A MINIMUM number of driving lessons may be set as a legal requirement before candidates can take a test, according to Spain's General Directorate of Traffic (DGT).
This would include the theory test as well as the practical, meaning it would no longer be up to the student to decide when he or she felt ready to take the tests.
The move is partly to prevent very inexperienced drivers who are extra-confident and have a good day when they take the test from being let loose in a car on their own when they are not ready – a situation often seen in the UK with pupils booking their tests the day they turn 17 and passing six weeks later after only having had as many weekly lessons.
Also, the DGT reveals that 73% of candidates in Spain fail their first driving test, which is not only demoralising for the student but expensive for them or for their parents – and merely adds to the overwhelming backlog suffered at present, with examiners overstretched and waiting lists for tests set to run into up to six months by the end of this summer.
According to the DGT, part of Spain's ministry of public works: “At present, pupils are free to apply for a test just to see whether they pass, which is causing backlogs in some provincial traffic authorities and, at the same time, means a high number of candidates taking tests when they are not ready.
“More training is needed for driving students – the current failure figures are nobody's fault and everybody's fault at the same time.
“Changes in requirements for pre-test training would hopefully mean that the number of candidates who pass first time is similar to that seen in the rest of Europe.”
The exact minimum number of lessons which will apply has not yet been decided.
