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Learners could face personality tests

Learner drivers could soon be undergoing personality tests to see if they are more likely to take risks on the road.

Road safety charities are calling for the psychometric tests which they claim would allow instructors to spot those who were more likely to jump red lights or break speed limits.

Robert Gifford, director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: "What one would want to do is - in addition to the multiple choice questions that there are in the theory test at the moment - we would give people a series of value judgements.

"It would be a way of picking up their underlying values rather than just the facts that they have at their disposal, which are a series of multiple choice questions."

The learners could then receive training from their examiners to modify their behaviour.

The idea has been welcomed by the Brake road safety charity.

A spokeswoman said: "One of the weaknesses of the driving tests is that it only tests your skills. Possibly somebody is a fantastic driver but they have the attitude to test those skills to the limit on the road.

"If there could be some way of measuring how much of a risk taker somebody is likely to be, including that in the test would do a lot for safety."

But the RAC Foundation said young learners should be taught about road safety at a much earlier age rather then at 17 or 18.

Executive director Edmund King took an opposing view, he said: "We accept we have to do more about young drivers who are most at risk on the roads.

"We are not opposed to new ideas but the concept of psychometric testing is not the solution and a bit of a gimmick, we would like to see prior training in education."

The proposal was criticised by Paul Smith, founder of organisation Safe Speed, who said road safety was a "complex matter of individual risk management".

He added: "We could write a million rules, obey them perfectly, and still fail to observe someone stepping into the road ahead."

The Driving Standards Agency is carrying out a review of driver testing and once this is complete the proposals will be put out to consultation.

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Paul Smith
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