By the numbers
Failure rates for Indiana's driver learner/operator written test, listed by language of test, for 2017:
Language Attempts Failures Failure rate
English 341,134 172,234 50%
Arabic 3,188 2,677 84%
Burmese 3,279 2,973 91%
Chin 1,833 1,565 85%
French 1,091 884 81%
German 40 25 63%
Japanese 474 153 32%
Korean 314 163 52%
Mandarin 2,221 1,230 55%
Polish 59 33 56%
Punjabi 1,191 1,023 86%
Russian 220 152 69%
INDIANAPOLIS – When Elda Pena moved from New York to Indiana, she couldn’t receive a state license until she showed her knowledge of Indiana’s traffic laws by taking a test.
She failed.
“I was not focused on the questions that they had in regards to if you’re driving, let’s say, a truck. I don’t drive a truck,” she said.
“It was just so many questions,” recalled Pena, 42, of Indianapolis. “People who come from, let’s say, Rhode Island and have a Rhode Island license, it’s like they have to give it up and start all over again here. In other states you just go in and transfer it.”
Residents who move into Indiana must take a "knowledge examination," a written test that's administered through a computer terminal. So, too, must anyone applying for a learner’s permit or anyone whose license has been expired for more than 180 days.
If they fail, they can come back the next day, unlike those who fail a driving skills examination and must wait 14 days to retake the test.
Nearly 50 percent of those taking the knowledge examination fail, according to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
In 2016, 49.95 percent of those taking the English language test failed; 50.05 percent passed. So far this year, the passing rate is 49.51 percent.
“It may simply be that test-takers do not know about the resources out there to help them study. All of the information covered in the knowledge exam can be found in the Indiana Driver’s Manual,” said Sarah Bonick, executive director of marketing and communications for the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The manual is available online; a printed version is offered at branches. A practice exam can be found on the BMV website.
The branch exam consists of 35 written questions and the identification of 15 traffic signs.
The failure rate isn’t alarming to the BMV, although it has been discussed at meetings of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Commission.
"Even with drivers ed and even with practical experience, whether it's test prep or other reasons, people are taking the test more than once," Commissioner Peter Lacy recently told the commission.
Those taking the knowledge exam in a foreign language (13 are offered) are failing at a greater rate than the English exam takers.
For example, of 13,638 people taking the test in Spanish so far this year, about 80 percent failed. The highest failure rate, 91 percent, is among those taking the exam in Burmese.
Those taking the exam in Japanese have a passing rate of 68 percent, the highest among foreign language administration of the test.
The rate of failure hasn't prompted the BMV to mull rewriting the test.
"The BMV considers the content of its knowledge exams regularly, including rewording, adding or removing questions," Bonick said. "Any changes would be based on a variety of factors. But these factors do not include the pass/fail rate of foreign language knowledge testing."
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.