Comments on the Draft South African Learner Driver Manual Compiled by the Department of Transport of the Republic of South Africa Note: These comments do not concern themselves with all the detailed text in the Manual, but rather with some important issues in relation to the learner s licence test. Definition of driver The manual states that it is for learner drivers, and it defines a driver as follows: any person who drives or attempts to drive any vehicle or who rides or attempts to ride any pedal cycle or who leads any draught, pack or saddle animal or herd or flock of animals, and drive or any like word has a corresponding meaning It is therefore not an information source document for candidates wishing to prepare for the learner s licence test, because such candidates are not yet learner drivers. Based on complaints received from the public, it would appear that the content of Manual is, however, possibly being used a source for setting questions for the learner s licence test. Of concern is that some questions in the learner s licence test relate to topics that are outside the official syllabus for the test. From the National Road Traffic Act Learner s licence test syllabus The South African National Road Traffic Act defines the syllabus for the learner s licence test as follows. 104. Manner and contents on which applicant for learner s licence to be tested and examined (1) An applicant for a learner s licence shall be examined and tested by an examiner for driving licences. (2) The examiner for driving licences shall satisfy himself or herself that the applicant (a) knows and understands (i) the rules of the road; (ii) the road traffic signs; (iii) the controls of a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates; and (b) is not disqualified in terms of section 15 of the Act or regulation 102, before issuing a learner s licence. Page 1 of 7
3) the procedure to be followed by the examiner for driving licences in complying with subregulation (2) shall include the completion by the applicant of the approved Theory Test for Learner s Licence on form TLL as shown in Schedule 2 or the successful completion of an approved Learner s Licence Electronic Test. (4) A person may only do an oral test to obtain a learner s licence if he or she is illiterate and after such a person has obtained the permission of the MEC. REGULATION 104 A person may only do an oral test for a learner s licence if he or she is illiterate and if the MEC has given permission. Electronic learner s licence test may also be used to examine a person for a learner s licence. Preamble to the Rules of the Road, as stated in the Act RULES OF THE ROAD (Section 75) Regulations 296 323 Introduction: The rules of the road encompasses all the general actions and observations a driver must know to be a safe driver on the road. Other drivers on the road expect a driver to know these rules to be able to safely negotiate the actions of fellow drivers. The rules also regulate the actions of pedestrians. Pedestrians have to conduct themselves in a specific manner and may not endanger themselves or drivers on the road. The rules of the road and road traffic signs form the basis of the knowledge of a driver apart from the actual practical driving skills. Regulation No. R.225 17 March 2000 sets out the Rules of the Road Chapter X Rules of the road and matter relating thereto Part I Rules of the road 296. Vehicle to be driven on left side of roadway 296A. Dedicated public transport vehicle occupancy vehicle lanes 297. Driving on divided public road 298. Passing of vehicle 298A. Prohibition on driving on shoulder of public road, except in certain circumstances 299. Crossing or entering public road or traffic lane 300. Driving signals 301. Right of way at certain road junctions 302. Procedure when turning Page 2 of 7
303. Towing of vehicles 304. Stopping of vehicles 305. Parking of vehicles 306. Certain vehicles may be stopped and parked at any place where necessary 307. Compulsory stops 308. General duties of driver or passenger of vehicle on public road 308A. Prohibition on use of communication device while driving 308B. Prohibition on use of television receivers and visual display units in motor vehicles 309. Duties relating to motor cycle or motor tricycle 310. Vehicle causing excessive noise 310A. Use of hooter 311. Riding on pedal cycles 312. Device running on rails 313. Animal on public road 314. Animal-drawn vehicles 315. Pedestrian s right of way in pedestrian crossing 316. Duties of pedestrians 317. Racing and sport on public roads 318. Convoys on public road 319. Hindering or obstructing traffic on public road 320. Vehicle left or abandoned on public road 321. Damage to public roads 322. Trading on public roads 323. Special provisions relating to freeways Part II Driving signals and signals for the control of traffic 324. Left-turn hand signal 325. Right-turn hand signal 326. Use of direction indicators in lieu of hand signals 327. Signal to indicate intention to reduce speed 328. Permissible hand signals 329. Signals for use by traffic officer for control of traffic Part III General 330. Towing of vehicles Page 3 of 7
Section 1 of the Manual: Rules of the Road Regarding the content of the Manual It should be noted that in section 3 above, the Manual includes the words and Components. However, components are not part of the learner s licence test syllabus as specified in the Act [104, (2), (iii) above], though the information may be useful to learner drivers once they have obtained their learner s licence to learn to drive while accompanied by a person holding a valid driving licence. Therefore, any content in the manual that relates to vehicle components, other than the controls, is not part of the learner s licence test syllabus and must not be included in the bank of test questions for that test. Examples of items in this manual that are not part of the syllabus Of note, these items are included under the heading Road Traffic Rules, in Section 1: Rules of the Road, of the Manual. This is clearly misleading as such items do not form part of Rules of the Road as spelled out in the Act. There are known complaints from the public that some of these items have in fact been included in some learner s licence tests. This needs to be corrected. Specifications for vehicle lights and lamps Specifications for number plates Specifications for steering gear Vehicle turning radius Specifications for brakes Windscreen specifications Windscreen wipers Page 4 of 7
Specifications and positioning of exhaust silencers / exhaust pipes Specifications for fuel tank, electrical wiring and battery Engine requirements Emergency warning signs (triangles) Speedometers Overall length of vehicles Overall height of vehicles Overall width of vehicles Conveyance of goods Circumstances under which persons may be carried on goods vehicle Projections/overhang Warning flags/reflectors Specifications for direction indicators Retro-reflectors Yellow reflective material Manner in which a side-car is to be attached to a motorcycle Restriction on combination of vehicles Tyre specifications Accidents The need to have a bonnet on a vehicle over the engine of a car Section 2 of the Manual: Vehicle components and controls The test requirements as specified by the Act for the learner s licence test are: (a) knows and understands (iii) the controls of a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates The Act does not state that a learner s licence test candidate must know and understand how the controls should be used in the driving situation and in combination with one another in certain driving manoeuvres. However, the Manual includes tables of sample questions, as shown on the next page. Page 5 of 7
This begs two questions: 1. If the Manual is for learner drivers, then why would it include any questions at all? Questions would surely be relevant only for candidates for the learner s licence test, who are not yet learner drivers. 2. If the intention is to use the Manual as a source for learner s licence test questions, then why do they expect the candidate to have a knowledge of how the vehicle controls should be used in combination, when this is beyond the test parameters of the Act? This concern applies to light and heavy vehicles, as well as motorcycles. Page 6 of 7
Conclusions 1. There is already a high failure rate in the learner s licence test around the country, and this is without doubt due in part to including in the test some questions on topics that do not form part of the test syllabus as set out in the Act. Those extraneous questions need to be removed from the learner s licence test. 2. The manual is therefore clearly not the appropriate document for candidates who wish to prepare for the learner s licence test. It contains too much extraneous information to clutter the candidate s mind in terms of what the test should cover. 3. While it may be considered desirable that learner drivers should be aware of the additional legislation as included in the manual, this knowledge should not be tested at the learner s licence test stage. Alternative arrangements need to be made to disseminate this knowledge. One option might be, for example, to: a. Include the key points related to legislation covering vehicle equipment and specs in a short one-sheet, 2-page document that accompanies the learner s licence document when it is issued. b. It is said, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Nevertheless, doing it as suggested would reduce ignorance of the law, and help all drivers to know selected aspects of the law to help them be safer and law-abiding drivers in terms of their vehicles. c. Learner drivers would already have learnt and been tested on what they need to know in order to start taking driving lessons. At the learner s licence stage they don t need to know everything that is in the legislation, only what the Act says they need to know. 4. The bottom line: the learner s licence tests need to be brought in line with the requirements of the National Road Traffic Act. 5. An important question is What do we do about the thousands of people who have failed the test as a result of illegal questions being asked in the compuerised test? ----oooo0oooo---- Page 7 of 7