Sir,
Recently my friend, who has been driving two-wheelers and four-wheelers since more than forty years, failed in the automated driving testing track to check the driving skill. He could not renew his driving licence as he failed in “reverse ‘S’ test.”
In the reverse ‘S’ test the driver has to drive backwards in the direction of the arrow mark on a track shaped like the English alphabet ‘S.’ There are 27 poles positioned to mark the track edges on either side. The time limit for this test is 120 seconds. The candidate knocking down not more than six poles and completing the test within the stipulated time will be considered pass.
Now there are a few points to ponder over this test:
The track width is suitable for a small car. My friend used his own sedan for the driving test and got disqualified. Depending upon the vehicle size, the side poles need to be shifted.
Is time limit necessary for reverse driving ? More than 90 percent of the public appearing for the driving test are not going to exhibit their skills in a car racing track.
Whatever new rules are implemented it should be public-friendly and should not be a tool to harass the public.
Most of the senior citizens taking the driving skill test are dependent upon their self-driving, to use their own four-wheelers for their personal use.
The RTO may initiate some modifications in the driving skill test without compromising on the actual and practical skill required for driving.
– K. Chandrahas, Mysuru, 10.10.2021
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The 4 wheeler track is nothing but a ridiculous test. Reverse S driving test with 5 m mean radius. Most of the cars today have turning radius of 5.5 m or more. They are testing in the reverse – how often do you have to go in reverse for so long? The parallel parking box is also meant for small cars. This test does nothing to test the driving skill. It is deliberately designed to harass the public. There will be a huge shortage of drivers in the future. Drivers are among the weaker section. This is a reasonable means of income. Poor people will have even less jobs. Wasted crores of tax payers money to render more poor people jobless.