TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Transportation and Communications plans to make written tests for driver’s licenses more challenging starting in 2026.
Highway Bureau Director-General Chen Wen-juei (陳文瑞) said Tuesday that the new format will eliminate true-or-false questions and remove items with consistently high correct response rates, per CNA. The current multiple-choice format will also be revised from three options to four.
Chen explained that true-or-false questions give test takers a 50% chance of guessing correctly, undermining the test’s purpose. The changes are meant to assess driving knowledge through more rigorous multiple-choice questions.
Currently, the written tests for car and scooter licenses consist of 40 and 50 questions, respectively. There is an equal split between true-or-false and multiple-choice questions.
In the wake of several recent serious traffic accidents, Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) outlined three strategies for license management. These include:
- Making the exam stricter to better gauge driving knowledge
- Strengthening retraining programs to raise safety awareness among violators
- Assisting senior drivers with safe driving and license renewals
Chen hopes to complete the planning of these measures within three months. Regarding the license testing system, Chen said the goal is for beginners to learn to drive safely during training.
In the past, many people believed they could pass just by flipping through the test question bank, said Chen. The Highway Bureau is reviewing and removing questions with consistently high pass rates.
In the future, Chen said test takers must thoroughly study traffic regulations. Experts and scholars will also be invited to discuss improving the road test's ability to assess driving skills.
According to Highway Bureau statistics, around 549,000 people take the car and scooter license tests each year. The pass rate for the car written test is about 85%, and over 70% for scooters.
The overall pass rate, those who pass both the written and road tests, is around 75% for cars and between 50% and 60% for scooters.
