Africa-Press – Seychelles. Several new policies that will govern the work of driving instructors and driving examiners were discussed at a meeting yesterday afternoon by the department of Land Transport, in the presence of the instructors and examiners.
Speaking at the Care House, Freedom Square, the department’s director for Policy and Strategy, Bertrand Loze, took on board the main recommendation, which was to allow citizens to go straight to learning how to drive automatic cars, instead of manual.
Mr Loze explained that, the license, when issued, will state clearly that the learner drove in an automatic vehicle and is only allowed to drive automatic. This will also apply to a learner who undergoes training in a manual car.
“This will be viewed at any spot check,” he stated.
With the revision of the policy, the current guidelines state that if anyone starts training in a manual car, they will have to stick to manual.
“If they want to move to automatic, they have to go back and do the relevant tests. However, this is not finalised and is still in discussion,” explained Mr Loze.
Another new policy is that now applicants who apply for their driving license will be doing their theory tests digitally and will be able to see their results upon completion. However, they will not be able to get a hardcopy of the results. “They will be able to view a digital copy to see where they went wrong.”
The policy for driving instructors have also seen a few tweaks. The applicant must have at least 10 years driving of experience. They also need to ensure that the applicant is trained and certified as an examiner and practised for a minimum of seven years compared to the five years, as is the case presently.
Another pertinent issue in the new draft is a revision of the actual questions in the test. The implementation of the new questions is in accordance with the different guidance in place with the Highway Code.
The theory test for provisional license regarding motorcycles will also be different than a normal vehicle. There will be conditions that come with the license including the fact that the driver would not be able to have a passenger in the back.
The policies also emphasise that a learner with an instructor during a session is not allowed to have any passengers.
“It should be the learner and the instructor. There is no place in the policy that will tolerate a third party. There will be consequences once the policy comes into action.”
There will be a final discussion with the department of Land Transport along with a series of informal meetings with the chairperson of the Driving Instructors Association, before the document is finalised.
The director general for Land Transport, Elvis Adrienne, said a few points need to be clarified.
“We have reviewed a lot of things in the policy, and there are a lot of changes on the road which have provided for in the document,” he stated.
He added that with new traffic signs, there is also a need to go back to the theory tests to put much emphasis on the new signs.
“Every driver needs to follow the signs and drivers need to be more conscious.”
Moreover, Mr Adrienne said there is also semi-automatic vehicles to take into consideration, during the discussion of manual and automatic.
The chairperson of the Driving Instructors Association, Margaret Banane, said she was generally satisfied with the meeting although some points could have been discussed further and was looking forward to other meetings before the document is finalised.
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