16% More New Vehicles Registered In Last Year

Almost 56,000 new cars were registered in Northern Ireland in 2013/14, up 16% on 2012/13, newly published figures have revealed.

Published today the, DOE Driver, Vehicle, Operator and Enforcement Statistics 2013/14 report shows that the registration of new cars in Northern Ireland in 2013/14 reversed the downwards trend seen in recent years, with almost 55,700 new cars registered for the first time.

This represented an increase of 16% on 2012/13, when numbers were static following successive reductions since 2009/10. This increase may, in part, be a sign of an improvement in economic conditions following a downturn in recent years.

The publication also shows there were over 57,300 Theory Tests conducted during 2013/14. This represents an increase of approximately 15% on 2012/13 when just under 50,000 such tests were conducted and is the first increase recorded in the last five years. This contrasts, however, with the falling numbers taking their practical driving test. During this same period, the DVA conducted over 50,000 practical driving tests; around 8% lower than the figure for 2012/13, and down by well over one-quarter (28%) on the 69,500 tests conducted in 2009/10.

Despite reductions in those taking their practical driving test, the pass rates in 2013/14 continued to increase, up by around a further half percentage point on the previous year, to now stand at 58.2%, and representing an overall increase of over six percentage points on the 2010/11 pass rate. The pass rate by gender for Private Car L driving tests showed that males had a markedly higher pass rate (63%) than females (51%) in 2013/14. Interestingly, however, the opposite was found with the touch screen theory test where females had a higher pass rate (53%) than the males (48%).

The key points from this year’s report are:

Vehicle Testing

Applications Received:

DVA received 1,043,881 applications for vehicle tests during 2013/14, an increase of 2.5% from the previous year, and 13.0% up on the volumes received in 2009/10;

The highest growth in full test applications since 2009/10 was for Private Car tests, with a 16.8% increase (or 103,900 applications) from 617,983 applications in 2009/10 to 721,883 applications in 2013/14;

Test Appointments Provided:

The total number of appointments provided has increased by 109,874 (11.9%) since 2009/10, from 922,554, to 1,032,428 in 2013/14;

The customer failed to attend (FTA) on 22,570 occasions in 2013/14, an increase of 3% on the 21,904 FTAs during 2012/13. However, proportion of tests on which the customer failed to attend has fallen steadily, from 2.9% in 2008/09 to 2.2% in 2013/14, which is the same percentage recorded in 2012/13;

Pass Rates:

The overall pass rate for full vehicle tests during 2013/14 stood at 79.4%. Pass rates for those in the larger volume test categories ranged from 93.7% for motorcycle tests to 72.4% for Heavy Goods Vehicle tests;

There has been an increase in the pass rate for full vehicle tests between 2009/10 (78.1%) and 2013/14 (79.4%).

Driver Testing

Applications Received:

DVA received a total of 51,177 applications for driving tests during 2013/14. This was a reduction of 6.6% in applications from the 54,790 received in 2012/13, and 26.2% below that received in 2009/10 (69,317);

Tests Provided:

50,154 driving tests were provided by DVA in 2013/14, including 862 tests where the customer failed to appear. This figure is a reduction of 19,294 tests (27.8%) from 2009/10 where 69,448 tests were provided;

Pass Rates:

The overall pass rate for driving tests in 2013/14 was 58.2%, over six percentage points higher than in 2009/10, when it was 52.1%; individual pass rates across all test categories have increased between 2009/10 and 2013/14 with the exception of motorcycles in 2013/14;

The testing pass rate in 2013/14 varied by test category, from 56.2% for L Test Private Cars to 74.0% for the Miscellaneous Test Categories;

Using a four quarter rolling average, the pass rate by gender for Private Car L driving tests showed that Males had a markedly higher pass rate (63%) than Females (51%) in 2013/14.

The full list of figures can be read here.