A new process for drivers’ exams, which is more difficult than before, has been applied as of July 1 in an effort to enhance the quality of drivers to reduce traffic accidents. As a result of the new test, more people than previously have failed to pass the exam. 

>> Where driver’s licenses are bought Yesterday morning the Hoang Gia Driver Examination Center in Ho Chi Minh City's Binh Chanh District  organized an automobile drivers’ examination according to the new process regulated by the Vietnam Road General Department. Under the new regulation, a driving exam lasts for 20 minutes, during which candidates must answer 30 test questions shown on a computer screen. Those who get at least 26 correct will pass the exam for B1 or B2 level (for cars with fewer than 9 seats including the driver, and trucks with a load of under 3.5 tons). For levels C, D and E, candidates are required to get at least 28 correct answers to pass. N.T.M, one of the candidates, told Tuoi Tre that the theoretical exam was tougher than before. Candidates who passed the theoretical exam entered the practice exam, which lasted for 15 minutes, 5 minutes less than before, and took place in a narrower area than previously. Therefore, many candidates also said the exam was harder to pass. Examinees are given scores automatically by a machine and they are required to get over 80 out of a total 100 marks to pass the exam. The exams at Hoang Gia ended with more than 80 percent of the candidates passing their theoretical exam and 70.8 percent passed their practice exams. These figures were lower than those in previous exams – about 90 percent and 77-80 percent, respectively.No room for fraud When candidates begin their theoretical or practice exams, they are required to enter their order numbers into a computer, and all of their personal info, including their portrait, will be shown on the screen. When they end the exam, the screen will display the result. Similarly, when candidates sit in a vehicle to begin their practice exam, their portrait will be taken automatically by a camera and the image will be recorded in the candidates’ files to prevent cases in which a driver asks another to take the exam for him. Examiners will check the images taken and will detect any cheating, said Tran Hong Nam, deputy director of the Hoang Gia Driver Examination Center, one of seven such centers in HCMC. “Nobody can cheat by asking someone else to take the exam for them,” Nam asserted. Under the new process, such centers are required to have four 32’ LCD screens, one of which is placed at the examiner council, while the three others are installed in lounges for examinees to watch.

However, a recent Tuoi Tre investigation showed that although a new process for drivers’ exams has been applied nationwide, people can pay VND8 million (US$380) to get a B2 driver’s license in Ho Chi Minh City without going through driving lessons.