• email article
  • print article
  • small text sizemedium text sizelarge text size
  • comment on this article

Hundreds fail driving test every month

A total of 532 people failed their driving test last month.

Figures given in parliament show that between 400 and 520 failed the test every month this year. The total number of tests was not given.

Last year there were only two months where the number of failures exceeded 500. There were 576 failures in October and 530 in November. This year, there were 520 failures in January, 549 in February, 541 in March and 532 in October.

Transport Minister Austin Gatt said the average number of resits is two.

  • Google Bookmarks Del.icio.us Facebook Blogger YahooMyWeb Digg Reddit Stumbleupon
  • email article
  • print article
  • small text sizemedium text sizelarge text size
  • comment on this article

Comments

Graham Crocker (2 weeks, 2 days ago)
I passed on my first time around, but I had spent an entire year forking out money for it.
Some things that they teach you are ridiculous and you'd go mad if you'd have to drive the way you drive for the exam everyday. Apparently they fail people for stopping when its their right of way, but they don't tell you that if you do, you'd spend a week running around Malta in a rental car while yours gets fixed and that the likely hood of finding a person with integrity & compassion in Malta is very low (anzi I was lucky).

Fix Public Transport, I can't keep risking my life everyday, because the public transport system thinks that people can be stuffed in buses like Sardines.

Maltese driving is very inferior to European, mostly because most Maltese cannot tell the difference between racing in Badger Karting Go karts and driving real cars on Roads.
jimmy attard (2 weeks, 3 days ago)
Unless the examiners are acting on their own as it is true that they feel like Gods, the other reason for such a high rate of failures is the objective to put more money in the GOVT coffers

I have been forking out money for my daughter for driving lessons for nearly a year. Euro 12 for 30 minutes drive plus the fact that I have paid Euro 70 each time for 3 driving tests.

I did not imagine that she would pass from the first test. However in the 3rd driving test ,the examiner gave her a fail as she stopped the car when a road hog came out without warning from a side road. What could she do, ram the car.!!!

Unfortunately I do not have more money to give to my daughter for more driving lessons and other tests. SUR GVERN. Din Zieda mal- ohrajn li qed iggibu lil Haddiem Gharkubtejh!!! u ftakar li jien u hafna ohrajn dejjem ivvotajna PN.
Max Bartolo (2 weeks, 3 days ago)
Driving is becoming worse for a simple reason (in my opinion):

As is well known, a huge amount of unnecessary restrictions are placed on learner drivers and a simple oversight of one of these tiny things results in failure of the test. Like every other test or exam in Malta, students end up studying "ghall-ezami" and, after it seems an average of 3 tries, finally manages to get it 'right'.

The problem lies in the fact that once the license is obtained, very few people drive the way they did for the test, which is understandable as what is expected by the examiners during the test is more often that not, plain absurd. As a result of this, we get drivers who are perfectly capable of driving well but who are so tired and stressed of spending insane amounts of money to do so for the better part of a year or more that they just couldn't care less. You could blame these drivers but, at the end of the day, it's a seriously flawed system which is to blame.

Max Bartolo
http://www.MaltaCarMarket.com
Mario Cachia (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
@Jay Spearing

I fully understand who our fellow 'german friend' is. And yes his verbal abuse is known throughout. Even with males it is the same thing. About his examining skills he fails people for abstract and non-existing reasons. But who can contest that if only you and the examiner are on board the car??

M Saliba (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Poor driving Learner... he or she will keep forking money for the driving lessons and the ADT.

George Xuereb (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
THE STAFF SHOULD BE CHANGED thay are making everything impossible for those who go for the test. they have been there too long now working on the tests and they feel like gods. ADT should change the Test Examiners every 6 months or so. ADT should change the Examiners once every few months so they wont be confident and feel like Gods on work!

AND THERE IS ANOTHER THING THAT THE MINISTER SHOULD INVESTIGATE IF HE IS WELL DOING HIS JOB AS A MINISTER; when someone goes to a driving lesson with an instructor 13 euros for 45 mins or 14 euros for 1 hour and they dont issue a Vat receipt. and another thing, when ADT is only taking LM10 for the test how the driver instructors are asking these poor young learners most of them depend on the stipend 70 or 85 Euros where are the money going to??
A Gauci (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
My daughter has just passed her test - i got the permit and insurance to teach her myself and applied for the exam when I was confident she'd pass - and she did. My only regret is that she had done the test 7 months earlier and failed miserably, after a year of expensive lessons with an instructor. Once I started taking out myself i realised that she had failed for a simple reason - her instructor was guzzling her money but never taught her anything. He'd manage the car himself by using the pedals on his side, so that she had no idea how to operate the pedals when she didn't have his help during the exam!! Vili!! So yes, the examiner was justified in failing her in that case. I have nothing to complain about re the This particular instructor also charged her 70 euro for the test,(which he did not attend) when ADT charge something in the region of 25 euro. Parents, make sure that your children aren't being taken for a ride, if you'll excuse the pun!!
R.Lewis (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Between 400 and 520 failed the test every month. Even if all the maltese drivers had done the test in a month and you have 520 failures its an unacceptable percentige. There must be something very wrong. Either the instructors are not doing their job properly or otherwise someone is after these peoples' money. I heard rumours that now adays in order to obtain your driving license one has to fork out about €700 ( LM300) in driving lessons and test fees. Is it possible that no one from ADT looks deeply into the matter.
J Abdilla (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
I failed my test twice - The first time I was taken to Marsa, and the examiner expected me to go from the lane nearest to Millenia into the furthest lane - this when every single lane was blocked by a huge traffic jam. Besides, I failed because the traffic in the lane I was trying to drive into 'slowed down' according to the examiner, meaning three particularly kind drivers allowed me to drive into the lane they were in. I failed because I have no 'lane discipline' according to him

Experienced drivers might think that I'm ranting but truth is that 500 people failing their tests every month is an exaggerated numbers when most of us have paid €12 a week for at least 5 months. It simply doesn't make sense.
Edward Zammit (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
This is another how shall I say it politely, "twisted scheme" by the ADT maybe it's high time the people start to boycott unfair procedures and authorities, after all fair is fair, just is just, unjust is illegal, and to abide by and respect unjust treatments and practices is utter madness !!!!!!!!
steve elliott,uk (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Is that all. You wouldn't think so judging by the drivers on the road. @U. DAmico, 500 out of 501 ;-))
Charles Micallef (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
@Jay Spearing,

Irrespective at how annoyed you are / were, at this particular examiner because he failed your girlfriend............... violence or threats off are not acceptable in our society and will only get you into trouble!

However having said that, my son came across this particular driving examiner on his first two tests and failed twice, he then did the test for the third time with another examiner and passed with flying colours, He said afterwards that the difference was that first driving instructor's approach was totally wrong for his job and that he made him feel very uneasy from the first time he clapped eyes on him and as everyone knows this makes all the difference!

It could be that there is no longer the incentive of a "cash bonuses" to pass a driving test and hence he wants to get his own way at the system and the students,

It is also about time that some of the driving instructors and their practices are looked into as some exploit their students big time.......!


Marion pace (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
All these failures and we have the worst drivers roaming our street. Also I notice that the majority of careless, stupid and hopless drivers are women. The first women who drove in Malta were the best, but from about ten years ago they are the worst. the lessons are getting longer but the driving is getting worse.
A Brincat (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Why do all these students fail the driving tests? They are made to follow courses for several months before they can make their test. This means extra expense which sometimes translates to extortion. With the hourse these poor students have to pay for they can learn how to fly an aircraft!!!
efrendo (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
You dont have to be a rocket scientist ! Its so obvious....more money channelled back into the coffers.....
pscerri (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
It would help to know how many are taking the test each month!!!
J.Abela (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
So are we acknowledging that something is wrong. correct?

Now, how is it going to be tackled?

OR SHALL WE DECLARE THAT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS NUMERUS CLAUSUS TO AVOID FURTHER TRAFFIC ON OUR ROADS?

Also, what does 'the average number of resits is two' mean exactly? is it calculated hourly, daily or monthly?
Jay Spearing (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Does anybody know where i can report Examiners for unprofessional conduct? It's a knows fact between many instructors and students alike that a particular examiner is not only unfairly strict in his marking schemes, but also puts a lot of excessive pressure before the test actually starts by asking certain technical questions which even professional mechanics might have a hard time answering! He is also very well known for his verbal abuse on students - especially women!

I'd like to see you pick up on someone your size my 'German' friend! I wish i'd need to take the driving test once again if you were my examiner and we would see if you speak to me the same way as you did my girlfriend and still keep all your front teeth!
Paul A Vella (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Could the Minister explain why so many drivers are failing the test nowadays, is it because tests are more stringent and therefore safer than in previous years or is it for financial reasons? We all know just how much driving lessons, driving test applications with the eventual re-sitting of the same tests cost...looks very much like another way of squeezing out some hard earned cash. I know of a case where the driver under test was not even told which way they would be driving...only to be then told to make a sharp turn a few metres away from a curve, resulting in a failed test. Why aren't drivers under test told which direction they would be driving, giving them a route to take in the same way motorcyclists are tested?
In this way all drivers would know which route they would be taking before driving off, very much in the same way a normal driver would plan his journey.
James Wightman (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
An experienced friend of mine in his 40's recently re-took his motorcycle test because he had forgotten to renew his existing license. he failed on the basis, and these were the examiners own words apparently 'because a car nearly ran him over'? Surely wasn't that the car's fault? If thats the case I worry very seriously about the examiners judgement.

Why do they follow motorcycles in cars? Why not another examiner on a bike too - at least they can judge on a level playing field, no?
mario gellel (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
Another hidden way for the govt to make money. Making all First time drivers fail and do the test more than once.
U. DAmico (2 weeks, 4 days ago)
500 out of?

Poll

Was the budget good for Malta?

  • yes
  • no
  • don't know
  • don't care


View results

Fun Stuff


Play Sudoku