Simulator driving test to be made mandatory

A senior official from the transport department said that the State Road Safety Council has decided to make simulator test mandatory to obtain driving licence to reduce road accidents. “We have decided to implement the simulator test on a pilot basis at an RTO and later it would be expanded to all other RTOs,” the official said, adding that no decision was taken on the RTO where it would be first implemented.

The driving simulator will let RTO officials know whether the learners’ license holder has basic knowledge of driving or road sense before securing the licence. “Simulator test is like a computer-based test where a real environment like different lanes, dividers, pits and roadblocks would be simulated, and applicants will be asked to drive virtually. One must pass the test in addition to the normal testing on tracks,” the official said.

With more than 90 per cent of road accidents happening due to the drivers’ fault, the simulation-based driving test would help assess the skills of the applicant in a much better way.

At present, driving tests are conducted by RTO officials inside the premises on tracks during daytime where the candidate does not face the real-life difficulty of driving. “The simulation-based driving carries the road signages, traffic awareness and knowledge of road safety and also different driving conditions and terrain to test the driving skills of the applicant,” the official said.

As part of its efforts to eliminate human intervention and improve test accuracy, the transport department has launched electronic driving test track in 14 out of the 42 testing tracks in the State. “During the test, candidates will not be accompanied by anyone and they will have to drive through a computer-monitored track. There will be three to four stages that will test their driving skills. At the end of the test, the computer will generate a final report card,” said an official. For every mistake made by applicant, marks will be deducted. The RTO will fix a minimum number of marks for qualifying the test.