Standard of driving in UK appalling or not?

Question

Do you feel that the above statement is true. I have a full UK licence for Motorcycles and I use them. Cars and HGV class 1 and I think it's time for repeat ability to drive tests say every 5 years. Your car has an MOT to check it's safe so why not your driving.
I think a medical should be included in this and I also think at the cost to us the motoring public as individuals.
If you fail then you have a retest within 6 months and if you fail again professional tuition to bring your standards up to an acceptable level
That should improve things on the road for all
Your reactions please

In the first few minutes this has provoked reaction
I ride a Harley for pleasure and this is where my concerns come from after 40 years on the roads passing my test in 67 and no check on my ability since. Not too good really. I think I am one of the better ones but so does everyone else

Answer 1

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!

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

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!!

Answer 5

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 £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 !!!!

Answer 6

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

Answer 7

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.

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

I find most drivers are alright, but there are too many selfish bastards, not indicating, tailgating, overtaking you in the 30 zone because you refused to be bullied into speeding, erratic driving (the in-town out-town 40mph drivers are particularly bad), old people who nearly always veer out in to the middle of the road to avoid drains and never use their mirrors. I think you're right that people should be tested more regularly, however this government relies on heavy tax from motorists, and won't implement any legislation that reduces road users and therefore tax.

Answer 10

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.