Taking a hard turn: driving tests toughened up on the mainland
Mainland driving licences are about to become a lot harder to get, with the introduction of new standards designed to improve road safety.
Besides driving skills, applicants will have to demonstrate knowledge of practical emergency response manoeuvres, and first-aid and 'self-rescue' techniques, according to a regulation released at the weekend by the Ministry of Public Security.
'The testing of drivers should be improved; the difficulty of tests should be enhanced; supervision and management of the test content and procedure should be reinforced ... to improve drivers' safety awareness and skills, and their ability to alleviate injuries after accidents,' the regulation said.
Learners have to take at least 60 hours of practical tuition to qualify for a car licence, and up to 98 hours for other vehicles. In addition to the theoretical exams on traffic regulations and basic car mechanics, applicants have to show they can get a vehicle in and out of a garage and drive it around a test track.
Wang Chen , 27, said the present test's simulated road conditions were so different from the real traffic environment that she had not dared to drive in Beijing since getting her licence more than a year ago.
'We were only tested on the basic things: starting a car, accelerating, slowing down, parking, driving up a slope, down the slope and abiding by the traffic lights,' Ms Wang said.
Jia Lizhu, 54, a professional driver with 32 years of experience, said that when she started learning to drive in 1973, it took her seven months of full-time study just to get a learner's licence.
'You learned to perfect your skills in the first half year. My 'masters' in the latter half of the year mainly taught me how to judge situations and make quick decisions,' she said.
She said many of the traffic accidents today were just 'ridiculous'.
More than 98,000 people were killed and 470,000 injured in about 450,000 traffic accidents on the mainland last year, causing economic losses of 1.8 billion yuan, ministry data shows.
