On the morning of January 5, the Vietnam Road Administration organized a training course to guide the Departments of Transport, training facilities, and testing centers to update the traffic simulation software for driver training and testing. The Department has been researching, adjusting, and upgrading this new software for 5 months.

A representative of the Vietnam Road Administration said that the simulation software content has been adjusted to suit reality after receiving comments from the Departments of Transport. From today, students who have studied the old software will be trained on the new software.

The adjusted content is to improve the image quality of some graphic situations that are blurred and have low resolution, helping learners to easily observe and identify situations. The review software adds three features and displays the name of each situation for learners to recognize; adds buttons to allow switching to previous/next situations and displays the scoring tool for each situation. The mock test is designed with the same interface as the test to help learners get familiar with it.

The testing software also increases the countdown time between situations from 3 seconds to 10 seconds for students to prepare; extends the scoring time frame (from 5 points to 0 points) so that students can recognize and operate the computer keyboard.

From June 2022, students taking the driving test must take a traffic situation handling test on simulation software with 120 3D image questions, videos of urban and suburban routes, mountain passes, and dangerous traffic situations. This software is built on the basis of research on simulation software used for testing in the UK, Australia, Japan, and Singapore, helping students recognize and detect unsafe situations that often occur in practice to drive safely.

After more than a year of application, the testing content on the simulation software has received mixed opinions from students and testing units. The Departments of Transport of Binh Duong, Binh Dinh, and Da Nang recently proposed that the Vietnam Road Administration consider the practicality and effectiveness of the simulation software to see if it is necessary to maintain the content of the simulation software. They also suggested that the software should only be included in lectures on Road Traffic Law and driving techniques, not used as driving test content.

Students have difficulty practicing simulation software

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport said that driving test centers reported that when taking the test on simulation software, candidates were forced to follow the subjective will of the software writer, which was not suitable for real traffic conditions.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said that he has sent a document to the Vietnam Road Administration requesting amendments regarding the shortcomings in the simulated test situations, causing difficulties for test takers.

Mr. Duy