Consumer body demands transition time for driving schools as automated test failures soar

A consumer rights organisation in Coimbatore has urged the government to provide driving schools with adequate time to set up training facilities for the new Automated Driving Test Tracks (ADTT), citing extremely high failure rates among licence applicants. The Coimbatore Consumer Cause highlighted that nearly 90% of four-wheeler applicants and 30% of two-wheeler applicants fail the automated test at the 12 Regional Transport Offices where the system has been introduced.

In a petition, the organisation argued that the automated system places applicants at a serious disadvantage because most driving schools lack the necessary training infrastructure. Many schools currently provide training only on public roads, leaving applicants unprepared for the precision manoeuvres required to pass the automated test.

K. Kathirmathiyon, Secretary of the consumer body, called for a reasonable transition period for driving schools to create the required infrastructure. He also recommended that no new driving school licence be granted unless the prescribed training track is established. 'The outcome of the new system, aimed at improving road safety, can only be realised when learners are given adequate opportunities to practise under conditions similar to the actual test,' he said.

In a related development, the Tamil Nadu Light and Heavy Driving School Welfare Association obtained a stay order from the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, temporarily halting the enforcement of the automated system. The writ petition, filed by Association Secretary A. John Martin, sought a directive to the Transport Commissioner to enlarge the width of the intermediate two straight lines in the H-track and to restrain transport authorities from insisting on testing in the H-track until modifications are made.