Transport officials will make driver's license test harder but is it?

[rooster59]

Transport officials will make driver's license test harder but is it?

 

By Coconuts Bangkok

 

Photo: Chanapan Soonthornpruek

 

BANGKOK:-- To curb road accidents in Thailand, the Department of Land Transport said it will make the driver’s license test for private vehicles more difficult to pass.

 

After the World Health Organization placed Thailand in the second spot for having the deadliest roads in the world, transport officials are now looking to improve their driver’s license testing system.

 

The initial information that has been released is they will increase the training session from four to five hours and the number of questions in the theory test will go from 50 to 60 questions next year.

 

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/08/19/transport-officials-will-make-drivers-license-test-harder-it

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Coconuts Bangkok 2016-08-20

[Rorri]

Still no test of driving skills, on the road, and still no enforcement of road rules. My wife said, what 4 hours training? Get in car and drive, 15 minute.

Mmmmm, seems another failure, but then I don't possess the necessary thainess to understand the logic behind these proposed changes.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Rorri

[CarolJadzia]

It's a start, but far from enough to address the problem. 

Quote

increase the training session from four to five hours and the number of questions in the theory test will go from 50 to 60 questions next year

 

Five hours! Wow. That's still only half a day. Any of the counties the W.H.O suggests have the safest roads require far more training than just five hours. In the UK for example, the average is 30 to 40 hours of professional tuition, while the UK Test has a 60% first time fail rate. 

 

Most countries also require a demonstration of real-world, interactive road driving as part of the test. While Thailand currently does not require any on road tuition or testing whatsoever.

 

60 questions? That's an improvement. But the current standard of theory requires parrot like learning of answers that are often contradictory or do not make sense. Not exactly to the same standard as the Japanese, for example, who require at least one hundred hours of study to pass their Driving Theory test.

 

But at least looking towards better education is a far better approach that the constant focus on helmet and seatbelt enforcement. 

 

More carrot, less stick. 

 

 

[huanga]

er..a step in the right direction. But apart from the driving test is the general attitude to obey traffic laws/rules. Too much me first, me first attitude on the road. Harsher penalties and enforcement should also be in their cards. 

[Briggsy]

Like everything here, this has been passed through the, "Can I be bothered" filter. The result is the civil servants actually do nothing more whilst the candidates sit through 10 more questions and another hour of video.

 

Enforcement of the whole gamut of driving regulations by all agencies involved from the Land Transport Dept. to the police and the courts would yield tangible reductions in deaths and serious injury on the roads. However none of the enforcement agencies can be bothered so nothing will change.

[edwinchester]

Until the consequences of being caught driving whilst NOT having a license are nothing more than a couple of hundred baht slipped into an appropriate back pocket nothing will change.

[monkey4u]

How do they plan to make it harder

Do you need to answer question one correct

 1) What is your name 

[PatOngo]

It's glaring obvious the PTB are unconcerned with the road carnage as seen by the half assed safety campaigns days before the main holidays. Un natural attrition!

[thai3]

I have looked at them watching the video- all were either playing on phones or asleep, the test is a disgrace and is killing people everyday. Stop at white line, reversing and in and out of a box is not a driving test.

[taichiplanet]

several years back when i got my thai car and bike licences, i dragged my then gf along to get her bike licence. Hanging around for things to progress i asked her to find out what she had to do to get a car licence. She had never driven a car, the DLT told her to go and practise on the road and then come back for the drving test! Seems they have no Learners licence to make them legal and to gradually improve their skills before letting them loose on the road. Rather ridiculous really.

[Sakeopete]

Thailand's problem isn't the lack of motoring skills or not knowing the rules of the road. Thai's/expat's selfish me me me attitude and lack of law enforcement is to blame for the road carnage. 

[jesimps]

Face prevents the Thais from asking advice from any foreign country on any subject, they'll always try to go it alone. That's why it'll take many many years of trial and error before they reach an acceptable standard of road safety.

 

C'mon you Thai-bashing policemen, tell us that despite all the surveys, the standard of driving here is no worse than anywhere else in the world.

 

 

 

 

[1337markus]

And when do they retest the ones already driving?

[Psimbo]

The driving test will become harder- you now have to slide 6k under the table instead of 5.

 

I always remember being told i had past a test, not become a better driver, as seems to be the case here.

[jvs]

2 hours ago, thai3 said:

I have looked at them watching the video- all were either playing on phones or asleep, the test is a disgrace and is killing people everyday. Stop at white line, reversing and in and out of a box is not a driving test.

My gardener just renewed his license a few weeks ago here in Cha-am,before the movie started everyone was told to turn of their phones.

After a few minute watching the movie a few people started to play with their phones and 5 people were told to leave and come back some other time.

Slowly but surely.

[waldroj]

"...World Health Organization placed Thailand in the second spot for having the deadliest roads in the world..."

 

Which is based on estimated road traffic death rate per 100 000 population! Unfortunately for Thailand, this figure is so heavily biased by the percentage of deaths of drivers and passengers of motorized  2- or 3- wheeled vehicles.

 

If one accepts the statistics in Table A2 of the WHO's Global status report on road safety 2015 (http://www.who.int/entity/violence_injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2015/TableA2.pdf?ua=1) it is apparent that Thailand has a serious problem with riders of 2- and 3-wheeled vehicles!

 

If we are talking about deadly roads, the obvious fact is that (given the sheer number of bike users in this country) if more Thais simply wore helmets there would be simply more Thais!

 

As Table A2 clearly shows , Thailand actually ranks number 1 when it comes to Road User Deaths for Drivers/Passengers of motorized  2- or 3- wheelers, with a staggering 72.8% of all reported fatalities! This Table also shows that Thailand's near-neighbours  Cambodia and Laos rank numbers 2 and 3 in this category, while no figures are available for Viet Nam, and interestingly in Myanmar, Road User Deaths seem to be evenly distributed between 4-wheeled vehicles 26%;  2- and 3-wheeled vehicles 23%; and pedestrians 26%.

 

As for Road User Deaths for Drivers/Passengers of 4-wheeled vehicles here, Thailand ranks 114th with only 13% of all reported fatalities.

 

So, if the authorities focus their energies on the motorized  2- or 3- wheelers of this country there should be hope that the country's reputation as having the world's second deadliest roads could quite easily tumble quite a few places. Whether this is done by carrot or stick as suggested by CarolJadzia above is moot, but it should be obvious to anyone that this is where the effort needs to be made.

 

 

 

[trogers]

Ha ha ha ha...

 

At first, they need only to start the ignition to pass. Now, they have to learn how to engage the gear...so hard...

[sweatalot]

what's the use of a harder test if driving without a license is no problem

[sweatalot]

1 hour ago, jesimps said:

Face prevents the Thais from asking advice from any foreign country on any subject, they'll always try to go it alone. That's why it'll take many many years of trial and error before they reach an acceptable standard of road safety.

 

C'mon you Thai-bashing policemen, tell us that despite all the surveys, the standard of driving here is no worse than anywhere else in the world.

 

 

 

 

Thailand was never a province of a developed country

Bad luck for them

 

May be not to late.

Bring the Brits or US here and have them enforce the law

In a few decades they might be mature to become independent

Edited August 20, 2016 by sweatalot

[KhunBENQ]

Another useless attempt avoiding the root causes like proper practical driving school (xx hours of driving on the road), driving test on the road.

 

Sure they would bitterly wine if they see the increased cost.

No more driving license for xxx Baht, more like a 5 digit number.

 

Opening the full test procedure to private driving schools.

Simply mad, opening a huge new pile of corruption.

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[sweatalot]

what's the use of a harder test if driving without a license is no problem

[dageurreotype]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Like everything here, this has been passed through the, "Can I be bothered" filter. The result is the civil servants actually do nothing more whilst the candidates sit through 10 more questions and another hour of video.

 

Enforcement of the whole gamut of driving regulations by all agencies involved from the Land Transport Dept. to the police and the courts would yield tangible reductions in deaths and serious injury on the roads. However none of the enforcement agencies can be bothered so nothing will change.

 

Whilst I agree with your post you must also factor in the dizzying selfishness/idiocy of the average Thai driver. I say average as I've been driven by some very good Thais. They are unfortunately in the minority.

 

I also don't believe more stringent testing would counter this cultural trait.

[GOLDBUGGY]

5 hours ago, Rorri said:

Still no test of driving skills, on the road, and still no enforcement of road rules. My wife said, what 4 hours training? Get in car and drive, 15 minute.

Mmmmm, seems another failure, but then I don't possess the necessary thainess to understand the logic behind these proposed changes.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said they don't enforce the Road Rules enough. Anyone who has ever driven on a Busy Thai Highway will know the 2 Road Speeds. They are extremely slow or extremely fast. Making it next to impossible to drive the speed limit here. They will also notice there are very few radar traps, although CCTV is becoming more popular. 

 

There is no point in knowing the rules if nobody is going to follow them. They really need to enforce the speed limit more and perhaps with stiffer penalties for speeding. 

[boooker]

It is not Europe simple

[GOLDBUGGY]

5 hours ago, CarolJadzia said:

It's a start, but far from enough to address the problem. 

 

Five hours! Wow. That's still only half a day. Any of the counties the W.H.O suggests have the safest roads require far more training than just five hours. In the UK for example, the average is 30 to 40 hours of professional tuition, while the UK Test has a 60% first time fail rate. 

 

Most countries also require a demonstration of real-world, interactive road driving as part of the test. While Thailand currently does not require any on road tuition or testing whatsoever.

 

60 questions? That's an improvement. But the current standard of theory requires parrot like learning of answers that are often contradictory or do not make sense. Not exactly to the same standard as the Japanese, for example, who require at least one hundred hours of study to pass their Driving Theory test.

 

But at least looking towards better education is a far better approach that the constant focus on helmet and seatbelt enforcement. 

 

More carrot, less stick. 

 

 

I don't know about that. A few years ago my wife took Driver Training from a Private School in Udon Thani as she never drove a car in her life before. I forget the exact times right now but I do recall 1 full day in which they learnt the rules of the road, and had to pass a Written Test. 

 

After that was Practical in which she got to drive a car. I forget exactly now but I think this was 4 or 5 days at 2 hours a day with the instructor where she drove with him in the city. She then did her Road Test and once she passed that, she was issued the equivalent to a Learner License for 1 year (2 years now).

 

To be honest she wasn't the greatest driver on the Road after she first got her license but was a safe one. In fact too safe, as I had to push her to drive past 80 kilometers on the double-lane highway. My point being that there isn't a Driver Training School anywhere, who can prepare an Unqualified Driver into being an Expert, before they get on the road. They need to acquire this by experience and driving. This is why there is a Learner License to begin with.

 

In my view Thailand prepared its new drivers far better than what Canada did, and when I got my license. Thailand even increased this Learner License Period from 1 year to 2 years, in hopes of reducing accidents from new drivers. If you have a traffic violation during this time this learning period is increased or you license taken away. 

 

It is also my view that increasing the time for a new driver to go with an instructor doesn't do much except cost more money and waste time. They need to practice driving on the road with an experienced driver who they would listen to. So a Husband and Wife Team is not the best team under these conditions.  

[dieseldave1951]

6 hours ago, Rorri said:

Still no test of driving skills, on the road, and still no enforcement of road rules. My wife said, what 4 hours training? Get in car and drive, 15 minute.

Mmmmm, seems another failure, but then I don't possess the necessary thainess to understand the logic behind these proposed changes.

and if you fail you can just buy your licence instead

[Thaddeus]

2 hours ago, 1337markus said:

And when do they retest the ones already driving?

 

After the funeral.

[lonewolf99]

I had a driving licence in Qatar when i worked there. I had to read 3 letters about a foot high shown on a wall about 15 feet away shown from a slide porjector... Locals just had to pay money to get the licence.

At the time they had the 6th worlds worst drivers. But since LoS is the hub of all things they are are now going balls out to be officially number one worst on the road.

Libya has the worst record at the moment but that is because you are probably being shot at whilst driving.....

[Artisi]

9 hours ago, Rorri said:

Still no test of driving skills, on the road, and still no enforcement of road rules. My wife said, what 4 hours training? Get in car and drive, 15 minute.

Mmmmm, seems another failure, but then I don't possess the necessary thainess to understand the logic behind these proposed changes.

What logic would that be? 

Possibly fatter brown envelopes. 

[Artisi]

3 hours ago, dieseldave1951 said:

and if you fail you can just buy your licence instead

Or just drive anyway, mai bpen rai.