Physical and verbal abuse from learners towards driving examiners has seen a significant increase in the last year. A main factor for this is the frustration from long wait times for tests caused by the ongoing backlog.

Long wait times continue

A big factor in the increased abuse from learners has been the frustration caused by the long wait times, as failing means you could be waiting months before a re-attempt for your test.

Although there have been efforts from the Government to tackle the backlog of driving tests, there is still a lot of frustration as the average driving test wait time is still very high. Tests have now started earlier in the morning and continued later at night to allow more in a day but this has not made a significant enough impact, as the current average wait time is still 18.5 weeks

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This is caused by a lot of things but the main factors are:

Not enough examiners at the test centers

Companies booking tests in high numbers to re-sell for profits
Online bots booking tests in mass numbers
A higher percentage of test fails due to learners taking tests without being ready

The consequences for abuse against examiners

Although you may feel extremely annoyed or angry if you fail your driving test, it is strongly advised not to take it out on the examiners, as at the end of the day they are just doing their jobs to keep you and other road users safe. If you feel like you have been wrongly failed by your examiner, try and get as much information as possible about what went wrong on your test and what you need to do to improve for next time.

Recent incidents have resulted in learners being banned from driving for years, blacklisted from certain test centers and even having to undergo a more extensive driving test as a result of being classed as a potentially dangerous driver.

Examiners now wearing body cameras

Examiners are now wearing body cameras whilst on tests in the event of receiving abuse from a learner. You can read about this in our newsletter here

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