Would-be motorists in Hong Kong can spend around 200 days in the queue for a test, the ombudsman said on Thursday, as he called for transport officials to do more to bring down waiting times. Ombudsman Jack Chan said the wait was even longer a couple of years ago, when an increasing demand for tests and pandemic disruption meant those hoping to get behind the wheel of a car or light goods vehicle could face a delay of 340 days for an assessment. Despite the improvement in waiting times, Chan said an investigation by his office has identified ways for the Transport Department (TD) to speed things up. He called for new test centres to be established and for manpower resources to be redeployed, as well as an end to the practice of making driving examiners (DE) go to the department's Ho Man Tin headquarters before finding out which test centre they would be working from that day. Chan said more assessments could be carried out if the examiners reported for duty at the test centre itself. "We are pleased to learn that in response to our investigation, the TD has since mid-June this year implemented the direct reporting arrangement on a trial basis at four driving test centres. We recommend that the TD review the arrangement. If the trial is positively received, the department should proactively study the feasibility of extending the arrangement to other driving test centres," he said. "It is estimated that if the direct reporting arrangement is implemented, about 5,500 additional road tests for non-commercial vehicles can be conducted each year, meaning that an additional 5,500 candidates can be benefited." In addition, the ombudsman said the department should reinstate the maximum waiting time target of 82 days for a non-commercial vehicle driving test which was abolished in 2016. The watchdog also said there has been an increase in appeals against test results, and it would be a good idea to consider the use of video recording during assessments. "The Transport Department must seriously review the existing arrangement of prohibiting video recording for road tests. If it is considered that video recording of road tests is feasible, the need to protect personal privacy should be taken into account," he said. In response, the Transport Department said it will adopt the ombudsman's recommendations. "We will continue to review and enhance the work arrangements and staff guidelines, and take appropriate measures to ensure that the driving test centres operate in an orderly manner," a spokesperson said. "We will review and consider formulating a performance pledge for road tests for non-commercial vehicles." The department also pledged to explore the feasibility of introducing new technology to assist with driving assessments, but said it has to carefully consider the implementation due to “the unique nature of driving tests in Hong Kong”.
