I read a disturbing report in this weekend’s newspapers that some 300 drivers a week take their driving test with the aid of an interpreter, and that the written test is taken in their own language, which is now available translated into 19 different versions.
This means that a large number of drivers are free to drive unable to understand basic road signs and written road-side directions, let alone the instructions and advice contained in their car’s handbook.
This cannot be good for road safety, nor on the ability of these non-English speakers to understand, and thus comply, with the road traffic laws and regulations.
I have seen an increasing number of drivers in court charged with driving without insurance due to their failure to understand the conditions of their policy, or them being unable to understand, and thus respond, to a section 172 notice requiring them to identify the driver after a speed camera violation.
The above must reinforce the widely held view that immigrants should, as a matter of course, be reasonably fluent in English as a pre-condition of obtaining a resident permit or British nationality. .
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