The Grand Tour’s James May has called on the government to extend the two-year validity of driving theory test certificates. His plea comes as many learners have been unable to take driving lessons, or the practical test, during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Leaner drivers with expired theory test certificates have to pay £23 to retake the test. It is claimed that 70,000 people have successfully passed the test, but must take it again due to delays.
There is already a large backlog of people waiting to take their practical driving test – estimated to be eight months long – and May says the government’s refusal to extend theory certificates is adding 332 learners to this queue every day.
James May explained: “I know that the test is both very dull and quite difficult to pass. There’s a large group of – predominantly young – people out there who have successfully passed it and now, through no fault of their own, are going to have to take it all over again – and pay for it again. That’s if they even manage to book a slot.
“Just at a time when they need the most help to get out and get jobs as we emerge from lockdown, I think this is unfair and unreasonable.”
May continued: “The government seems to be arguing that they can’t change the law to extend the validity of theory tests. But that’s exactly what they’ve done in Northern Ireland, and they were quick to extend MOT validity for cars. I’m not sure why they’ve decided to penalise young drivers in this way. Perhaps they just want the money?”
The former Top Gear presenter’s call for action comes as driving lessons are allowed to resume in England and Wales.
High demand for lessons
According to the AA, more than 26,000 people have requested a notification for when lesson booking re-opens. Its Driving School offshoot has seen nearly 177,000 individual searches for driving lessons since December 2020.
“We saw huge demand for driving lessons after the first lockdown last year and anticipate even more people will want to learn to drive this year,” said Robert Cowell, interim managing director of AA Driving School.
“Although instructors met the challenges of their increased workload when the last lockdown ended, learners struggled to book tests and it resulted in further delays. We hope they have learned their lesson and will be releasing more test slots sooner.”
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