Many people oppose the driving simulation test, Vietnam Road Administration says it will revise it

The driving test using software that simulates traffic situations is one of four tests that car driving students must pass to get a driver's license.

In the simulation test, candidates will watch a scenario played on the screen and press the space bar when a dangerous moment occurs.

Candidates who press space at the right moment will get the maximum score (5 points) and the score will decrease to 4, 3, 2, 1 when pressing later. If the moment of pressing space deviates from the above score range (pressing too late or too early), the candidate will get 0 points.

Many students said they lost points unfairly because the software was unclear and more of a puzzle than a reality.

ReplyRegarding this issue, Mr. Luong Duyen Thong, Head of Vehicle and Driver Management Department (Vietnam Road Administration) said that the Administration has made adjustments and students will learn the new software from the beginning of next February.

"The Department has adjusted to clarify the situations, and has also asked the design unit to redo the blurred images to make them clearer and easier to recognize. The content of the 120 situations remains unchanged, but the time to recognize the situation will also be adjusted," said Mr. Thong.

According to Mr. Thong, the simulation software in the driving license exam was deployed by the Department of Roads from June 15, 2023. At first, the passing rate was not high, only about 40 - 50% because learners were not familiar with it and the time to understand the situation was also short.

After that, the department adjusted it once, currently, the rate of students meeting the requirements is about 80%, just counting the simulation test alone.

The representative of the Roads Department also emphasized that the purpose of the driving simulation test is not to require students to have the skills to handle situations, but to help them recognize what constitutes an unsafe traffic situation.

Mr. Luong Duyen Thong also said that driving simulation software has been applied in many countries around the world and is effective.

Since November 2021, the Department of Roads has transferred scenarios and simulation situations in the software to training facilities to guide students in courses, and then put them into service for testing 6 months later.

"This is purely a recognition test, and there has been training and instruction so there is no need for a pilot test.", Mr. Thong said.

After more than 5 months of implementation, the Vietnam Road Administration has coordinated with the Departments of Transport, experts, scientists and software development units to adjust and upgrade the software to simulate traffic situations, organize training and guide the Departments of Transport, training facilities and testing centers to update the software.

Adjusted contents include:

1. Adjust situation graphics: Re-graphic some situations with blurry, low-resolution images to improve image quality, helping learners to observe and identify situations more easily.

2. Change software features:

a) Review software: 3 more features

- Add and display the name of each situation for learners to recognize

- Added buttons to switch to Previous/Next scenarios and Show score bars and flags for each scenario

- The mock test interface is designed like the test interface so that students can get familiar with it.

b) Examination software:

- Increase the countdown time (break) between situations from 3s to 10s to give students more preparation time.

- Adjust to not allow double-clicking on the video; when opening the software, the interface takes up the entire screen, not displaying the Windows taskbar

- Extend the scoring time frame (from 5 points to 0 points) to help learners have more time to recognize and operate the computer keyboard.

The software will be updated by training facilities and testing centers for students to practice, and is expected to be officially used for testing from February 1, 2024.