AA accused of hypocrisy over tourist driver testing

The Automobile Association has launched a computerised test site for foreign drivers, just months after telling a parliamentary select committee that it was not practical to test foreign drivers before they drive in this country.

The AA claims its site is aimed at educating, rather than testing, foreign drivers, but the front page of the site states: "You will be presented with a number of driving scenarios and asked to choose the correct answer on what to do next using multiple choice questions."

Successful candidates are given a certificate, which entitles the driver to a discount at rental firms.

Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson, who edits the car review website dogandlemon.com, says the AA’s position is hypocritical.

“If, as the AA has stated publicly, it's not practical to test foreign drivers before they rent vehicles, why is the AA running a site that tests foreign drivers before they rent vehicles?

Matthew-Wilson says competency tests should be compulsory for all foreign drivers, not just volunteers.

“Many tourists are driving on fake licences. Does the AA seriously believe that these drivers are going to voluntarily submit to a test that reveals they don’t know how to drive?”

“Many tourists from India and Pakistan see life and death as a matter of chance. They see no value in studying the driving conditions in another country because they don't believe it’s possible to control their fate. The only time these drivers will sit any kind of test is if it’s compulsory.”

Matthew-Wilson adds:

“The biggest danger of voluntary online tests such as this one, is that they give the illusion that something is being done about the danger from tourist accidents, when, in reality, it’s another well-intentioned distraction from the real issues."

“For example, the AA knows that there have been multiple fatal accidents which have occurred within 24 hours of tourists arriving in this country. The AA knows that it’s really dangerous to drive while tired, yet the AA has never supported my call to ban tourists renting vehicles within 24 hours of arriving in this country."

Matthew-Wilson gave the example of Hong Kong national Shu Na Lo, 27, who killed his mother and seriously injured his sister after falling asleep behind the wheel of a rental car he had hired directly after arriving from a flight from Australia.

“Would this driver have taken a voluntary online test? I seriously doubt it. He was taking a whirlwind foreign holiday that ended in tragedy. Worst of all, this is yet another fatal accident that might never have happened if the driver hadn’t been allowed to rent a car so easily. It's also highly likely that a compulsory computerised test, such as the one I have repeatedly proposed, would have blocked him from renting a car.”

ends

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