IMPROVEMENTS TO THE QSAFE PRACTICAL DRIVING TEST – EFFECTIVE 29 JUNE, 2015

Improvements to the practical driving test – as notified by Queensland Transport

 

From 29 June 2015 an enhanced practical driving test (also known as Q-SAFE) will commence across Queensland.

The enhanced test will apply to practical tests for cars, heavy vehicles and motorcycles.

The major enhancements, placing a stronger emphasis on high-risk manoeuvres and safe driving skills and behaviours, include:

·         Introducing zero tolerance to speeding whereby a critical driving error will be applied for any level of speeding, reflecting the fact that it is against the law to speed over the posted speed limit in any circumstances.

·         Increasing the significance of not maintaining an appropriate following distance and not displaying appropriate hazard perception by introducing a specific repeat driving error for both criteria—resulting in a fail if a person commits the same error 4 times.

·         Introducing highly desirable drive situations such as high speed merging, to be assessed if the infrastructure and/or traffic conditions are available. In areas where infrastructure does not allow for a high speed merge, a left or right turn from a side road into a higher speed road is recommended as an alternative.

·         Reducing the minimum number of manoeuvres required to be assessed from 3 to 2. The current selection of manoeuvres will be retained are turn around, U-turn, hill start, automatic gear change, reversing exercise and reverse park—1 of the manoeuvres must have a reversing component.

·         Strengthening the criteria to specifically prescribe the minimum number of right and left turns that must be completed at certain intersection types—such as T-section and cross road intersections.

The enhanced Q-SAFE practical driving test also places a greater emphasis on the driving examiners providing meaningful feedback to the candidate at the end of the test.

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/licensing/getting/tests/index.html#improvement

Late inclusions to this post  letters & articles in the Cairns Post