Trial of improved procedures for driver licence testing by occupational therapists

Abstract

A draft manual for the Occupational Therapy Driving Test had previously been developed via a consultation process, setting out detailed specifications intended to improve the validity and reliability of the test and its consistency with other VicRoads licence tests. A trial was conducted to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of the documented procedures and requirements. The trial involved (a) upgrading existing test routes to comply with the updated requirements, and (b) conducting licence tests using the updated procedures. Detailed written feedback was obtained from the occupational therapy driver assessors (OTs) who upgraded test routes and from the OTs who conducted the licence tests. Analysis of 156 feedback forms from 19 OTs revealed that the updated requirements resulted in a test that exceeded the preferred timeframe (35 minutes). The number of compulsory tasks required for all clients precluded sufficient time to conduct additional, clientspecific tasks with those clients who needed them. This led the project team to reduce the number of compulsory tasks, relax some constraints regarding task locations, and reclassify two previously compulsory tasks as client-specific (optional) tasks. Extra guidance was added to the manual covering various procedural and assessment issues, and supplementary documentation was developed to assist OTs to comply with VicRoads requirements. The updated test is expected to provide a valid test of driving skills, while offering greater reliability than previous OT licence reassessment procedures.