Helping Someone - The Driving Theory Test

Hi rambler,

Not sure if anyone has addressed this matter but my son has been revising for the theory test and discussed some of his incorrect answers with me.

One question bothered me. It said: You are driving on an open road in dry weather. What distance should you keep from the vehicle in front? A two second time gap, One car length, Two metres (6 feet 6 inches) or Two car lengths. The answer was Two Seconds.

Firstly; I was not happy that out of the four answers, the only one that was not a distance was the correct answer. When it clearly asked "what distance" not time.

Secondly; The question used the term "open road" this is a very ambiguous term that is not used at all in the highway code, meaning one would have to draw from their own knowledge, if any, as to what is meant by it.

Finally; The only place distance is referred to in the highway code is rule 126 which states: "Allow at least a two-second gap between you and the vehicle in front on high-speed roads and in tunnels where visibility is reduced." 

The question did not state that you are travelling on an high speed road or in a tunnel.

I have written to the government website that provides the practice questions but I was interested if anyone else had found similar issues.

I stated that the theory test is meant to test a person's knowledge of the highway code and NOT their questioning formats and that I feel that this question, and possibly others were designed to mislead people so they would fail and have to pay to be tested again.

Its all very well that one can apply for an adjustment on the test but an explanation of the terminology would not be provided and if one was fortunate enough to have someone re-word questions, would they be able to reword it in a way that would remove the disadvantage?

I feel that all the questions should worded using direct speach and directly linked to the wording in the highway code.

Did you make any progress with your student?

Xx

I am returning to this inquiry because I was briefly transferred out of this co-worker's department, but I have returned in a different capacity - and he is no further along. He has now taken the test 6 times with no success. 

Julia Malkin MBE, who was consulted on the test questions with regards to autistic comprehension, has suggested that wording may be a problem. A petition over at ipetitions.com quotes this from her: "Here is an example which is a classic source of confusion.  It asks, 'It is a good idea to plan your journey to avoid busy times.  This is because...' and the four answers are, A. the vehicle will use more fuel; B. you will see less road works; C. it will help to ease congestion; D. you will travel a much shorter distance. The answer, of course, is C.


This question is what is known as an 'elliptical question' -  it sounds like a statement because it doesn't end with a question mark, and says the first half of a sentence expecting you to provide the other half.  This is one of the hardest questions for a person with AS to understand. On top of this, the question is worded incorrectly. My AS pupil answered 'A' because - if you did go out in busy times, your vehicle would indeed use more fuel.  The key word he'd missed out was 'avoid' which needed to be stressed more if the question was reworded. My translation of this question to my AS pupil was, 'How would it be beneficial if you were not to drive at busy times?'  In classic question style, with all confusion removed, he answered it correctly at once."

I have asked me co-worker about this, and we agree it sounds very familiar; I think the way the questions are phrased is what throws him. Is there are resource specifically for autistic people who are struggling with the driving theory test? Perhaps a strategy for reading and interpreting questions? I know they are supposed to be difficult, but as the autistic comunity is a relatively large one I thought it might be worth asking if anyone had any advice.

I beg your pardon, I didn't mean to offend you. I was referring to terminology from "Asperger's For Dummies", which cites autism generally as a "developmental disorder" (some exemplary subsets of which are "Childhood disintergrative disorder", sometimes called "regressive autism", and "Pervasive developmental disorder"). Strangely enough, the author of the book from which I took these phrases (Gina Gomez de la Cuesta of the National Autistic Society) acknowledges that some people find clinical terminology offensive. I will abstain from using it in future. Apologies again.