A Scottish teenager has become the first in the UK to pass his driving test using a SATNAV.
The seventeen years old, Grant Ferguson, ditched his L-plates after passing the revised practical exam with the help of a GPS navigation system.
Ferguson’s Bishopbriggs Driving Test Centre was selected as one of 20 in the UK to trial the new format test, which involves following a route set up on Satnav for the first 20 minutes of the examination.
The driving test centre expects 1000 learner drivers will take part in the revised tests which will continue until the end of the year.
The UK teenager, who sat for driving test on April 27, said “I had been learning to drive for about a month when the opportunity came up to try out the new test. I felt like I was part of an important change.
“Introducing the satnav into the test is about training to make sure that you’re only listening for guidance and not staring at the screen too often.
“I’ll definitely be buying a satnav because that’s what I know and it gives you a bit of freedom to go where you want.
“I’ve wanted to drive for a very long time. I was a bit relieved that I didn’t have to do the reverse around the corner in the test.
“The test is meant to imitate what you’re going to be doing in real life such as reversing into a parking space at the shops.”
It is expected that successful trials could be the biggest shake up of the test since the written theory exam was introduced in 1996.
The changes could see the three-point turn and reversing round a corner scrapped and replaced with manoeuvres such as reversing out of a parking bay and pulling up by the side of the road and then rejoining traffic.
According to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), during the tests candidates will also be asked safety questions while on the move, instead of at the start, and asked to operate switches such as screen heaters.
Drew Nicol, Grant’s teacher at the Popular School of Motoring in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, said “My driving school was one of the first to register for the trial.
“I think it’s a good idea and much more realistic.
“Drivers are using the satnav more and more now as a means of direction and the new test is designed to reflect this.
“The tester will be looking to see, for example, if the driver is looking too much at the satnav instead of listening to it.”
Motoring groups have urged caution in removing manoeuvres like a three-point turn, claiming it can be essential if satnavs lead drivers down a dead end road.
The new test standards are expected to be implemented nationwide in 2016.
