Report: UK politicians moving to ban foreign-language driving tests
 

Filed under: Government/Legal, UK

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The United Kingdom currently offers interpreters or foreign voice-overs on its driving tests, a service that over 77,000 people took advantage of in 2012. But concerns over cheating and the ability of foreign-speaking drivers to actually read and recognize English roadsigns without the aid of an interpreter have the UK's coalition government taking steps towards eliminating aid for foreign languages in driver's training.

According to surveys, the move is supported by 70 percent of the British public, with Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin explaining, "We want to make sure that all drivers have the right skills to use our roads safely and responsibly and one way we cand do this is by requiring all test candidates to take the test in English or Welsh."

Part of the push for change comes from the arrest of Allyson Ng, a Chinese translator that was locked up for a year for providing test answers to Chinese-speaking applicants. Foreign speakers can currently take the test in 19 different languages, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Stephen Hammond, the UK's Road Safety Minister, has been at the forefront of the campaign, which is slated to kick off in February. Let us know what you think down in Comments.UK politicians moving to ban foreign-language driving tests originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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