Driving test examiners will now wear body cameras following frightening attacks from angry learners.
New rules introduced by the Driving Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) from January 25, 2023, will see the cameras become an "essential" part of the examiner uniform, with abusive candidates told any abuse could result in them being barred from test centres or even prosecution. The DVSA says examiners will only switch on the bodycams if they "feel threatened" by learners or wish to capture "inappropriate behaviour".
It comes after an increase in hostile incidents, one of which saw a disgruntled learner begin hitting a door with a fire extinguisher in a violent attempt to break it down after failing their test. One anonymous driving examiner meanwhile said they had been left feeling "really uncomfortable" approaching dual carriageways after an incident where an abusive learner began swerving erratically across three lanes, causing traffic to swerve out of the way, MirrorOnline reports.
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They were forced to pull over the car, and the man began shouting at the side of the road: "You better start running then b***h, because I’m going to mow you down". They eventually had to contact the test centre to send someone to pick them up, and later learned the person had written to complain they had "scared him" by leaving him on the dual carriageway.
Footage of violent and abusive attacks will be passed to police, while offending learners face the possibility of having their record marked. This means it could take longer for them to get a future test, as managers may decided they need two examiners in the car as a safety precaution.
Video footage taken by the body cameras will not be allowed to be used by candidates who wish to dispute their test result.
Explaining the need for the measure, Director of Operations Peter Hearn told the Mirror that while the vast majority of learners caused no problems, examiners had "every right to feel safe at work" following the unpleasant encounters.
They said: "Although the majority of people are courteous, we hope that the cameras will help our examiners feel safer from the abusive minority."
Body worn cameras have been used for several years by DVSA enforcement staff who tackle road-side issues.
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