http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6223887.stm
What do people here think about this? I think it is a good idea to make the test harder, and to better reflect real life driving.
Harder driving tests considered
- Thread starter dirtydog
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What do people here think about this? I think it is a good idea to make the test harder, and to better reflect real life driving.
I think it'll be a good idea because it'll increase awareness etc.
But it won't increase road safety.
Because the second they pass they'll be the 17yo Colin McRae
regardless of how many hours they were forced to stick to the speed limits to.
But it won't increase road safety.
Because the second they pass they'll be the 17yo Colin McRae
regardless of how many hours they were forced to stick to the speed limits to.
Definately think some changes need to be made, it seems silly that you can start driving a car without having to have any prior experience, of a vehicle or the roads.
Introducing into the curriculum is an idea, passing the theory test beforehand could help also. The minimum hours idea doesn't seem that good to me as some people do learn faster than others, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, but I would hope that line would be more around 40 to 60 hours, unless the government is willing to subsidise lesson costs!
Introducing into the curriculum is an idea, passing the theory test beforehand could help also. The minimum hours idea doesn't seem that good to me as some people do learn faster than others, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, but I would hope that line would be more around 40 to 60 hours, unless the government is willing to subsidise lesson costs!
Soldato
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More training is needed, but 120 hours is just stupidity, and you can guarentee that the govt will find some way of making it even less relevent to real driving than it already is!.
I do think Motorway and night driving is a good idea though, lane dicipline in particular!
I honestly think driver training should include a skid pan session also, people need to know what to do, how to brake, when not to brake etc....
I just think the test just does not prepare drivers who have no idea, other than what they are being taught in lessons, how to drive. Obviously a bit of learning has to be done on your own, but at the moment far to much is being left to chance.
Also this speed kills culture we seem to have is wrecking the road system, the ammount of times you cannot get anywhere near the speed limit for people driving 10 or 20 miles per hour below it is just insane! Obviously on roads that are perfectly safe to travel at or near the limit, even in the rain. (most of them)
I do think Motorway and night driving is a good idea though, lane dicipline in particular!
I honestly think driver training should include a skid pan session also, people need to know what to do, how to brake, when not to brake etc....
I just think the test just does not prepare drivers who have no idea, other than what they are being taught in lessons, how to drive. Obviously a bit of learning has to be done on your own, but at the moment far to much is being left to chance.
Also this speed kills culture we seem to have is wrecking the road system, the ammount of times you cannot get anywhere near the speed limit for people driving 10 or 20 miles per hour below it is just insane! Obviously on roads that are perfectly safe to travel at or near the limit, even in the rain. (most of them)
It's about time they realised that driver education is a key part of road safety rather than the current obsession of catching people breaking speed limits, which is doing nothing apart from annoying motorists and further alienating the police.
A few years ago in France there was a massive change in the driving test. From the top of my head it went from about a 75% pass rate to about 15% in the first month. The pass rate is higher now, but it's still low and it's supposed to be the hardest test in Europe now.
I've not seen a recent report, but early reports said there was no statistically significant difference in the number of accidents that passers were having.
These changes will reduce the type of accidents that are caused by people that just can't drive and got a lucky one on their test. I don't think that's the biggest problem though, they only cause a small number of accidents. IMHO, plenty of passers can drive well enough to safely learn by themselves. The problem is that just because people can drive sensibly for the examiner/their mum, it doesn't mean they'll do that when they're on their own or with their mates. Short of giving them experience at higher speed (like they do on the police BikeSafe courses around here
), I can't see it making much difference.
I've not seen a recent report, but early reports said there was no statistically significant difference in the number of accidents that passers were having.
These changes will reduce the type of accidents that are caused by people that just can't drive and got a lucky one on their test. I don't think that's the biggest problem though, they only cause a small number of accidents. IMHO, plenty of passers can drive well enough to safely learn by themselves. The problem is that just because people can drive sensibly for the examiner/their mum, it doesn't mean they'll do that when they're on their own or with their mates. Short of giving them experience at higher speed (like they do on the police BikeSafe courses around here
), I can't see it making much difference.
Soldato
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Dogbreath said:
bob on, I would pay double road tax if we could rip down the speed camera's get rid of the unmarked cars (for speed purposes, keep them for ridding out the uninsured etc...) Then we could have loads of marked police cars actually policing dangerous driving, and using there common sense for other issues.
Stick the camera's up outside schools etc.... by all means.
Sneaking up on drivers doing 6mph over the limit pefectly safely, just makes them hate the authority and respect it less. Whilst the chavs, drunks and the uninsured get away with driving like ****'s because there is no-one policing it.
............Rant over.
At £30 for 2 hours, thats 60 lessons at a cost of £1800 add onto the costs of one test practical and theory and thats two grand in total.Rotty said:
Cost me about £500 in total to learn, had around 15 hours of lessons plus my two tests which i passed first time fortunatly! Driving instructors will be laughing all the way to the bank and i expect lots more will be needed to cope with the higher demand then.
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Berger said:
yep, there is no way that can happen, no where near enough driving instructors for a start! At the moment I think £18-£25 an hour is the going rate. it was £15 a few of years ago when I took my test.
I have my doubts that it will make any difference at all, unless they get the general focus off speed and onto things that actually cause accidents.
Driver education is key, and it's not necessarily the young or the inexperienced that show no idea of what they are doing. There are far too many people who consider driving as anything other than being in direct control of a 1.5 tonne missile doing large speeds. They consider it just something they have to do, and therefore lack the attention and observation required to be a good driver.
Meanwhile, the government is totally ignoring them, and going after people who exceed an arbitary limit that even their own figures suggest has nothing to do with road safety or accident prevention.
This is another half-assed attempt to make it look like they are doing something, because they refuse to stand up and say "Most drivers are crap", which is unfortunately the bottom line.
Driver education is key, and it's not necessarily the young or the inexperienced that show no idea of what they are doing. There are far too many people who consider driving as anything other than being in direct control of a 1.5 tonne missile doing large speeds. They consider it just something they have to do, and therefore lack the attention and observation required to be a good driver.
Meanwhile, the government is totally ignoring them, and going after people who exceed an arbitary limit that even their own figures suggest has nothing to do with road safety or accident prevention.
This is another half-assed attempt to make it look like they are doing something, because they refuse to stand up and say "Most drivers are crap", which is unfortunately the bottom line.
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Can't see the 120hrs idea coming in, that's just going to be far too expensive. I think Pass Plus should be dropped and what it encompasses be brought into the test itself. Regular retesting is another good idea.
One big problem though, is that much of the dangerous driving we see would result in a fail in the test anyway, so making the test harder might not work.
One big problem though, is that much of the dangerous driving we see would result in a fail in the test anyway, so making the test harder might not work.