Starting on April 1, the Directorate General of Highways (DGH) will offer its question database for drivers’ license tests in more languages.
Shih Jin-liang (施金樑), director of the DGH’s motor vehicles division, said yesterday the database would be in eight languages. They are Chinese, English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Cambodian and Burmese. The written test had only been available in Chinese, English and Japanese.
“Not only will test takers be able to read exams in their own language, they will also be able to hear the questions read aloud in their mother tongues through headsets,” Shih said, adding that aural material would also be available in Taiwanese and Hakka.
Shih said Taiwan has between 330,000 and 350,000 immigrants.
“Some may not be fluent in Mandarin or Taiwanese, which could be a problem when they take the test,” he said.
The DGH said the old database contained 975 questions, with a majority designed to test driver knowledge of traffic laws, signs and signals.
For the new database, the DGH is adding 482 questions that will test knowledge of motor vehicle maintenance and good driving habits. On the former, the questions will ask drivers about changing oil and a checklist before hitting the road. Shih said a standardized test with 40 questions would apply nationwide from April.
“In each test, the computer will randomly select questions from the databank, and about eight questions will be chosen from the newly added questions,” he said.
Currently, 19 vehicle registration offices administer tests on paper and have a small number of computers for immigrant test takers.
The other 17 offices provide inhouse or online tests. Those taking inhouse or online tests can find out their scores immediately after completing them.
Shih said that the new question database can be sampled at www.thb.gov.tw/TM/Menus/Menu03/menu03_05.aspx, though only a Chinese version is available now. The DGH aims to have questions in the other languages available online by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the DGH said it is unlikely to conduct road driving tests in the short term. Shih said the directorate had gathered opinions from the National Police Agency and drivers’ schools, and both indicated that it would be difficult to conduct road tests.
“Once you tell people where the test is going to be held, you’ll see a lot of drivers flock to the test site and practice, which could cause traffic jams in the area,” Shih said.
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