[SS-Traveller]

About 5 years ago, Delhi started India's first automated driving test track to assess applicants' driving skills in a fair manner before issuing them a permanent driving licence, and to weed out corruption in the Regional Transport Offices. On government orders, such automated testing for driving licences is becoming commonplace in many cities and districts across the country. For those who are unaware of what the automated testing procedure is, here is a detailed video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xmFaZNrGZw

The test entails driving forward and in reverse, negotiating a figure-of-eight course, a slalom section, obeying a traffic light, managing to stop and pull away on a mild gradient without rolling back, and parallel parking. Allowances are made for mistakes like hitting a kerb (crossing a yellow line determined to be the kerb by the cameras) multiple times. Yet, a large percentage of applicants fail the automated driving test, and to accommodate and pass more of them, some modifications are being made on the original tracks. This includes a mandatory reminder for examinees to put on their seat belts before starting the test (earlier, those who failed to put on their seat belts before starting off, failed).

What are the advantages of automated DL testing?

According to a survey by SaveLIFE Foundation in India in 2017, it was reported that a whopping 59% of the respondents did not give a test to obtain a driving licence.

Multiple research papers have been published [1], [2], [3] listing the advantages of automated DL testing, and include:

• expediting the testing of candidates aspiring for a driving licence in a more efficient and transparent manner, as compared to manual testing procedure
• reduction of time taken to test
• no dependency on the experience of the examiner in conducting the test
• no involvement of corruption and/or influence in success or failure of driving test
• option for examinees to review errors committed by them in driving tests on recorded video, in case of doubt
• reduction of workload of RTO employees, and ability to test and issue more DLs in a given period of time

None of the papers, however, list any disadvantages of the automated driver testing system, and it is appalling how many flawed and incompetent drivers the system is producing.

But why is automated DL testing producing flawed and dangerous drivers?

Let us quickly look at what dangers and disadvantages the automated testing procedure entails.

1. Slow speed driving: Nowhere during the test does the speed of the vehicle exceed 10-15 km/h. While the examinee may well be able to control his vehicle at these speeds (a 3-year-old riding a tricycle can reach such speeds and control his progress), the problems begin when he reaches usual traffic speeds in the city (40-70 km/h), or God forbid, the new and swank expressways (80-120km/h) across the country. At high speeds, the newly licensed driver has no experience or ability to control his vehicle, nor has he ever been tested for this skill. Once he is travelling at high speed on an open road, he does not understand the limits of grip of his tyres or brakes. His licence gives him utter freedom to travel at speeds well above the speed limits of a street or highway. During the automated test, the examinee would never have changed from first to second gear. Suddenly, out on the road, he is not able to figure out which gear to be in at what point.

2. No concept of the dynamics of traffic flow and requirement of crash avoidance space around his vehicle: When tested, the learner driver is benchmarking his position on the road only with relation to static structures such as yellow lines, kerbs, barriers, lampposts etc., which he can pass with inches to spare at a very leisurely pace. He does not understand that overtaking another vehicle and cutting into its path by sharply changing lanes immediately, can result in an unexpected collision; that pulling out of a side road without checking, into the path of an oncoming car, or even a bicycle, endangers human lives; that a vehicle approaching him is actually coming towards him at double or more of the speed he is travelling at, and a collision would be catastrophic; that overtaking a biker with six inches to spare between the two vehicles, or following another car at 100 km/h with 10 metres of space between them, is a sure shot recipe for disaster.

3. No hazard perception testing: The computerized hazard perception test for learner drivers is a must-do task in many countries, before the learner can even get behind the wheel. However, India, with more than its fair share of hazards on the road for drivers and riders, does not care to test drivers for their ability to recognize hazards on our roads. The grant of a DL after testing the ability to drive around a regulated course with static objects, is producing a genre of drivers who do not look out for pedestrians, wobbly cyclists, and especially loitering animals on our roads.

4. No knowledge of right-of-way rules and common courtesy for other road users: The automated driving test does not have any scope for testing learner drivers' psychology while driving - and as a result, we are creating selfish road-hogging monster drivers on our roads, leading to ego wars and road rage. The pedestrian and cyclist are not his concern to take care of, and the other car, as long as it is smaller and lower than his own, can be bullied out of the way.

5. No understanding of the power and acceleration capability of his vehicle: Young drivers and riders, fresh from the exhilaration of having received their new driving licence, begin by driving vehicles that can accelerate to 100 km/h before the driver/rider can utter what on earth is happening? Each driving licence issued empowers the driver to drive vehicles of any engine and performance type, and often these are involved in major crashes on Indian roads. Rules need to be implemented whereby a driver with less than a certain number of years of having received his DL, or those below a certain age, ought to be debarred from driving certain cars and bikes on public roads, that are too powerful for their own good.

6. No preparation, practice or testing for emergency braking, use of indicators, high & low beams, hazard flashers and fog lamps: The very fact that a majority of drivers driving manual transmission cars in India tend to press the brake and clutch pedals together (I have even noticed some cab drivers do it), means that no one taught these drivers to drive with proper technique. Hardly anyone uses indicators before a turn, lane change, or at a roundabout. As to the use of low beams, the less said the better. Hazard flashers and fog lamps are used indiscriminately and at will, in sunshine, nighttime, rain or fog. Once the DL is received, no one bothers to refine or correct their technique of driving.

7. No evaluation of setting up and use of rearview mirrors or head checks: Enough said. In a country where half of all drivers keep their ORVMs folded for fear of breakage, how does one know about hazards behind and to the sides? An unaware driver is a dangerous driver.

That the automated driving test is not adequate, has been highlighted in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNTpZczubyE

Listen to the presenter's point of view from 5:53 onwards, to find out.

At the rate India is putting out newer, bigger and more powerful cars on the roads, accompanied by such flawed testing procedures for issuing DLs by the thousands (lakhs?) every day across the country, road safety in India is about to become a topic for more conferences, discussions, hashtags and debates than actual lives being saved. It is high time that DLs are not issued indiscriminately, driver training and testing are made far more stringent, and new traffic rules be brought in whereby drivers would have their licences suspended if involved in a major crash or multiple minor traffic violations (such as, say, 10 traffic light violations), and would need to undergo re-training and re-testing under a completely new and rigorous process before receiving a new DL.

To our experienced drivers on this forum: What are your suggestions for large-scale improvement in the quality of driving and skills of drivers & riders on Indian roads?

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[Samba]

I agree with all the points you have mentioned. Just like, there is a huge gap between theory and practical, the same applies here. There is a lot of difference in driving inside a confined place and on open roads.

There must be a hands on driving test on the road with moderate traffic where points will be deducted on making every small mistakes. At-least a 15 to 20 mins of drive should be made compulsory. Most of the road users in India has a very pathetic driving sense & that's because no one taught them the right way.
Most of the drivers here learn driving from another senior driver and that driver has learnt in the same manner few years back! So the mistakes are actually been carried forward by the trainers! Even most of the training school drivers are just average drivers with poor knowledge.

A child grows up seeing their parents or their trusted driver driving their cars. He/she considers them to be the perfect mentor to learn driving. But no one corrects them the mistakes they pick up from their mentors, & it's been carried forward!

I consider driving to fall under life skill and it should be taken seriously. In India we need proper certified trainers to train the new drivers before appearing for a driving test.

Here people are getting their license through these automated driving licence tests, and in reality we need to drive in such conditions!

This the condition of the entry road to my house!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQUZh4oXq0

[MT_Hyderabad]

Nothing is perfect in this world and Driving License Testing is no different.

One can argue that the test is conducted in the day, what will happen when it is dark? or even more dangerous - raining!?

Information from National Safety Council states that crashes are more than average during the dark.

Hence, I will continue to believe that there is, and will always remain, some scope of improvement in the testing set up and it can never mimic the real life conditions that one will face in the real world.

Exposure to these conditions during the learning license phase and training is a must.

[DicKy]

I was confused as to why the automated tests was producing bad drivers until I read this and realised this was the only test required to pass?

This is supposed to replace the 'H' test!!! Not the road test! Which idiot thought they can replace the road test with this one? This should be the filtering level before a road test.

Originally Posted by Samba

This the condition of the entry road to my house!

To imagine dealing this every day. Especially with the rear haunches of your Duster. New thing for me to add to ' Thank you God for...' prayers.

[Jeroen]

So we can’t produce fully automated cars, but we can have fully automated drive testing?

Well, I guess count your blessing in the sense, this is still better than no driving test at all. My driving test in Delhi was a joke. But I agree that this sort of testing is not anywhere sufficient for driving in real traffic.

Jeroen

[aargee]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

But why is automated DL testing producing flawed and dangerous drivers?

Sir, I'm of the opinion that, no matter how, where, what one learns, the SYSTEM, the long rotten lack of traffic law enforcement SYSTEM in here, simply turns everyone into another offender.

Although difficult to prove, my opinion is that, it all starts right at schooling; it is indeed the education, the education by Parents, who, for convenience sake, violate all laws to dump their children at school right on time for their fear of their children missing assembly is far greater than traffic violation. And all innocent children get to the notion that, if Parents are doing this, then this must be right.

I can't wait to see how horrendous the situation turns into in next few years when these innocent children turn 18 driving/riding on road

And why lack of enforcement? I happened to hear one Police lamenting how situation have turned the tables these days; someone recording with a phone, reaching out to social media has strong support towards the offender rather than system of justice. Again the SYSTEM plays a role here.

[Turbohead]

+1000

SS-Traveller has honestly hit it out of the ball park! I wonder who even signed off such a test - there is no resemblance between the test and the real world! I suspect the guys who designed and signed off the test are chauffeur driven on a daily basis.

I don't think there's any point bashing the authorities involved. Nothing will change that way. Any idea how we can influence the decision and policy makers? If they're willing to hear perspectives from enthusiasts, a huge amount of difference can be made on our roads for the better. Else we're risking the lives of our loved ones everyday.

[maximus_fiat]

Government should really overhaul the entire driving test procedure. Driving on empty tracks at slow speed does not test a persons driving ability.

Automated driving test should be one of the gates which allows a person to move forward with the application process. It does ensure a person knows how to steer and keep the car aligned and significantly tries to weed out corruption process. It should never be the only test.

I really liked my driving test process in UK. Even after driving in India for long and a year in UK with Indian license, I took lessons and read sincerely to clear the theory tests. Hazard perception is really important and it helped me a lot in becoming a better driver.

Our law makers make umpteen number of foreign trips to learn the best practices being followed in developed countries, hope someday they start looking into this as well.

[Kosfactor]

I think a road test with a driving inspector who has access to controls should be mandatory. As long as the inspector is well trained and maintains the integrity of evaluation - we can expect better quality drivers on the road.

The entire mechanism can be paid for by the license application fee itself, so funding should not be an problem as such.

No amount of driving school will prepare you for something like a Chickpete or the full length of BVK Iyengar road on a Saturday rush hour. The whole stretch has a practical speed limit of 3 Kms per hour

So lets look at a reasonable driving test that works for the country, no need to over complicate it.

[Apolo4409]

I think it’s a step in the right direction. While you have listed some faults in the automated system, the manual system currently in place is a lot worse.

I took my DL in 2018, all I had to do was an H and drive forward for maybe a few hundred meters during which I had to shift to all 4 gears and come to stop on the side of the road(my test and learning vehicle was the HM Trekker, driving it is a really interesting experience.)

The automated driving test in my opinion is a step in the right direction making it lenient is just 1 step forward 2 steps back. I believe it should be made even more stringent and test everything from turning with indicators, lane merges and when and how to use high beams and hazards.

[DogNDamsel12]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

To our experienced drivers on this forum: What are your suggestions for large-scale improvement in the quality of driving and skills of drivers & riders on Indian roads?

You have highlighted the problems of this system with the finesse of a mathematician.

But is there a solution? This is a classic case that indicates two things very clearly - firstly, our obsession with automation, and secondly, our general indifference to road safety and public life.

I think in a completely evolved system, the 7 missing pieces that you have highlighted can also be included through automation.

But we are over-enthusiastic to quickly deploy whatever we have developed and say that we have checked the boxes that put our name in the Fifth Industrial Revolution hall-of-fame.

Then things can be developed over time at the cost of public life and safety. Who cares! I don't know whether to call to task the government or the developers - both suffer from the same myopia.

Are the driving tests being conducted right now in any way uniform across India and governed by any standard? Just like there is an apathy to standards in vehicle safety, so is the case with driving safety.

In Delhi, you can walk into an RTO and get a DL without an "agent." That is where the value of automation started to be seen. And now they have taken it a step forward to take it to the other end of the spectrum. Elsewhere, you need an "agent" to file anything, right under the government's watch.

As far as solutions are concerned, the government works under a system of representations (a consensus-based letter). Forums, such as this one, if we can have a way to send written representations to the government suggesting the adoption and implementation of a set of international standards across the country for training and obtaining a license, that may be a better system to evolve over time rather than software.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has a road safety joint secretary, who may be approached.

[Amrik Singh]

Probably, the Automated Driving System teaches you all the ethics of driving Theoretically only. It doesn't teach you how to press on Horn more than the Accelerator while driving on the roads in India. It doesn't teach you 'Not to Stop' on Pedestrian crossing (Zebra crossing) as the driver behind your Car would kiss your rear.
The system teaches us to look in rear view mirror. Either you have to be a cock-eyed or luck dependent. Can you really afford to take your eyes off the road ahead ? You will never know when the Auto ahead of you would make a U-Turn without indicator.
Any system devised to Test the ability of Driver would not serve its purpose as long there are plenty of stupid drivers on road and 'Road Sense' is non existent.

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

I think a road test with a driving inspector who has access to controls should be mandatory. As long as the inspector is well trained and maintains the integrity of evaluation - we can expect better quality drivers on the road.

This is how DL tests are conducted traditionally. The 'discretion' available to the test inspector in this system was the reason such automation was introduced - to create a transparent system - flawed yes, but less prone to corruption.

We are focusing too much on the poor quality of the initial driving test as a cause of abysmal quality of driving skills on Indian roads. I hope we will agree that continuous re-inforcement of good driving practices will be an equally important aspect here.

So I think the answer is in more automation, not less. Our traffic police should use the widespread cameras to automatically catch bad driving behaviours. And use a points system which should automatically penalize the driver for such violations.
A DL should get revoked for specified periods if you have too many violations. And do community service and remedial courses to regain your DL.

Community service - nothing will improve our driving behaviours faster if we are required to clean up the trash from our streets before we can get behind the wheel again .

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by dust-n-bones

This is how DL tests are conducted traditionally. The 'discretion' available to the test inspector in this system was the reason such automation was introduced - to create a transparent system - flawed yes, but less prone to corruption.
.

The standard misconception about corruption is that it's an Us Vs Them situation - It is not. Even the eyes of the law it is not one sided.

Automation is not always the solution to someone not doing their job well, imagine if you are to plead with an automated Judge

I have faith in the legal system because I have been through it once , let's not belittle the very framework that makes it possible to have a civilized existence in this country.