Driving test examiners will now wear body cameras for tests following a spate of frightening attacks from angry learners.
New rules introduced by the Driving Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) from today will see the cameras become an "essential" part of their uniform, with abusive candidates told any abuse could result in them being barred from test centres or even prosecution.
The DVSA says examiners will only switch on the bodycams if they "feel threatened" by learners or wish to capture "inappropriate behaviour".
Footage of violent and abusive attacks will then be passed on to police, while offending learners face the possibility of having their record marked.
This means it could take longer for them to get a future test, as test managers may decided they need two examiners in the car as a safety precaution.
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Videos taken by the body cameras are not allowed to be used by candidates who wish to dispute their result.
Driving examiners have reported a sharp rise in hostile incidents in recent times, with overall cases of attacks and abuse almost doubling to 610 in 2021-22 compared to the last year before the pandemic.
Examiners will be allowed from today to switch on their body cameras at times when they feel threatened (Getty Images/iStockphoto)A DVSA spokesperson confirmed that a small number of these had involved physical assaults.
Explaining the need for the measure, Director of Operations Peter Hearn told the Mirror that while the vast majority of learners caused no problems, examiners had "every right to feel safe at work" following the unpleasant encounters.
“Although the majority of people are courteous, we hope that the cameras will help our examiners feel safer from the abusive minority”, they added.
Verbal abuse involving profanities and direct threats make up a considerable number of cases, with numerous cases of learners driving off in fits of rage while examiners are still trapped inside the car.
Other incidents have involved disgruntled learners causing damage to test centres after being told they had failed, with one individual reported to have begun hitting the door of the building with a fire extinguisher in a violent attempt to break it down.
One anonymous driving examiner meanwhile said they had been left feeling "really uncomfortable" approaching dual carriageways after an incident where an abusive learner began swerving erratically across three lanes, causing traffic to swerve out of the way.
They were forced to pull over the car, and the man began shouting at the side of the road: "You better start running then b***h, because I’m going to mow you down".
They eventually had to contact the test centre to send someone to pick them up, and later learned that the learner wrote to complain they had "scared him" by leaving him on the dual carriageway.
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Body worn cameras have been used for several years by DVSA enforcement staff who tackle road-side issues.
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