LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan 2019

A MOTORIST CAUGHT cheating twice in the same Driver Theory exam last year walked out of the test centre before they could be removed by Road Safety Authority employees.

The budding driver, who was sitting a test for their BW licence for cars, tractors and work vehicles, was caught by RSA officials at an unnamed test centre in 2017.

On the first occasion, the candidate was caught using a bluetooth device during their exam, but was allowed to continue the test after the device was taken from him by RSA officials.

The individual was subsequently discovered with another device, but rather than being removed by officials, they are recorded as having “walked out” of the centre where the exam took place.

The candidate was one of six around the country who were caught cheating in the RSA Driver Theory test between 2017 and 2018, according to records released by the authority.

However, they made up a tiny fraction of the total number of people who sat their theory tests during the two-year period, with 99,986 sitting the test in 2017 and 93,671 sitting it during the first nine months of 2018.

Notes written on hand

Records released by the RSA show that three individuals were caught each year, with bluetooth devices and earpieces used frequently among those who considered to have been cheating.

Candidates were caught using a bluetooth device on three occasions, two of which led to individuals being removed, with the third person being the candidate who walked out of the test centre.

Two more candidates were observed using earphones or an earpiece, one of whom was removed from their test, while the second person was caught before the test commenced and therefore not allowed to sit their exam.

The sixth candidate, who sat a bus and truck theory test earlier this year, was caught with notes written on their left hand.

However, the RSA revealed that this candidate was allowed to resume their test once they had washed their hands.

According to the Road Safety Authority, test centres are monitored using video and audio recordings at all times.

Any attempt by a candidate to cheat in the test is taken seriously, and all instances of cheating are immediately reported to the authority.

“If an incident of cheating occurs, it will be reviewed on a case by case basis,” the authority says.

Following a review, drivers may be subject to a ban for a period of time, during which they will not be allowed to book or sit a theory test for up to six months.

All details about the drivers who were caught cheating in the test were released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act.