 19 motorists, 2011.
*EU standard is slightly below UK standard. **The higher the percentage, the harder candidates found it.


Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/278047/calls_to_make_eye_tests_compulsory_for_drivers.html#ixzz1l87L5xCA