Dubai: Pass rates of driving tests could improve significantly if the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) plans to revamp the test procedures are successful.
In an attempt to reduce human errors by examiners during the driver’s test, RTA is planning to make greater use of technology.
“We are trying out some technologies that will help examiners to better judge a driver. Right now we are making trials in the yard tests and, hopefully, we can put some of these in place for the road tests,” said Ahmad Hashem Behroozian, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.
He said that there are possibilities of human errors and negligence on the part of examiners and the idea of using technology is to reduce the errors in judgement as far as possible.
“We are using some sensors and cameras in the cars to see how much they can help. We are trying to automate as much as we can and hopefully we can implement these steps for the road tests soon,” he added.
However, he said that full automation of the road tests won’t be possible but there can be a greater use of advanced tools available to give drivers more confidence.
“Our idea is to give the best and fair chance to aspiring drivers. That is the reason we have increased monitoring of the examiners and we are also looking at every possible tool and option that can give the drivers a fair chance,” he informed.
He said that RTA receives complaints from candidates on occasions and there are instances when students dispute the test results, which can be reduced by employing advanced tools.
Among the steps taken by RTA to ensure the road tests are fair is constant rotation of examiners between different institutes as well as mystery shopping.
“We have a very strict system in place to measure the examiners’ performance. We constantly check their pass rates and fail rates and if we suspect anything fishy we take further action,” he said.
He also added that the examiners get regular training to improve their performances.
More than 80 examiners decide the fate of 1,400 aspiring drivers daily and only 30 per cent of these pass on an average.
When asked if the instructors get an instruction regarding any cut off percentage of pass rate, he said: “There is nothing like a cut off percentage, the pass rate is improving constantly. We have improved from 18 per cent a few years ago to 30 per cent now,” said Behroozian.
