States shift into high gear with online driving tests
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Virginia, North Dakota and Indiana are part of growing set of states bringing drivers exams and other automated DMV services to their citizens over the Web.
Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles has decided to go automatic in upgrading systems that support its drivers licensing exams and road tests. The DMV is working with Northup Grumman in acquiring $3.7 million in Web-based technologies to centralize its drivers testing infrastructure across the state, according to a report in Government Technology.
The DMV’s testing systems are configured around servers located throughout the state, Virginia DMV chief information officer Dave Burhop told Gov Tech. In overhauling its drivers testing systems, the DMV wants to centralize servers and tie-in its customer service centers with Web-based applications.
The DMV’s shopping list includes tablet computers and AutoTest and RoadTest software from MorphoTrust, secure Web-based programs for both the written and live portions of the drivers test. About 20 states use its “automated knowledge and skills testing” systems for state motor vehicle agencies, according to the company, which listed the North Dakota, Indiana and Georgia DMVs as recent customers.
AutoTest lets students take the written portion of the driver’s test on a tablet or laptop computer from their drivers ed classroom, where the instructor monitors the test. The software automates scoring and uses handwriting recognition to record signatures. And “smart testing,” software which randomly selects questions at the time of the exam, helps combat cheating, according to MorphoTrust.
For the road test, students will still have to get behind the wheel, of course, but examiners will use RoadTest to score drivers’ performance on tablets rather than on paper.
And Web-based applications are not the only means Virginia is using to bring its DMV services closer to the citizen.
For those students who cannot physically get to a driver’s ed classroom, the state is one of a handful of American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) jurisdictions where a mobile DMV will come to them.
The state currently has a fleet of five DMV 2 Go mobile offices where local residents can take a driving exam get a driver’s license renewed, or a vehicle registered.
“Our mobile office program is a prime example of our enhanced customer service efforts,” Virginia DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb told the AAMVA. “What better way to help busy Virginians than by bringing services directly to them?”
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