Mandatory Driving Test

[mk1_salami]

I see so many people that are completely clueless on the road. From simple lane selection on roundabouts, to the inability to do basic maneuvers and even basic clutch/throttle control. Would you be in support of a mandatory driving re-test every say ... 10 years? Dropping to 3 years after age 60? If you can't pass a test - you shouldn't be driving! Your car requires an MOT every year to be considered safe, why wouldn't you also check the driver now and again?

Upsides:
Higher driving standards
Get all the idiots off the roads
Increase in jobs for driving instructors/test facilities.

Downsides:
Policy would likely be hugely unpopular with voters, so I can't see any political party actually doing this.
Extra cost for the motorist.

 

[mk1_salami]

I'm not entirely sure my job would be happy me not turning up for X number of weeks or months due to failing a retest.
And I certainly wouldn't be walking home 14 miles at 6am after a 12 hour shift.

But if you fail... you shouldn't be driving?

You could do it like an MOT. If you fail, you have a grace period to re-test where you could still drive for x amount of days / weeks.

 

[mk1_salami]

Every speeding offence could be instantly addressable if black boxes became mandatory and its data collection could be expanded to almost everything else that would fail a driving test...

How keen are you to be sure people are always driving to test standards.

I'm no fan of nanny state devices, but why would anyone be against making sure people have the skills to drive to a certain standard? Besides the fear of not meeting that standard, I can't think of any?

 

[mk1_salami]

You vaguely say you're not a fan of very easily implemented monitoring and then say you don't see why anyone would be against making sure people drive to a certain standard.

Apparently you can think of reasons.

And this is my solution to your problem, black boxes, permanent monitoring. Much easier and more accurate than trying to get tens of millions of drivers retested every X years.


Read the entire sentence to understand how I say current black boxing could be expanded to fulfil the aim of the OP without the use of more tests.

How does a black box identify people in wrong lanes on a roundabout? Or the inability to park properly, or reverse around a corner. It would identify speeding, which is not a problem I’m talking about.

Just to be clear - I don't see ANY problem with speeding where conditions allow it. More, mass surveillance of the country is not what I want. I simply think it is a good idea to ensure people have the skills required to take control of a motor vehicle and that skillset to be reviewed from time to time.

Black boxes would be the end of the enthusiast car segment and put the nail in the coffin of any sports car manufacturers. It's not what I want.

 

[mk1_salami]

Those people that you see on the road managed to pass their test the first time (somehow)

What makes you feel that they won't also pass a re-test?

Maybe they passed a test 45 years ago. Don't you think it would be useful for a wee refresher??

The standard of driving I see every day makes me think a lot of people would fail a test.

 

[mk1_salami]

I'd also have an advanced BOSS LEVEL driving test, with skid pans, car control etc, and then you have a license to drive in your own dedicated BOSS LANES on every motorway and dual carriageway with increased speed limits. Charge £1000 a year to use them and a requirement is to be a good driver.

Re-vive the economy with massive infrastructure projects for legends, and keep the peasants out of the way.

 

[mk1_salami]

It's also not spending. It's investing.

New jobs
Use only British machinery & materials to build it

Basically like Germany in the 1930s, minus the invasion of countries and genocidal bit.

 

[mk1_salami]

Dont even need new lanes for that, just make lane 3 the "competent driver lane" and all the plebs can get lanes 1 and 2, and if they come into lane 3 they get shot by snipers placed on the overpasses.

 

[mk1_salami]

Well, they 'found' £98 billion for HS2. That is a lot of motorway @ £30m a mile (3,200 miles of motorway), or the entire M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, M25 with a few hundred miles to spare.

Anyway, it's pie in the sky. Never gonna happen.