Victoria's new Drive Test: Development of the assessment framework

7 Abstract As part of the introduction of a new Graduated Licensing System, VicRoads has developed and implemented a new on-road licence test that is calibrated to the driving aptitude of today's licence applicants, most of whom are required to have at least 120 hours if supervised driving experience. This paper describes the evolution of the assessment framework for the new Drive Test through a series of trials involving driving tasks and assessment items taken from Victoria's previous driving test; tasks and items from tests used in other jurisdictions; and tasks and items newly devised by the Drive Test development team. The final assessment framework includes credit for correct demonstration of safe driving skills and penalties for driving actions that are illegal and/or create immediate danger to any road user. Although a number of alternative scoring protocols were trialled, the final framework scores all assessment items as a simple Yes or No (plus the possibility of Not Assessable for some items). The assessment criteria for the various items and error categories seek to promote reliability of assessment through clear specification of objectively verifiable behavioural requirements. VicRoads is monitoring the performance of the new Drive Test and the LTOs who administer it. Further refinements will be made if necessary to ensure consistency of assessment across all licence testing centres in Victoria. Victoria's former driving test, known as POLA (Programmed Licence Observation Assessment), was developed and introduced in the early 1990s, when the typical level of driving experience of learners applying for a licence was far lower than is expected of today's applicants. As part of the new GLS, VicRoads needed to develop a new on-road driving test better suited to the skill levels of today's more experienced applicants. The aim was not only to develop a test that is better calibrated against the aptitude of present-day applicants, but also, much more ambitiously, to develop a test that can discriminate between applicants who have accumulated the required 120 hours of supervised driving experience and those who have not. The development process was evidence-based, with a series of major and minor trials being used to assess the suitability of various driving tasks and assessment protocols to meet the aims of the new test. The test components subjected to trialling included components of Victoria's POLA test; components borrowed from driving tests used in other jurisdictions; and tasks and assessment methods newly constructed by the test development team to examine critical driving skills. This paper describes the process of developing and defining the assessment items used to score the applicant's performance in the new Drive Test. Other papers presented at this conference provide an overview of the new Drive Test and its role in Victoria's new GLS (1); explain the conceptual basis of the