Driving instructors ‘putting themselves in danger’ by teaching unprepared pandemic learners

Driving examiners are being put at risk because of learner drivers taught by their parents during the pandemic, instructors have claimed.

As major backlogs leave teenagers facing waits of up to six months to sit their exams, many are now struggling to pass their tests because they are unsuitably prepared, it is claimed.

With the country in lockdown and instructors unable to give lessons for 10 months, many learners turned to their mothers and fathers for help, said Peter Harvey, national chairman of the Motor Schools Association.

But that does not mean their parents are passing on the skills required to pass the exam, he said.

"Mum and dad were not able to pick up faults that a driving instructor could pick up,” said Mr Harvey. “People were sitting their test when they weren't really ready."

The result was that, amid a massive backlog of learner drivers, many falsely thought they had learnt enough to pass a test, booked one and promptly failed it.

“They go to apps and they accept a test without talking to an instructor,” he said.

Driving test is 'way too cheap'

Another problem, said Mr Harvey, was that ministers refused to extend the validity of theory tests - leaving learners rushing to take a test before their certificates expired, but well before they were ready.

Learner drivers taking tests they are not ready for only worsens the backlog by wasting slots without shrinking the waiting list, he explained.

According to figures from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) obtained by the AA, there are now more than 500,000 learners waiting to sit their driving tests - with some having to wait close to six months for their shot at a licence.

There are also 438 trainees who are waiting with no guaranteed test date at all.

Some instructors are calling for test fees to be increased as a deterrent.

“I think the test is way too cheap,” Arthur Mynott, south-west chairman of the Motor Schools Association, told the BBC.

The current cost of a test is £62 and is due to increase by just 90p, while the cost of a theory test will go up by 40p.

“It would make them think twice about going into it earlier and taking those valuable test slots that pupils who are ready could be using,” he added.

Call for instructors to get danger pay

Mr Harvey echoed that sentiment, saying: “The general feeling is that if it were more expensive, it wouldn't be as throwaway. The biggest problem is no instructors, so they are throwing away £62.”

The DVSA said that the small increase to fees of just 1.5 per cent is being implemented following a public consultation and was “supported by more than two-thirds of respondents”.

It also said that it was hiring 300 extra examiners and performing tests at weekends and during public holidays to help clear the backlog.

In the meantime, instructors are effectively calling for danger pay, given the risky nature of sitting in a car with an underprepared teenager behind the wheel.

"I don’t think the increment package is good enough for them,” Mr Mynott told the BBC. “It’s a responsible job. They’re going out seven times a day with people they have never met before, putting themselves in danger.”