[Article] Motor chief says test adds to car deaths

Victor

Sounds like someone who is trying to drum up business (yes I checked the date)

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/7769741?view=Eircomnet

Motor chief says test adds to car deaths
From:The Irish Independent
Sunday, 2nd April, 2006

LIAM COLLINS

THE driving test should be scrapped because it is "contributing to rising toll of road accidents", according to the head of the Irish School of Motoring.

The test was developed over 40 years ago and has not been seriously up-dated since.

"It covers very little of what is relevant to modern, everyday driving," says John Walsh, who has been involved in training learner drivers since 1964.

"I would compare it to the Junior Cert. What if, when we did our Junior Cert, at the age of 15 or 16, and then said, 'that's the end of my education', wouldn't we be in a mess," he said, on the eve of the introduction of 31 new penalty point offences.

The outmoded test is conducted in quiet housing estates for 20 to 25 minutes, at an average speed of 35kmph. It covers things such as three-point turns and reversing around corners - skills that are largely outdated.

But the test does not cover vital aspects of modern-day driving, such as parallel parking, motorway or dual-carriageway driving, major roundabouts (two lanes), or night-time driving.

The only way to bring the test into the 21st century, he said, is to scrap it altogether and bring in new laws, like Germany, where people sit the test after 10 hours of theory, 20 hours of tuition and are signed-off as eligible to sit by their instructor.

At the moment, there is a 50 per cent failure rate for the Irish test, with 410,000 drivers on provisional licences - the majority of them awaiting the test.

Mr Walsh is also critical of a number of new offences which will carry penalty points from tomorrow.

In particular he disagrees with penalty points for "driving a HGV or bus on the outside lane on a motorway". He says that it would be much safer to allow lorries and buses to use the over-taking lane to pass slow drivers, than to force them to remain behind a slow vehicle.

Mr Walsh says he is also "very frustrated" that 18 months after a working committee drew up new guidelines, they still have not been implemented.

BendiBus

Victor wrote:

Sounds like someone who is trying to drum up business (yes I checked the date)

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/7769741?view=Eircomnet

An attention grabbing headline maybe, but the detail makes sense to me.

I asked in another post what was the failure rate for the driving test. To find out it is 50% is shocking. This means that, given some people just have an off-day, probably over 40% of applicants haven't a hope of passing. What a huge waste of tester time.

I fully agree that a driver should be signed off as competent to take the test before applying. Surely this should be the first approach to tackling the waiting list? Competent learner drivers get their licence more quickly and it means every driver would have at least one session with a qualified instructor. It's not a solution to road safety but it's a start.

I don't drive so I can't comment on the content of the test itself.

FinoBlad

Any independent info on the German system Victor?

Capt'n Midnight

In Italy you can get your license via a driving school over three weeks or so. Or you can do a test. Most people do it the first way.

The 50% fail rate means the average time to pass a test is twice that on www.drivingtest.ie . Longer since many people won't reapply immediately.

Re skills like reversing and three point turns not needed :eek: I firmly believe if you can't control a car at low speed then all you are doing is pointing it in the general direction you want it to go - a very low skill level and one which motorways are designed for - it should not be confused with knowing how to drive. Look at any superquinn car park to see just how bad irish drivers are at low speed car control.

Parallel parking and emergency stops like in the UK would be interesting, a longer test too, IIRC in Germany you used to have 3 different tests including a section at night.