In the current British practical driving test, serious or dangerous faults are those judged to involve potential or actual danger respectively, and a single such fault results in test failure. As part of a wider project to review the driving test, TRL conducted a study of test-retest reliability. Candidates who had already booked a driving test were asked if they would be willing to take a second test within a few days of the first. Participants agreed not to be told the result of the first test, or given any feedback on how they had done, until after they had completed the second. At the end of the second test they were issued with a pass certificate if they had passed either or both the tests. Results showed that test and retest outcomes differed for a substantial proportion of candidates. The paper argues that inconsistent performance on the part of the candidate is likely to explain much of this apparent unreliability, and discusses implications for the design of driving tests. For the covering abstract see ITRD E113725 (C 22328 CD-ROM).
Abstract