Coventry and Warwickshire driving school welcome the announcement of more tests for students
The AA Driving School, which operates in Coventry and Warwickshire, reflect on the Transport Secretary's announcement yesterday
A driving school, which teaches hundreds of students across Coventry and Warwickshire, have reacted to the Transport Secretary's promise for more driving tests.
The AA Driving School welcome the announcement as learner drivers continue to face lengthy waits for driving tests, the average wait is currently five months.
Waiting times are placing extreme pressures on students and their instructors, we've been speaking with Lorna Lee from the AA Driving School on these current challenges.
Lorna said: "It does have a significant impact on people as they are going through the process of learning to drive.
So firstly, there's a stress impact. When people are taking their test they know that if they don't pass they are going to face another lengthy wait before they can retest.
"Long waits also mean people will often need to take extra lessons in that interim period to keep their skills up to date, so that's adding extra financial pressure to people."
Lorna continued: "We have definitely noticed over the time where the waiting times for a driving test have increased, fewer instructors are always available to take on new pupils.
"Pupils will typically be staying on their books a bit longer and instructors won't have the space to take on the new pupils.
"So it really does cause an impact on both sides of the fence."
The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has instructed the DVSA to intensify its efforts to reduce waiting times and improve access to driving tests which will break down barriers to opportunity as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.
To open up more tests the Transport Secretary has announced new measures to crack down on test-buying bots and deliver at least 10,000 extra tests a month.
Those in DVSA roles who are qualified to examine, will be asked to return to the frontline to provide practical driving tests.
Plans are also in place to double the number of permanent trainers to skill up new driving examiners quickly and investigate the potential abuse of the driving test booking system and prevent bots from accessing tests.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander said: “We inherited an enormous backlog of learners ready to ditch their L-Plates but being forced to endure record waiting time for their tests.
“We simply cannot deliver on our Plan for Change if thousands remain held back, with their aspirations on pause.
“I am instructing DVSA to take further action immediately to reduce waiting times which will see thousands of additional tests made available every month. We’re acting fast to get Britain’s drivers moving.”
The Government aims for these measures to reduce driving test waiting times to seven weeks by summer next year.