The example of Dr. Walter in the Czech Republic highlights the importance of multilingual testing and international norms for fair assessment of individuals.
PhDr. Michal Walter, Chairman of the Union of the Psychological Associations of the Czech Republic, runs test centers for drivers in the
cities of Prague and Mladá Boleslav.
The psychological examinations are required by Czech traffic law to assess the individual fitness to drive, including for professional drivers with special driver’s licenses (trucks, buses), driving instructors, or drivers whose licenses have been revoked. Furthermore, driving tests are also off ered at the test centers.
Many of the tested individuals are migrant workers from other European countries. It was important to offer them the tests in their respective native language. The personal data collected during the tests is very sensitive and it is therefore important that the test system used adheres to the local and European data protection provisions (GDPR).
Both test centers were equipped with a single Vienna Test System (VTS) workstation, including a carrying case for the hardware. The center in Prague also has special SCHUHFRIED hardware for testing peripheral perception (PP-R) digitally.
VTS offers multiple specific tests and test sets for assessing drivers. Dr. Walter chose the DRIVEPLS test set since it allows for assessing peripheral perception in addition to the most important dimensions – overview, logical reasoning, concentration, stress tolerance, and ability to react. The test set also measures traffic-relevant personality dimensions in addition to cognitive abilities. This allows psychologists to get a full picture of a driver’s fitness to drive.
The convenient carrying case lets practitioners carry out testing outside of the confines to the test center, if required. The VTS tests are available in up to 37 different languages. This is very important for the many different international customers at the test centers.
