A "Brave New World" of driver testing ?

I know that DVSA is being imaginative in addressing the post-Covid backlog, while having to [1] work within existing law; [2] offer a fair assessment service to the whole public; and [3] maintain good staff relations.

Can all three be satisfied with a mild extension of the current Hazard Perception Test [HPT]?

I’ve met Prof David Crundall from NTU, whose longer-term work with DVSA I do not wish to undermine.  But is there not earlier scope for conducting the HPT "in-car", such that candidates observe rolling CGI clips from the driver’s seat of a static vehicle, and are themselves recorded telemetrically—use of the car’s controls plus eyeball-tracking—as a prerequisite for booking a human assessment on live roads?

The CGI could be projected onto windscreens and door mirrors, or simply on screens mounted close to the car.  Screens slightly curved should not be overly expensive (unlike those now used in the film industry).

These might even be portable, carried in that same car, itself leased advantageously from manufacturers keen for kudos from DVSA and familiarity by newly-qualifieds.

Such cars could be driven to small dedicated areas of educational sites, for example, where candidates could be assessed with shorter intervals, much like the rapid throughput at Theory test centres.  In exchange for driving cars to site, examiners might in time be offered their private use.

A short, say 10/15-minute, telemetric assessment would (a) appear to young candidates as more contemporary, expected, and less subjective.  It (b) segues comfortably from the on-screen Theory test.  It (c) reduces carbon footprint.  It (d) liberates trained examiners to conduct on-road tests of 30-minutes (the legal minimum) rather than the existing 40, thus enlarging capacity at this difficult time.  It may in time (e) significantly lower the upkeep cost of estates and leases.

Even if not implementable by a deadline that practically shifts the Covid backlog, might third-parties—perhaps even tech-savvy ADIs—be encouraged to submit recorded assessments to DVSA-stated criteria, in return for an earlier on-road test date?

A satisfactory "pre-road screen-test” would heighten a candidate's chance of passing their own “on-road” test, thus clearing the backlog faster.  The ABRSM recently started such a mechanism for music exams.

If the candidate wished, video-selfies might be used to convince an insurer that a new driver was less of a risk.

Just a thought.  Now, over to the logisticians...