Learner drivers are to be quizzed on their knowledge of CPR in a significant update to the theory test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said motorists are often 'first on the scene' when someone suffers a cardiac arrest.
Adding questions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillators to the examination from early next year means candidates will 'have a better understanding of the skills to use in an emergency', it added.
More than 40,000 people in the UK suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year with fewer than one in ten making it through.
Research has found survival rates can be as high as 70 per cent if CPR is given and a defibrillator used within three to five minutes of collapse.
