WARRINGTON South MP Andy Carter has called for urgent action to increase the number of driving tests available in Warrington.
He says the lack of driving tests in the town is putting young people at a disadvantage and has written to the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency urging steps be taken to increase availability.
The MP recently met with two independent driving instructors, Shelley Millar and Karen Dobbin, who got in touch with his office to highlight concerns from the Independent Driving Instructors Association about the difficulty they have faced with delays securing tests for their students in the Warrington area. The pair also raised issues regarding a number of old and inadequate road markings and signs requiring maintenance.
Following their meeting, Mr Carter wrote to the DVSA to ask them to increase the number of driving tests available in Warrington by training more examiners and allowing tests to be taken at the weekend. Shelley and Karen have also since provided the MP’s office with a list of faded road markings and dirty, missing or obscured road signs from across the town, which has been passed on to the Council’s highways maintenance team to address.
Mr Carter said: “Young people starting out in the world of work will need cars to get on with their jobs and delaying their tests because we don’t have sufficient examiners in place is simply not fair.
“When we tried to book a test there was nothing available from the Warrington Test Centre for the next six months. Neighbouring towns have tests available but taking a test on roads you’re not familiar with puts new drivers from Warrington at a distinct advantage.
“I know there are hardworking examiners based in Warrington, but if they’re fully booked for six months there is clearly excess demand and the DVSA needs to respond and secure additional examiners. I’ve written to the CEO of the body responsible asking for an update on what steps she’s taking to address this problem.”
Shelley Miller added: “We all appreciate Andy’s support in trying to find a solution to reduce driving test waiting times for all students ready and eager to sit their driving test in Warrington.”
3 Comments
There’s no explanation here as to where the extra demand for lessons and tests has come from in the last two years, nor any explanation about why his own government has done nothing to help the local areas affected to meet these additional needs.
One of the key well-known problems was the backlog caused by COVID
Sitting at my computer all day waiting for a cancellation to “pop up” is not an option!