Almost everyone passes the driving test in Inverell. In Willoughby and Ryde, most people fail

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Almost everyone passes the driving test in Inverell. In Willoughby and Ryde, most people fail

By Andrew Taylor

It might pay to shop around when choosing where to take the practical driver’s licence test. Would-be drivers in Sydney are far more likely to fail the test than those in regional NSW.

More than 126,000 people failed the driving test in the past 12 months – a failure rate of 43 per cent – with Sydney candidates flunking at higher rates than their regional counterparts.

Inner West residents recorded a 62 per cent pass rate for the practical driver’s licence test over the past 12 months.

Inner West residents recorded a 62 per cent pass rate for the practical driver’s licence test over the past 12 months.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Data from Transport for NSW shows 93 per cent of drivers from the Inverell local government area in northern NSW passed their driving test.

Drivers from Glen Innes Severn (81 per cent), Tweed, Gwydir and Hay (79 per cent), Gilgandra and Oberon (78 per cent) and Orange (77 per cent) also passed with comparable flying colours.

In several parts of Sydney, however, more drivers failed the driving test than passed, with Willoughby (47 per cent), Cumberland (48 per cent), Ryde (49 per cent), Strathfield and Fairfield (50 per cent) recording the lowest pass rates.

On the Central Coast, 68 per cent passed the test, followed by the Blue Mountains (67 per cent), Camden (65 per cent), Sutherland Shire (63 per cent) and Inner West (62 per cent).

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the driving test was “the last chance to filter people out”. “We want it to be safe but these sorts of inconsistencies between local government areas bordering each other don’t make a lot of sense,” he said.

Khoury decried the idea of aspiring drivers travelling to parts of NSW where it appeared to be easier to pass a driving test. “What we don’t want to happen is people all driving to Inverell to sit exams up there,” he said.

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A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the practical driving test is designed to produce consistent results regardless of who is conducting the test, the test route, location and prevailing traffic conditions.

Pass rates may be influenced by the number of people seeking a modified driver’s licence due to age or medical conditions or converting an interstate or international licence, she said. “It may also be that the prevalence of professional driving lessons may impact on driver test pass rates.”

NSW has a graduated licensing scheme requiring drivers to meet various conditions – such as 120 hours of supervised driving – before obtaining a full licence.

Khoury said the overall 57 per cent pass rate for the driving test suggested there were issues with driving training – including access to lessons – that needed attention.

“If a majority of kids are showing up at Willoughby and failing, what are we doing to address that?” he said.

University of Sydney engineering PhD student Jacob Elmasry said it was generally difficult to achieve perfect consistency among multiple examiners.

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“In a practical test, some things – for example, whether or not the student is driving exactly to the speed limit – are down to the observation skills of the examiners,” he said. “Some may be less observant than others. Others may be more willing to let things go.”

Elmasry said rural drivers might pass the driving test at higher rates because they start driving before the age of 16, and it was easier to drive in the country.

“Urban driving has a lot of traffic lights, school zones and general traffic whereas rural roads are usually wider and less occupied,” he said. “I also think it is likely that rural examiners are more relaxed [or] forgiving than urban examiners.”

Elmasry said it would be good to know what the government was doing to reduce variability between driving examiners: “Bias will always be there, but we try to reduce its impact as much as possible.”

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Data from Transport for NSW also shows 233,584 people – 72 per cent – passed the knowledge test in the past 12 months, but there was wide variation in failure rates by area.

Twenty per cent of people sitting the knowledge test in Hornsby, Ryde, The Hills and Willoughby failed, while in Ku-ring-gai the figure was 18 per cent.

In contrast, the failure rate was more than double that in regional areas such as Balranald (48 per cent), Bourke (52 per cent), Broken Hill (42 per cent), Coonamble (49 per cent) and Inverell (50 per cent).

Elmasry cited socioeconomic factors for the differing results in the knowledge test.

“It doesn’t really test your knowledge of driving as much as it tests your ability to prepare for the test,” he said. “My expectation would be that people in wealthier suburbs can afford to spend more time studying for the exam and so are likely to have a higher success rate.”

Western Australian Centre for Road Safety Research director Teresa Senserrick said the pass rate may vary between regions because of differences in the amount of traffic, speed limits and weather conditions.

“Pass rates can also differ due to the nature of the candidates, such as whether some rush in too early when not fully ready for the test,” she said.

She said research shows candidates are more likely to pass driving tests when they have logged the recommended high number of supervised practice driving hours.

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