New bike test shambles

At the tender age of 51 and after the DVLA had lost details of my original Bike license passed several decades ago, I decided to re-take the test and get back on the road before the new two part practical Bike test come into play on the 27th April.

Unfortunately, I failed the current practical test this week and needed to book a re-test, which lands on the very first day the new test takes effect. I tried on the DSA website, but online bookings cannot be made.

I called the phone number shown. That’s where it fell apart. The helpful girl at the DSA call centre asked where I would like to take the “Module one” test. I explained that I lived in the Oldham postcode area, but would be willing to travel “within reason”.

The choices offered were: Leicester (120 miles away), Rotherham (70 miles or Blackburn (40 miles) as these were the only test centres ready for the new style test.

The DSA website claims “It is planned that on launch day up to 67 locations will be available from which to take Module 1 and 104 locations for Module 2, together with 30 occasional centres in Scotland.”

I wonder just how many are actually up and running. After having secured a date for my Module 1 test at Blackburn, the girl at the DSA did say that it was a bit of an nightmare at the moment. You’re telling me!