Ontario drive test changes met with mixed reaction

As many young drivers looking to book a test to get their full 'G' licence in the province continue to face a sometime months-long wait, the province is hoping recent changes to the testing curriculum will help push through some of the backlog.

Earlier this week the province announced it would be temporarily eliminating requirements for drivers to successfully parallel park and perform a three-point turn. The province, at the time, saying the manoeuvres are already required as part of the test to get a 'G2' licence and doing away with the duplication would help test centres clear more tests per day.

“It was a surprise but I can't say that my reaction has been particularly negative,” said Faith Morphy, centre director with Young Drivers of Canada. “I think [the Ministry of Transportation] has tried very hard with a variety of strategies including opening some temporary offices in the province, hiring additional examiners, and I think this is just the next step in their plan to try and get caught up from the COVID backlog.”

“It does not concern me,” said Morphy “I think the main value in the second test is really to make sure the drivers have not allowed any bad driving habits to creep in during the time that they've been in their G2, to focus on a freeway or highway drive, and to also make sure that their defensive driving skills are at a level to keep them safe on Ontario roads.”

Not everyone is as keen with the changes however, even if they're being billed as temporary.

“What I think we need to move to is better qualified drivers arriving for a test, not 'dumbing down' the tests,” said Brian Patterson, President and CEO, Ontario Safety League.

Patterson says he'd prefer the province give priority to young drivers who have gone through drivers' education.

“At least we know for example they've got all of those items covered during the training that they took with the driving school,” he said.

But does not having to prove you can parallel park and do a three-point turn again in your G test produce worse drivers? Morphy says she doesn't think so.

“That's the issue with parallel parking is that most people don't do it and most people, when they're on a street and want to turn around, use a driveway instead of making a three-point turn,” Morphy said. “I think if there was a spot [the government] could shorten a test they've certainly chosen some of the strategies that would not be as important as making sure [young drivers] know how to enter the freeway properly.”

Patterson though points to the time in between when young drivers tend to take their G2 and G tests as a reason why some revision may not be a bad thing.

“The amount of time that people have to practice their driving has gotten shorter and shorter,” Patterson said. “A lot of students will go to university and not actually drive for four or five years.”

“They may have got their licence at 18 and they're just not driving or they drive a little bit when they're home on holiday break period,” he said. “At the end of the day, to get better drivers, you need more driving and better instruction and we're not going to get that if we dumb the test down.”