55% failing Zimbabwe driver's licence tests

During the period from April to June this year, less than half of the 65,000 individuals who underwent road tests failed to pass, a mandatory requirement for obtaining a driver's license. Authorities attribute this high failure rate to a lack of practice and nervousness among aspiring drivers.

According to a recent report by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), only 45.5 percent, approximately 29,000 people, successfully passed the certificate of competency test. In contrast, out of the 71,981 prospective drivers who took the provisional driver's license test, approximately 44,000, or 62.7 percent, passed.

The national-level statistics indicate that 65,453 candidates participated in the certificate of competency test during the second quarter of 2023, with only 45.5 percent succeeding. In almost all provinces, except Harare and Mashonaland East, the proportion of candidates passing the certificate of competency test was less than 50 percent, ranging from 29.1 percent in Midlands to 41.3 percent in Manicaland. Approximately 84 percent of individuals who took retests were successful.

In specific regions, the pass rate was as follows: In Bulawayo, only 38.8 percent of the 4,113 people who underwent road tests passed, while in Matabeleland North, 74.3 percent of the 1,256 prospective drivers passed. Matabeleland South had a pass rate of 65.7 percent out of 3,702 test-takers.

Harare had the largest number of prospective drivers at 28,530, with approximately 53.7 percent passing the certificate of competency test. In Mashonaland Central, 2,291 individuals took the test, and only 36 percent passed. The pass rate in Mashonaland East was 51.8 percent among the 5,092 test-takers, while in Mashonaland West, 4,803 prospective drivers took the test, and the pass rate was 62.8 percent. In Masvingo, 3,315 underwent road tests with a pass rate of 59.6 percent.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Engineer Joy Makumbe stated that pass rates for driving tests were actually on the rise. She attributed this improvement to better equipment at driving schools and noted that the pass rates were now statistically comparable to those of advanced countries. She also mentioned that there had been an overall enhancement of local driving training and testing standards through improved collaboration between the Vehicle Inspectorate Department and driving schools.

Lucy Kuwandira-Mapfumo, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe's media and corporate communications officer, emphasized the need for individuals attending driving schools to take their training seriously and focus on acquiring safe driving knowledge to reduce road accidents.

Macnally Mbedzi, the president of the Harare Driving School Association, suggested that poor road infrastructure in the city contributed to the low pass rates. He cited factors such as the lack of road signs, road markings, and the absence of proper training facilities for various driving skills as potential causes of lower pass rates. He believed that improved infrastructure and training facilities could lead to higher pass rates.

Additionally, the ZimStat report indicated that there were 12,981 road traffic accidents recorded in the April-June period, representing a 3.4 percent increase compared to the previous quarter (12,558 accidents). Among these accidents, 400 resulted in fatalities, with May having the highest number of fatal accidents (144). The data for the report was gathered from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, the Central Vehicle Registry, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police.