For years, New Jersey high school students took the written drivers ed test, either at their high school or the DMV. This was the first step toward being able to take the car and practice driving. Now, no more paper and pencils will be needed for this test since it is going to be taken on computers from now on. The drivers ed test will be moving to a digital exam for students. This change will alleviate people waiting for long hours at the DMV to make an appointment to do the first part of the licensing process. This change also improves the speeding process, security, and gives a little flexibility as to how and where the students take the test. 

Before this change was made, teachers had to print out seven different versions of the exam to ensure that no student would be able to look at the person next to them and cheat. Motor vehicles believe that teachers who are administering these tests on computers will allow them to maintain integrity. State legislators feel strongly about switching to web based knowledge tests, and that it most likely will reduce the time to get an appointment, if needed at the DMV. 

“It is interesting to see all these tests move digitally nowadays. I think it’s a smart move because everything is on computers now and if it evaluates the hours you have to wait at Motor Vehicles, then it’s a good thing,” Senior Lexi Donohue commented on how she felt about this test not being on paper anymore. This change will take some time getting used to but in the long run it will be a wise decision.

“It seems like a good decision and I think having this test on the computer will have students feel less stressed because they are so used to taking test on computers,” Senior Christin DeFranco said about her feelings towards the drivers ed written test moving to a computer based test.

The initial phase of this roll out started at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year at public and private high schools all throughout the state of New Jersey. All 665 high schools in the state that are licensed to teach driver education and administer knowledge tests have fully switched to the online testing system. In 2021, the NJMVC began changing its DARTSS (Driver and Road Test Scoring System) program to a digital solution, and steered away from the old paper and pencil method for administering knowledge tests at schools. 

Students are still encouraged to study as much as they would as if it was still on paper. The DMV has noticed a trend of low scores and wants to improve that. Making this change is a step to possibly increasing those scores. Studying for this exam and knowing everything is crucial for when it’s time to go out on the roads. If you don’t prepare for this test, you are putting other drivers at risk when you start to drive.

Good luck to everyone taking this test in the future!