São Paulo to use telemetry to avoid driving test corruption
The city of São Paulo will be implementing telemetry sensors and cameras in vehicles used for driving tests to monitor budding motorists and inspectors.
This is part of an initiative to tackle corruption - it is common practice in São Paulo and other Brazilian cities to pay bribes to driving schools and officials to be able to pass driving tests regardless of ability. Bribes to obtain a driver's licence in Brazil can be anything between R$500-R$1000 ($144-$288).
According to Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, Detran, the state institution responsible for ground vehicle supervision, will be launching a tender for the purchase of the equipment before the end of September.
The telemetry sensors are expected to allow performance monitoring during the test - for example, it will be possible to tell whether individuals have changed gears or used the clutch or brakes incorrectly.
It will be also possible to tell whether inspectors are doing all the work during the test, by using the pedals on the passenger seat in learning vehicles.
In addition, cameras will be installed inside the vehicles to monitor what applicants and inspectors are doing during the actual test.
However, Detran's intentions have sparked a debate around who will be paying for the equipment as this decision has yet to be made. The department's executives say it is quite likely that driving schools will have to bear the cost of the devices.
The alternative would be that the traffic authority would buy equipped cars solely for that purpose - at present, tests are carried out in driving schools' cars.
According to Detran data, 80.491 people in São Paulo applied for a driver's licence in the first quarter of 2015, of which 25.776 failed the practical test.