Driving schools are raising concerns about the quality of foreign drivers on the road, after the B.C. RCMP announced earlier this week that they would stop ticketing drivers using non-Canadian licences.

“It’s a danger,” said Kurtis Strelau, who has worked for Young Drivers of Canada in Richmond for 25 years.

“I think it’s wrong, that’s my opinion. We have standards, and if they can’t meet those standards, I don’t see why they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops [to get a B.C. licence] to make sure its safe,” the regional education manager said.

Mounties in Richmond had been fining drivers with Chinese licences, because officers were unable to decipher them or assess their legitimacy due to the Chinese characters. However, the RCMP changed its stance after consultations with ICBC.

ICBC permits foreign licences to be used for up to six months by visiting Chinese citizens, and 90 days for residents.

But Strelau said allowing those drivers to skip B.C. testing, even for a time, was a hazard. He described one foreign-licensed learner who was confident she was ready for a highway road test who couldn’t navigate a residential corner.

He said he’d encountered at least a half-dozen licences he suspected were purchased from countries like Taiwan, China, the Philippines and South Korea among students he had taught in the past few years, adding that he’s just one of 30 instructors.

“Its an unfortunate fact that you can buy a licence, and in some cases they will come here and try to do the same thing.”

In 1993, a police sting revealed up to 10,000 foreign drivers, mostly from Southeast Asia, had obtained B.C. licences fraudulently in a bribery scheme involving as many as six Motor Vehicle Branch examiners and a dozen driving schools.

In 2004, another Richmond driving school was busted by ICBC for running a licensing fraud ring, and in 2007 a Surrey trucking school was caught.

Other local driving schools pointed out that even when foreign licences are legally obtained, the standards for safe driving are so radically different in some countries, that they still pose a danger on B.C. roads.

“There is a big learning curve for people who come from other countries. They may have got their licences in a legitimate manner, but they are not prepared for the experience here,” said John Jacobsen, general manager of Richmond’s Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy.

“Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy does do driving education in China and the stories I get … in some cases the rules of the road don’t apply and it is every man for himself,” Jacobsen said.

Richmond’s Pakcan Driving School owner Khurram Butt opposes the RCMP’s decision out of concern for road safety.

“Nobody should drive with a foreign licence. They don’t have experience in North American driving. They don’t know our rules and regulations. It’s very dangerous.”

Pakcan’s owner questioned why, when a new Canadian driver has to wait a year before taking a road test, can a foreign licence holder take a road test weeks after their written test, leaving little time to acclimatize to our roads.

eoconnor@theprovince.com

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