The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has banned the Toyota iQ from the practical driving test.

Given its little size, clever packaging and various safety features, you would have thought the Toyota iQ city car well suited to learner drivers. However, following complaints about visibility from driving test examiners, it has been banned from being used by candidates taking the practical driving test.

Safe but not suitable

As with all modern cars, the Toyota iQ has full type approval for use on the road, and is deemed safe by Euro NCAP, which awarded it the full five-star crash safety rating.

However, the Driving Standards Agency has its own requirements, as a spokesperson explained: Most hatchbacks, saloons and estate cars are suitable for the driving test, but some models with good forward vision have large blind spots to the rear, giving examiners problems with observation.

Vehicles for test must allow examiners all round vision to see approaching vehicles. This is particularly important when the car is at an angle to other vehicles during reversing maneuvers and when emerging at a junction with the vehicle at an angle to the major road. The Toyota iQ has been risk-assessed and, for these reasons, is unsuitable for the practical driving test.