Practical driving test | Up to 24 attempts to obtain the permit

More than 70% of candidates who take the practical driving test of the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) pass it. Some, however, fail repeatedly, up to 24 attempts, reveal the SAAQ data obtained by access to information.

Ariane Kroll
The Press

Among the approximately 89,000 men who, in 2019, went to take the SAAQ’s practical driving test in the hope of obtaining their license to drive a motor vehicle (passenger vehicle, class 5), one of they were at their 24^and attempt.

For women, the record in recent years is 22 attempts – one candidate in 2020, the other in 2021.

“It should rather be seen as a reassuring side,” argues SAAQ spokesperson Mario Vaillancourt. “As long as a person has not demonstrated that he has the skills and knowledge required to drive, we are justified in having him retake his exam, for his safety and that of others. »

In 2019, 71% of candidates for the practical exam passed it, compared to 74% in 2020, and 73% during the first six months of 2021.

Repeat failing candidates are only a fraction of the tens of thousands who take the exam each year. But they are still many. In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, more than 4,600 applicants were in their 4^and test. And more than 250 were in their 10s^and test, or more.

The theoretical exam, to obtain a learner’s permit, leads to even more times. One candidate was in his 117^and attempt in 2021! The fact that the exam has three modules that can be passed separately contributes to the high number of retakes, which must be spaced at least 28 days apart. The candidate who made 117 attempts had started in October 2007, specifies the SAAQ.

Anxiety and stress

Daniel Frappier, supervisor of CAA-Quebec driving schools, has seen some learner drivers who have suffered up to three failures in the practical test. “One of them was the word exam “, he says. The young man was driving properly, but had a tendency to freeze in an exam situation. Mr. Frappier advised the father to “warm him up” before his appointment at the SAAQ. “Get him driven an hour before, and the exam will be an extension of the little ride you’re doing together. The young man got his license.

“Anxiety, stress” are often involved in failures, testifies Mr. Frappier. The CAA therefore offers a three-hour package to candidates who rent one of its driving schools for the exam. The instructor makes them do an hour of practice, then sits with them in the waiting room. “We reassure them a little, we tell them what not to forget. »

Not checking blind spots, crossing a stop line and keeping too low a speed often results in losing points, testifies Mr. Frappier. “And what is a violation of the Highway Safety Code is an immediate failure. »

Decreasing success rate

“The person has the right to repeat as many times as they wish,” confirms Mr. Vaillancourt, of the SAAQ.

However, the pass rate for the practical exam decreases with each attempt. On the first and second try, about 70% of candidates leave with the permit. In the third and fourth, the success rate hovers around 60%. From five to eight tries, barely more than one in two candidates (and sometimes less in some years) obtains a passing grade. Candidates who make it to nine or more attempts are even less likely to pass (one in three in 2021).

The success rate also decreases with age. In 2019, almost half of the candidates for the practical exam were between 16 and 21 years old, and 76% of them passed it. Among those over 60, on the other hand, less than one in two candidates left with their license.

The SAAQ does not have a typical profile of candidates who repeatedly fail its practical exam.

His data, however, shows that candidates who have not had to take a driving course (because they hold a license from another country, or have not had a valid license for at least three years) have less success. . Their success rate ranges from 59% to 63% (depending on the year) compared to 72 to 75% for learner drivers subject to the compulsory course.