Visakhapatnam: Obtaining a Driving Licence (DL) will soon become tough task in the coming days as those applying for a DL will have to take a driving test at the automated driving test track in Vizag city. To bring in a more scientific approach and to cut down on the corruption involved in issuing licenses, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) will be spending Rs 1 crore to convert the existing driving test track located at the Gambheeram area in Vizag city into an automated one.
The Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) in Vizag city have issued over 6.9 lakh driving licences so far and of them over 6.5 lakh driving licence holders are men. However, the RTA officials felt that at least 20 per cent of the driving license holders might have obtained their driving licences by managing the staff at various levels without having cleared the mandatory tests, which assess the driving knowledge and skills of the aspirants.
A senior officer with the RTA, A.H. Khan said, “The RTA had developed the driving test track at Gambheeram area at a cost of “ Rs 1.5 crore, around three years ago, to accommodate more candidates from the 13 mandals under the Vizag urban and rural areas. Now, the track is going to be automated.” Those applying for a DL will have to take a driving test on the automated track which will be equipped with CCTV cameras, electronic sensors and few others advanced gadgets to automatically record errors made while test driving. Based on the driving skills of the applicant, the computer will display the score in the test. So those trying to obtain a DL would have to actually pass the test, with no room for ‘favours’ from the examining officers.
“Within two months, the driving test track at Gambheeram area will turn into an automated one,” said deputy transport commissioner, Vizag, S. Venkateswara Rao. “There is an urgent need for a stringent licence system, as ‘driver’s fault’ was the reason for around 50 per cent of the road accidents in the state. The AP Transport Department has planned nine fully automated driving testing systems for issuing licences by 2017 as the present system of issuing the driving licence has led to some irregularities,” said a senior officer of the RTA.
