BY the end of September, all driving license applicants in Shanghai will be required to take a skills test monitored by a computer, Shanghai traffic police said yesterday.

This will replace the current system whereby a police officer sits beside the applicant during the test.

The aim is to increase efficiency and improve fairness, police said.

The new testing system, based on positioning and wireless technology, allows the computer to automatically assess movements of the cars in tests.

Previously only a few of the 16 items in driving skill tests were monitored solely by the computer.

The system can make‚ fail or pass judgment on more than 70 standards included in the tests such as the use of lights and observance of speeding limits. However, about a third of the test standards still require police officers to monitor the tests on computer screens, such as whether the test taker is keeping a safe distance, and manually to enter the scores.

Applicants, who sit behind the wheel during the tests, hear instructions through the testing system in the car. The entire test process will be broadcast live on the video screen in a test site.

A total of 2,677 applicants have taken the new version of the tests in a driving test site in Malu Town, Jiading District, since April 13, 64 percent of whom passed, police said.

This ratio was almost the same as that under the old testing mode, according to police.

A woman surnamed Ma, who has just started to learn to drive, said she thinks that the changes are generally beneficial.

“It feels fairer when nobody sits beside you and the computer judges everything, but this means that the drivers have to be more careful and precise,” she said.

“My coach told me not to worry about it.”