On average, five learners a day try to cheat their way to a test pass by sending someone to take it for them. Last year, another five tried to offer cash bribes to examiners for a pass, while twelve were reported for physical attacks and 175 for verbal abuse on the examiner. People are desperate to pass their tests and they’ll do anything it takes to do so.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a little guide which reveals all the craziest ways to cheat on your driving test. From wearing a latex mask to pass as a 60 year old to bribing the examiner with money, we have shortlisted all the top stories on how to get that driver’s licence you long for — the idiot’s way. NB: Don’t try any of this at home.
#1 The Mask
Passing your theory test can be tricky. But why bother learning The Highway Code and answer all those pesky test questions correctly when you can just pay someone else to impersonate you wearing a mask? Guillaume De Vendrines, a man in his 30s, wore a latex mask to pass as a 60 year old candidate for whom he was trying to sit the written theory test. He later pleaded guilty to fraud and was fined £1,500 by Croydon magistrates.
#2 The Ringer
Failed your driving theory test 18 times? Can’t afford a shoddy mask? Well why not take the approach of 26-year-old Ali Mohammed from Birmingham. The 26-year-old roped in a ‘ringer’ to sit his 19th test for him, but was caught out when staff at the Driving Standards Association realised the stand-in didn’t match the picture that was on Mohammed’s provisional licence. He was handed a nine-month prison term, suspended for two years, and handed 200 hours of community service. Ouch.
#3 The hands-free approach
Sending ringers to do your dirty work is clearly an unreliable, old-school approach, so crooks have started resorting to technology. Unemployed Michael Babayan, 49, helped hundreds of people pass their test by concealing mobile phone hands-free kits under their headscarves. The applicants would then take the voice-over service, which audibly reads the test question, at which point Babayan would give them the answers. Babayan, from North London, charged £500 to provide the answers, and fraudulently assisted as many as 400 drivers. When you’re making that much, who needs to be employed?
#4 Inside job
If you absolutely, positively have to cheat, then sometimes the most reliable way is to get the help of someone on the inside. Two test examiners, Bushra Chughtai, 55, and Andrew Cursley, 46, were sentenced to jail after a three-year investigation reealed they’d been accepting bribes of thousands of pounds from driving candidates. They would issue pass certificates to candidates who either failed the test or did not take it at all. 7 Candidates aged between 23 and 48 were also jailed. If you haven’t got thousands of pounds going spare, this one isn’t for you.
#5 Attack mode
So you’ve tried to bribe your examiner with an envelope of cash, but they’ve declined. So what next? Former teacher Jin Su, 35, wanted her licence so much at the fifth time, that when her bribe was declined by examiner Keith Ashcroft, she attacked him in the street afterwards. The envelope contained between £400 and £500, with Su telling Ashcroft that it “would be good for you – and for me.” When he declined and then terminated the test, Su grabbed his wrists and tried to push him back into the car, wanting the test to continue. If you’re going to try this one, make sure you’ve got enough cash in the envelope.
Images: Flickr/CCTV
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