Road safety

A new version of the highway code review is now being implemented

Publié le null - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

On 12 September 2023, a completely new question bank was set up to examine the rules of the road: the 1,037 questions that could be put to candidates were reformulated to make them more comprehensible; some visuals were also modified to make them more realistic, with real shots taken from drones instead of the synthetic images previously proposed.

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Image 1Crédits: Road safety

The questions in the new version of the Highway Code Review were drafted taking into account the views of industry professionals and a language simplification expert.

The rise of new mobility is also taken into account. Some questions invite candidates to analyze a situation from the point of view of another user: pedestrian; cyclist; electric scooter user; motorcyclist; driver of a heavy vehicle. The goal is for applicants to be aware of each user’s constraints, and that this will improve cohabitation on the road.

Please note

the highway code review question bank had been amended in 2016: 1,000 new questions had replaced the 700 questions that had previously existed. These new questions took greater account of the behavior to be adopted depending on the situation and the perception of risks on the road. The goal was for future drivers to understand the consequences of each risk-taking event.

As a result of this 2016 reform, the pass rate for the highway code examination had decreased from about 71.5% in 2015 to 56.6% in 2022 according to Road Safety data.

More clarity for candidates

Another novelty is to allow applicants to understand more what is required of them: when an image comprises several vehicles, the one or those concerned by the question are now surrounded in yellow in the visual or the image.

Finally, it is now indicated for each question whether only one or more answers are expected.

Reminder

at least 35 of the 40 questions asked must be answered correctly in order to pass the highway code test. After obtaining the “code”, a candidate has five years to successfully pass the practical part of the driving license.

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