About 50% Of Delhi Applicants Failed The Automated Driving Test

Government data suggests that the introduction of automated driving test at three Delhi licensing centers has caused a significant increase in the rate of failed applicants. Among those who took the automated DL test which was rolled out back in March, at least 48.9% has failed. Whereas, only 16.2% didn’t pass the old test.

According to experts, for Delhi where each year, there are about 2,000 people died because of traffic accidents, an automatic driving test would be a reliable method to prevent unsafe drivers from getting their driving licenses.

Save Life Foundation CEO, Piyush Tewari, said:

Since March, three Delhi-based motor licensing centers including Burari, Surajmal Vihal, and Mayur Vihar Phase-I have become the firsts to use the fully automated system. Applicants taking the new tests will be marked on 24 parameters which are based on the readings of high-resolution cameras and sensors along scientifically-designed test tracks.

There are 10 different track patterns, including three for two-wheelers and seven for four-wheelers. Applicants who can ride without deviating from marked lines within a given time would pass the test.

Under the new test’s requirements, applicants will be tested on driving skills such as H Track, traffic junction, reverse S, Forward-8, up-gradient, and reverse parallel parking. Two-wheelers will take their tests on a serpentine track.

A senior transport department explained that the earlier test has a low rate of failures since it is too simple. He said:

With the new automated test, not only the failure rates increase but the number of applicants also declines significantly.

At Surajmal Vihar and Mayur Vihar center, during the last four months before the manual system was discarded, there were 9,343 applicants who took the driving license test. And in the first four months of the automated test, the figure fell to 6,215 applicants.

With Burari’s newest track being in operation starting from June 26, the data from the first day till July 3 suggests that around 73% of motorists didn’t pass their tests. At the Mayur Vihar Phase-I track which became operational on March 6, till June 30, the number of failed applicants accounts for 52%. While, under the manual system, from Dec 2018 to Mar 5, only 14% didn’t pass the tests.

At other licensing offices that still use the manual test in Delhi, applicants take their tests on the main roads with normal traffic. To pass the test, they need to drive straight for no more than one kilometer while a motor licensing inspector supervises their driving. At the automated centers, the tests are carried out without human intervention while at manual test centers, the licensing officer is the one to be in charge of the results. For the new automated test, what the licensing officer do is to oversee the test as well as putting their signature on the automatically generated result sheet.

According to Kailash Gahlot, Delhi transport minister, for the next three months, the last remaining “manual” test centers in the city will gradually shift to using automated tracks. He said:

Experts believe that compared to the previous DL test system, the automated system offered urgently-needed transparency.

KK Kapila, chairman of International Road Federation, an organization working toward better and safer roads globally, said: