New law to clamp down on driving test bots
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn09v4d2xe7o
Posted by Jared_Usbourne
New law to clamp down on driving test bots
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn09v4d2xe7o
Posted by Jared_Usbourne
20 Comments
Why does there need to be a law? Just tie the driving test to a valid provisional license ID, and ensure that one license can’t book multiple tests.
It’s not hard.
The actual DVLA system is flawed. Fix the fucking system.
Feel like I’m having a stroke reading this. Guess nobody proof read it before sending it out as “breaking news”.
> Only learner drivers will be able to book driving tests as part plans aimed at reducing long waiting lists and preventing slots being sold at inflated prices.
> Transport Secretary said limiting third parties would be banned from reselling slots and stop people being “exploited” by online bots.
> but Heidi Alexander told MPs on the Transport committee that waiting times for driving tests would not be brought down to seven weeks by summer 2026.
> She said the government as well as changing the law on who could book tests, examiners from the Ministry of Defence will be brought in to try to reduce the backlog.
The fact that they think this needs legislation is an admission of how incapable DVLA are really. Senior management in that organisation need to be moved on, they treat their staff like shit and can’t even get systems that limit bookings.
It’s annoying how slow the government are, this has been an issue for years and they are now only coming up with solutions (other than more tests) that will take a while to implement
>The Department for Transport said 36 defence driving examiners will be brought in to conduct tests one day week for a year, at an estimated cost of £100,000.
Doesn’t that seem a little low? 36 people working 7.5 hours a week for 52 weeks is 14,040 hours, even at minimum wage that should cost significantly more than their estimate.
Why can’t they just tie bookings to a provisional licence, and make it so each licence can only have 1 booking at a time.
We dont need a law, just make it so that only the testee can change dates and times.
These changes will help but I think for a more permanent fix they should really think about raising the price of booking a test. You can use the extra revenue to fund more examiners and also people will be less likely to book a test when they aren’t ready so would have a better pass % and lower the backlog.
It’s also better for those doing the tests as it’s better to spend £100 on 1 test than £140+ on 2 or more.
As someone who’s trying to become a driving instructor… I can tell you why people normally have to wait +6 months for a test.
It’s because examiners get paid minimum wage. You’d think the logical step for a driving instructors career path would to become an examiner but they would be taking a pay cut doing that.
Why would anyone want to be an examiner for minimum wage risking their lives with students they have never met. They also have work at a set of different test centres in any region. How fun.
High IQ from these guys. Adding limits to moving tests especially for location stops people getting a test down in timbuktu and moving it local. Potentially forcing most testgoers to just wait until a test local to them shows up as not all of them will travel.
This would visually make the system ease up and look a tad better, but you’d still have a ton of learners that want to book but literally just can’t. Out of sight out of mind I guess.
Are bots also applying for and receiving provisional driving licenses?
It doesn’t need a legislation. It needs one afternoon and a capable dev to implement simple checks and rate limits.
It’s been about 6 years since I used one of these apps and even then I was surprised that the booking system didn’t have more protection against bots. It’s fairly basic stuff that would solve the problem.
A fairly implemented waitlist system would also make a difference.
The impression I get is there is some technical debt somewhere that stops this working (maybe something in the DVLA system that mashes away like a bot itself). I use another DVLA/DVSA system that shuts down at midnight – doesn’t inspire confidence.
How can slots be sold? Surely original reservation is for a person who’d name can’t be changed after reservation?
It’s mad that this needs a law.
Just make it so you cannot transfer the appointment to someone else. You have to put down your license number when booking and if you cannot attend it’s just cancelled. The only reason people have set up bots to profit from this is because they can sell the lesson slot. You don’t need a law to fix a shitty booking system
I’ve just given up getting a driving licence in the UK.
It’s more than just a bot problem.
Between 2020-21 the dvsa carried out 1.33 million fewer tests than precovid standard (taking 2019 as a standard year).
Between 22-24 they carried out 556 thousand more tests than the pre covid standard.
Meaning that as a country we are still 771 thousand tests behind.
They are in track to clear another 275k of the backlog this year.
If they keep that rate up, they will have cleared the backlog by end of 2028.
There are too many people waiting to be able to book a test.
Interestingly the pass rate is about the same as pre covid, being just below 50%. Meaning that on average people pass on their second attempt.
If this could be improved to 75%, then with more candidates passing first time, the backlog could be cleared by mid 2027.
But too many candidates are waiting 5-6 months for their test, they are not ready to pass, but attempt it anyway, rather than cancelling and rebooking, knowing they have to wait another 5-6 months.
It’s really hard to know when you are 6 months away from being ready to pass.
If they brought the booking window right down to 4 weeks, meaning you can’t book more than 4 weeks in advance, and made it so only the canister can book, then you would get people attempting their test when they are ready, and the pass rate should go up, reducing the back log quicker
I must be missing something here. How hard can It be.
Make it more rigorous for ADIs to bulk book tests
Allow individuals to book further in advance than ADIs
Even consider allowing tests at more times and fund it by making them more expensive at anti-social hours or at weekends or whatever so they can get more examiners
So a problem which is preventing ~2% of the adult population being able to drive to work/school/the shops, and is seriously impacting productivity…
And the government decides to spend £100,000 to not-really-solve it… Which is 0.000003% of GDP….
Doesn’t it look like they are underinvesting considering the size of the impact/benefit?