Learners may be allowed to swerve driving school
Print Edition
LONG-AWAITED reforms that will allow people to sit their driving test after learning by themselves or being taught by friends and relatives are under discussion, the Ministry of Public Security’s public order regulation department said yesterday.
At present, attendance at a driving school is mandatory before learners sit their test.
While the system is designed to provide a way for traffic authorities to control the number of new drivers hitting the roads each year, it has also been widely accused of breeding a culture of bribery.
Several learner drivers told Shanghai Daily that instructors asked them to buy “insurance” for their tests, a euphemism for a bribe.
The sum was often more than 1,000 yuan (US$163), they said.
Learners are usually not told where their “insurance” money goes, but many said they thought it probably ended up in the pockets of the officials who monitor the theory test or the police who conduct the driving exam.
In September, 22 people from a vehicle administration department that monitors 40 driving schools in the Shijiazhuang, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, were found to have taken millions of yuan in bribes for manipulating driving test results.
The administration chief was found to have received nearly 3 million yuan in graft payments, while a part-time worker was paid almost 300,000 yuan, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
The corruption problem prompted the ministry to instigate a thorough reform of the system to weed out corruption and eliminate flaws, Vice Minister Huang Ming said yesterday.
The driving test must be completely open and transparent, as well as being efficient and effective, he said.
Once the connection between authorities and the tests is broken, candidates will have more choice, he said.
Calls for reform from the public have often been driven by allegations that official instructors teach students only how to pass the exams, without giving them any real experience of driving on the road.
Newly qualified drivers often complain of being unable to park as they have never done so without the help of guidelines painted on the ground. As a result, they have to turn to parents or friends for further training.
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