Turns out people applying for driving licenses can’t actually be tested on the roads in Yangon because the traffic sucks and the instructor might get awkward, a top transport official has said.
Instead, exams take place on the computer – and that’s a significant improvement from handwritten exams that were only abolished in April – the deputy director of the Road Transport Administration Department told the Myanmar Times.
Parking skills are tried out in the safe environs of the driving school compound.
“We also want drivers to be tested on the road,” U Tin Maung Swe was quoted as saying. “But we don’t have the time, and the traffic jams in Yangon are terrible. If the applicant isn’t a very good driver, things could get awkward.”
Not that it matters much for some people – an estimated 30 per cent of those behind the wheel in Myanmar are unlicensed anyway.
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the license testing department has only 80 staff across the country, according to U Tin Maung Swe. In Yangon, there are 18.
People applying to take the test are forced to wait for hours while others give up and go home at 5pm, the Times reported.
“We have enough computers to test 135 people at a time, and we installed an extra 50 chairs,” said U Tin Maung Swe. “As of yesterday, we’ve set aside another room for 100 people, so we can test nearly 300 people at the same time.
Photo: Coconuts Media
