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New drivers in Florida are failing their driving tests at an alarming rate, and as Matt Galka tells us, state officials say they’ll make things right, but won’t sacrifice safety.

Robert Murray hopes to have his license at the end of the month. He’s taking hands on driving lesson classes with the American Safety Institute to help him pass the test.

“There’s a lot muscle memory involved and I don’t think you can get that just by watching other people drive or like taking a course in it,” said Murray.

In order to get to the driving part of the exam, Murray will have to pass the written test.  Florida switched to a new 50 question exam in January. Nearly 60% of people are failing.

Driving instructor John Zarate is fine with a tougher test.

“I’ll be honest with you, I think the standards are pretty low at this point right now,” he said.

Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Terry Rhodes has asked for patience as her agency deals with the failure rate.

“We just want the young drivers and the new drivers to know the Florida law, the traffic laws, we want them to make sure they understand what that means, that it’s a life or death situation,” she said.

State officials want to make sure the test isn’t made easier just to increase the pass rate.

“I’m not advocating we dumb down the test anytime you raise the standard you’re going to see an adjustment period, a transition period, so I don’t begrudge that if we’re asking the right questions,” Agriculture Commisisoner Adam Putnam told Rhodes earlier this week.

Rhodes says the test questions focus on more critical thinking, and that her department will come up with new study guys and focus on education to better prepare new drivers.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says their agency strives for a 70 percent pass rate.