Foreigners without knowing English clear UK driving test
According to Daily Express documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the 10,330 learner drivers passed the driving test with interpreters sitting in the back seat relaying instructions in their local language.
There are number of facilities provided by Driving Standards Agency (DSA) to the people who don’t understand English language. Foreign drivers are not capable of reading instructions on road signs written in English. The DSA has provided special facilities for those people, who are unable to understand English. All these facilities need to be requested at the time of booking your theory test. There are theory test practice study material available that can help to clear driving test.
Ministers are also worried about the safety implications of providing driving license to number of people who do not speak English and cannot read road signs.
Transport minister Mike Penning said: “I find it incredible that Labour thought it was a good idea to let people without Basic English loose on our roads. Road safety should be our priority, not political correctness”.
“Instead of spending taxpayers’ money on costly translation services and interpreters we want to explore whether that money would be better spent on actually helping people to learn enough English to be able to drive safely”.
Driving Standards Agency said: “We are review the level of foreign language support currently provided for drivers. Any changes to the current measures would be subject to a full public meeting”.
The Driving Standards Agency website tells drivers that it is their responsibility to arrange an interpreter, who must be at least 16, and pay for the service.
The rules currently allow the theory test to be sat in 21 foreign languages. People are also permitted to attend the practical test with a translator.
If your first language is not English, or you can not read or understand written English well, you can request a voiceover in one of 21 languages(Albanian, Gujarati, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Punjabi, Pushto, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, Cantonese, Dari, English, Farsi, Kashmiri, Kurdish, Mirpuri, Polish, Portuguese, Welsh). A voiceover allows you to hear the theory test instructions and questions through headphones. The questions will automatically be read out to you, you can hear the answer options by touching the text on the screen. You can hear the questions as many times as you like, you simply need to touch the text of the question onscreen again.
It is cleared from the recent survey conducted by DSA people who don’t have basic knowledge of English still book theory test and pass the driving theory test in UK. There might be a possibility that DSA will allow English as a compulsory language in future.
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