Allwest Driving School

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Article from West Australian Newspaper today

Western Australian learner drivers are failing their practical driving tests at a rate of more than 150 a day.

The Department of Transport says of the 206,722 tests conducted between January 2014 and December 2015, 110,245 failed.

“The fail rate is around 53 percent… and that’s because the tests these days…are pretty stringent,” said Andrew Lee from the Department of Transport.

The toughest place to pass in the metropolitan area was Joondalup, where 7300 drivers failed since July 2014, followed by Willagee (6174) and Mirrabooka (5753).

Bunbury (2113) and Mount Barker (1163) recorded the highest fail rates in the regions.

Driving instructor Malcolm Robson said he’s not surprised so few are passing, “parents are teaching their kids how to drive, they’re teaching them bad habits. We’re lucky to get them for one or two professional lessons - if that.”

But many of the learners are not teenagers. Figures from the Department show of the 15 people who failed their test ten times or more each, over the past year and a half, the average age was 37, the oldest was 67.

“People are coming in to do their tests and they’re not as prepared as they should be and one of the reasons…is because driving schools are not preparing people as well as they used to,” said Rikki Hendon from the Community and Public Sector Union, which represents driving test assessors.

Ms Hendon said in the past driving instructors gained their qualifications after practical and theory tests by the Department, but now they’re able to gain the same qualification by attending a training course provided by the private sector.

“There are more and more driving schools popping up trying to get into this space, because they see it as a space where the Department of Transport …is trying to get out of it,” Ms Hendon said.

The Department said it “continues to work closely with industry and provides strong oversight of industry standards.”

Jessica Piper, 17, plans to sit her test later this year.

She said the four lessons she’s had with a professional instructor had given her much more confidence than if she’d relied solely on her parents.

The West Australian
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