New rules were introduced for driving test examiners this week that mean they have to wear body cameras during tests.
Kicking in on January 25, the new regulations have been put in place to protect examiners from attacks from learner drivers during their tests.
According to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), there has been an increase in the amount of abuse that examiners face, with 1,702 cases of "overall assaults or abuse incidents" reported in the past year.
Glasgow Live reports that the amount of physical abuse incidents is lower, but under these new regulations, anyone who verbally or physically attacks their examiner will need to wait longer to get another test booked.
This is because they will be deemed unsafe and two examiners will need to be present in the car with them on future tests.
In an email to driving instructors yesterday, the agency wrote: "From today (January 25) driving examiners will begin to wear body worn cameras to help tackle an increase in abuse.
"We've taken this decision due to an increase in unacceptable violent and abusive incidents against driving examiners since testing restarted after the pandemic restrictions.
"Although the most recent figures show incidents of abuse have dropped since, they still remain on course to be higher than before the pandemic."
How will the cameras be used?
To keep examiners safe, the cameras will be an essential part of their uniform.
However they'll only be turned on if the examiner begins to feel threatened by the drivers' behaviour.
The footage will only be used if required to prosecute if abuse occurs, with the cameras not available to be used to dispute a candidate's test result.
Instructors will be asked to inform learner drivers that they've got the cameras on them, and let them know of the risks of abusing the examiners.
The DVSA: "Body worn cameras are not new to DVSA, our enforcement examiners tackling road-side issues have worn them for several years."
How many incidents have there been?
These are the number of overall assaults or abuse incidents at driver and rider tests broken down by financial year - for a total of 1,702:
- 2018-19: 319
- 2019-20: 332
- 2020-21: 162
- 2021-22: 610
- 2022-23: 285 (financial year until 20/12/22)
The total number of physical assaults at driver and rider tests by financial year is 58:
- 2018-19: 8
- 2019-20: 12
- 2020-21: 10
- 2021-22: 17 (financial year until 20/12/22)
- 2022-21: 11
Peter Hearn, DVSA's director of operations, told Glasgow Live: "Our colleagues have every right to feel safe at work. One assault is one too many and we will not tolerate any form of abuse.
"Although the majority of people are courteous, we hope that the cameras will help our examiners feel safer from the abusive minority."
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