THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 12, 1996 TAG: 9602120068
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Forty percent of people who take their driving tests via computer fail, but the Department of Motor Vehicles says that's acceptable.
The fact that the pass rate is 60 percent demonstrates the test is on target, say officials who are handling the transition from paper to computer tests, which should be complete by the end of June.
The DMV has not maintained statistics on the pass rate for the paper tests. It's only since computers have come on line that the department has been able to develop a large body of test data, said DMV spokeswoman Jeanne Chenault.
``I think people realize . . . they're not going to come into a DMV office and take the same simple test they used to. You're going to have to review the manual,'' said Sandra N. Creekmore, a senior management analyst who oversees customer service for DMV.
People who fail the test can retake it as often as they wish - but only once a day - until they pass.
Creekmore said she and others involved in the project have taken the driving-knowledge test on computers hundreds of times, trying to weed out confusing or too-complex questions.
``If a question seems to be causing a lot of problems, we'll look at it,'' she said. ``Maybe it's the way it's worded.''
When a group of DMV offices began receiving the computers in November 1994, the pass percentage was only in the 50s. It went up as the testing was refined, DMV officials said.
Taking a test on a computer has the potential of being more difficult because the bank of possible questions is far larger.
DMV's paper tests come in two versions of 25 questions each. If test takers fail on the first try, they have at least a 50 percent chance of seeing the same test the next time.
But in the touch-screen computer test of road knowledge, the computer draws randomly from 119 possible questions, and even the potential answers can be different.
With both types of exams, test takers are allowed five incorrect answers before they fail.
Kathy Jarrell, manager of the DMV headquarters office in Richmond, said that she has found that people who fail the computer version of the test usually pass it the second time.
``If a customer comes in and fails the test five or six times, we know something is definitely wrong,'' she said. ``We try to counsel them. Maybe they haven't looked at the (driver's manual) or something's confusing them.'' by CNB