Standard of driving in UK appalling or not?

kelly g

I am a learner driver or rather i was until earlier today! Ive had lessons with a qualified instructor and also started driving my boyfriends car, which is covered in 'L' plates and, of course, fully insured. I have come to the conclusion that once people get past 5 years of driving they forget that they was once a learner. The state of the drivers on the road today has put me off continuing to learn. I wouldnt mind so much apart from the fact that i have a medical condition that means that i automatically have to have a medical every 3 years so i know that i am fit to drive.
Your ideas are needed and sooner rather than later!

barryboys

The only other country I've drove in was Ireland - the standard of driving in the UK is far better.

uncle fester

The standard of driving in the UK isn't appalling, far from it. We have one of the best records on safety on the roads & have much higher standards than most of our european neighbours.

Of course things aren't perfect & there is room for improvement but your suggestion would do nothing to improve safety.

The big issue on the roads is the motoring "underclass" i.e the unlicensed, uninsured, untaxed & un mot'd individuals who choose not to be legal because it costs them money. Your sugestion would not touch these people only the law abiding majority.

What we need in the UK is proper traffic policing from real police officers, not more speed cameras as a quick fix. The decimation of police traffic divisions by politicians & bean counters is a national disgrace. If we had more officers enforcing the existng laws then there would be a dramatic improvement in safety.

We also need more prison capacity to give proper sentences to the drink drivers & dangerous drivers to act as a proper deterrent.

hong kong phooey

im the same buddy. had a car entitlement since i was 17 passed 1st time as well. got hgv class c1 + e & passed the bike 2 yrs back. the standard of driving is shocking to say the least. at least their bringing in new rules for motorway driving for the new drivers (at last !)

Bandit600

The thing is, you only remember the bad drivers, not the good ones.

LittleSpitfire

yes its simply appalling....now, time for a spot of tea...

landersisthebest

sounds gd but in theory would probably never work. i passed my test today and would hate to have to do it again. think its a good solution to stop idiots but the crap drivers are going to rebel and say no cos they wouldnot pass again.so would have to be forced into action.sometimes experience isnot everything so if it was passed as law then i think its the best for all of us.

breezinabout

Something certainly needs to be done to improve the standards. But a lot of people are hell-bent on 'doing it their way' as soon as they pass their test. They fail to realise that all those little things, like indicating correctly and correct road positioning all add up to make driving an enjoyable experience. They seem to only see as far as their own little domain and don't care at all how their driving is affecting other road users.

J J

I fully agree, would be a winner, also the initial pass should include a log book of minimum hours learnt, say 40 hours learning, at least, over the period of a minimum of 6 months!

MPatrinos

On the face of it this seems like a good idea, however, it misses the point: WHY is driving so bad?

The answer is relatively simple: because there is not enough police to enforce the correct ways to drive.

Making people re-test will just mean that for about 2 hours in every 5 years they will drive properly. Until people get caught and enforcement is increased, driving will remain dreadful.

I also agree that more should be done to get unlicensed/uninsured drivers off the road and unsafe vehicles too.

togs

dont think that a retest would work somehow, you know how much it costs to pass your test these days??? a bloody fortune, i do think more testing should be done on eye sight etc as no check is done when you go for your test other than reading a number plate from an esimated distance,

Rob E

Ok, so there is no 1 size fits all answer. Some people would be better off not on the road, unless they can improve their driving skills. This would help themselves and save injury to others.

Frequent checks would be sailed through by competent drivers, whereas underperformers could be warned or banned, depending on their proven skills - or not. No need for huge costs for this. It is a humane measure to improve health and safety for us. 5 yearly driving test, eyesight and health checks every other year - increasing in frequency as people age or have injuries. Eg someone having traumatic brain injury presently gets an immediate ban now. Perhaps other injuries could be added, such as severe leg / arm injuries. (I lost part of my brain after being run over by a crap inattentive driver.) Perhaps such drivers should be forced to resit too, just as I was.

Out of car monitoring would also be useful, like when you take your bike test and the examiner is on his own bike, not sitting on yours. This could be achieved through accumulation of feedback about a person - eg. the police not just concentrating on Quantity (Speed) but Quality - overall handling etc, as well as more qualitative observation.

The costs could be part met by :
public - tax or test fees or poor performance fines
insurance companies etc.

I would happily contribute some more money for this, as my overall insurance costs should diminish as accident rates drop.

Great question! Rob

telboy everton forever

i agree with you tests should be taken regularly the standard of driving is appaling when people pass the test they seem to think they can do what they like

WelshLad

I agree

bartislartfarst

I was thinking about this today!!! The latest issue of Bike magazine (UK) has 20 pages of tips on how to improve your riding which is quite usual for a bike magazine. They always recommend advanced training which 50% of riders do but no-one ever recommends car drivers take advanced training. Therefore I reckon your licence should be dependant not on a retest but on some kind of advanced training every five years at say 20, 25, 30, 35 etc and if you don't take it your licence will be revoked

biffo

Wise words mate! Not arf!

The Fat Controller

I strongly think that we should be brought in for refresher training at regular intervals. Yes the standards are poor at time but what can you expect of folk with minimal training other than learning the hard way. I accept that there would be a major cost issue bit we pay vast amounts of taxes as motorists . Surely improved training would reduce accident rates and their hidden costs eg. a single fatality costs the economy the Â£800000 and there are 3500 fatal accidents a year and that is just the fatalities there are 200000 motorists injured a year. so training will be economical if the govt looks at the bigger picture for once.
Sorry to go on here endth the lesson !!!!

Keith W

The amount of lazy t***s who can't be bothered indicating....christ does that wind me up!

creviazuk

I agree in principal. Driver SHOULD be retested...with a retest 6 weeks afterwards if they fail before losing a licence .

However, the standard of driving on UK roads is FAR superior to many other countries. Having travelled in Europe & N. America / Canada I've seen some appaling drivers.

I CAN drive like I was tested...but it's so dumb, slow & therefore UNSAFE!!

homer28b

I agree with the suggestion of advanced driver training. There are always going to be idiots on the road but at least if they have better skills instead of just thinking they do that should help reduce accidents from poor judgment.

CrunchyCookies...Leeds...x

I completely agree. I don't drive but work on public trasport and the amount of bad drivers on the road makes me glad I don't own a car!
The thing about the re-test is also spot on, there are alot of people who passed their test before the theory test was even brought in and quite frankly probably wouldn't pass it!
People are always in too much of a hurry to think about what they're doing and don't realise that a car is a killing machine.

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