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The Highway Traffic Safety Authority has admitted that 484 driving tests were canceled last week for weather-related reasons, including unsafe conditions, ice and snow at test centers.
However, it has categorically rejected claims that driving tests were “arbitrarily” canceled due to freezing temperatures, but said customers whose tests were affected by adverse weather conditions will be offered a retest at no charge.
Earlier, the Unite union, which represents around 85 mostly self-employed driving instructors, accused the RSA of canceling driving tests because the weather is too cold, at a time when essential workers are unable to get tests due to delays.
Unite said the latest figures suggest there is a backlog of about 64,000 driving tests, with wait times skyrocketing from six weeks a year ago to about 25 weeks today.
The RSA acknowledged that some tests in which the customer said they could not attend due to dangerous conditions were canceled, while some did not proceed because the tester could not perform them due to “vehicle conditions”.
It noted that the test drivers were conducting test drives “in extraordinarily difficult conditions in the current Covid-19 environment.”
He pointed out that the test is carried out in a closed space for a period of more than 15 minutes, where physical distancing is impossible.
To mitigate the risk, it has implemented several controls to protect both testers and customers, including the introduction of “natural ventilation” in the car.
“Windows must remain open to allow air circulation while driving. This is for the safety of both the tester and the customers, a responsibility RSA takes very seriously,” the agency says.
“Driving tests are only canceled when leaving the windows open and continuing the test would mean that conditions would deteriorate to such an unacceptable level that it would be impossible to take a driving test,” he said.
“Both the driver’s tester and the customer conducting the test must be able to safely perform the test. In conditions where a customer is trying to drive in excessively cold conditions and their ability to drive the vehicle is simply compromised, it is not a safe environment in which to test. It is a health and safety issue that RSA and its testers take very seriously, “said RSA.
Unite’s approved driving instructors branch president Dominic Brophy said: “We have been receiving multiple reports from ADI that testing, for essential workers, is being canceled because RSA testers feel it does.” too cool “to slightly roll down the windows (which is part of their Covid security protocols) for a test.”
“The delay is big enough as it is, without canceling tests without good reason, especially for the essential workers we all depend on during this pandemic,” he added.
Brophy said the union had been seeking meaningful engagement with relevant ministers and the RSA for months, adding that driving instructors and students awaiting their exams had had enough of being teased and treated like they didn’t matter.
“If RSA believes that it is appropriate to waste the time of frontline and essential workers during a pandemic, then something must change dramatically,” he said, calling on the Department of Transportation to intervene.
Unite says it represents around 85 driving instructors, who are not public servants, but are freelancers, franchisees or may work for a driving school.
A union spokesperson said that many apprentice drivers rent their instructor’s car for examination, primarily so that the instructor can be their accompanying driver, which is a legal requirement.
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