Poll: Would you re-sit your driving test

Steve

pburns wrote: »

This thread does nothing but add to the hysteria about road deaths that is already rampant in certain sections of the media. I don't believe driving standards in this country are so bad. Can anyone point to definitive statistics that show that our per capita road accident fatalities are significently worse than other EU countries?

Just because we are not at the bottom of the pile doesn't mean we should not strive to improve. If you have any ideas on how to improve things, feel free to post them.

Unlike the government, I don't claim this to be the solution to our road deaths, I merely had a "what if" thought and posted it here to see what peoples opinions were.

I'm not on a crusade!:rolleyes:

pburns wrote: »

I don't have stats to hand but I'm willing to bet there are a dispropotionate number of (a.) young males and (b.) foreign drivers (*ducks from inevitable PC backlash) involved in many of the serious accidents on our roads. Target the demographic(s) involved and move the feck on from all this hand-wringing...

I be willing to bet that you're right - again, come up with a solution instead of complaining about it.

pburns wrote: »

BTW, even the language used in the poll is risable and skewed -
'Great idea it would get rid of the idiots!'
...
'No way Jose, I'm holding on to my free licence'
...
:rolleyes:

Never did well in English class:D

Steve

WHITE_P wrote: »

Thing is if those idiots who are qualified drivers, knew that they would have to retest every few years, they might try and not develope too many bad habits in the meantime. Afterall can you imagine someone with years of experience not passing their retest, particularly if it was going to have an affect on the cost of their insurance, and if driving a company car, was to see them, maybe losing the keys to the company Beemer or like to be given a smaller less prestige car to drive till they did pass the test again.

+1, thank you

Comes down to the "I'm a perfect driver, everyone else are muppets" attitude.
PROVE IT! passs the test again. What have you got to hide if you're so perfect:rolleyes:

AckwelFoley

Would i sit the test again? No

Would i pass it? No

What would i do? Id get 4 or 5 lessons like the last time.. go in on my best behaviour like the last time.. pass it.. be on my way..


Status Quo.

Im a decent driver, ive never been in an accident in 12 years of driving, but i think people see my point.

How many 70 year old drivers would pass the test, despite they are rarely in accidents?



Point is, the drivind test changes nothing..

2 things cause accidents in this country.. drinkin driving and speeding.. neither will be changed by re sit of the test.

WHITE_P

Personally I think we should be trying to raise the bar when it comes to driver skills. If we were to ever achieve this, we would then need to maintain an improved level of driver skills, through retesting every few years.

What amazes me is that, from some of threads I've read on this site, there are alot of people out there who don't seem to care if their driving skills are any good or not, and this is not meant as competative thing either.

By improving driver skills I don't mean that we all need to be up to racing / rally driver standards, either. If you could just raise people's awareness of their surroundings while driving, eg. road / weather conditions etc., other motorists behavour within their proximity, how their driving impacts other drivers etc., we might actually see a reduction in road accidents / deaths.

pred racer

snyper wrote: »

Would i sit the test again? No

Would i pass it? No

What would i do? Id get 4 or 5 lessons like the last time.. go in on my best behaviour like the last time.. pass it.. be on my way..


Status Quo.

Im a decent driver, ive never been in an accident in 12 years of driving, but i think people see my point.

How many 70 year old drivers would pass the test, despite they are rarely in accidents?



Point is, the drivind test changes nothing..

very true, everybody knows the rules of the road, or at least a fair approximation of them, people know they are supposed to [deep breath/] use indicators, overtake correctly, dip lights for oncoming traffic, not speed, not do stupid stuff, give way to your right, stop at junctions, not run into people etc etc etc....[phew/] but they dont bother, so how is making them re-sit their driving test going to help?

Steve

pred racer wrote: »

very true, everybody knows the rules of the road, or at least a fair approximation of them, people know they are supposed to [deep breath/] use indicators, overtake correctly, dip lights for oncoming traffic, not speed, not do stupid stuff, give way to your right, stop at junctions, not run into people etc etc etc....[phew/] but they dont bother, so how is making them re-sit their driving test going to help?

Fair point:

a, what you say is true and every muppet on the road is doing it because they are 'experts' and can do no wrong

or

B, people don't actually know what the correct thing to do is and need to be re-educated.

If the correct answer is "a" then because they're all experts, nobody does anything wrong and nobody dies in the process.........or do they?

javaboy

pred racer wrote: »

very true, everybody knows the rules of the road, or at least a fair approximation of them, people know they are supposed to [deep breath/] use indicators, overtake correctly, dip lights for oncoming traffic, not speed, not do stupid stuff, give way to your right, stop at junctions, not run into people etc etc etc....[phew/] but they dont bother, so how is making them re-sit their driving test going to help?

It gives some incentive not to develop bad habits. As it is, once you get your driving license, you're nearly untouchable. As long as you don't do anything really dangerous and get caught for it, you will probably have your license forever. Do you even have to resit your test if you get disqualified from driving for say a year?

pred racer

stevec wrote: »

Fair point:

a, what you say is true and every muppet on the road is doing it because they are 'experts' and can do no wrong

or

B, people don't actually know what the correct thing to do is and need to be re-educated.

If the correct answer is "a" then because they're all experts, nobody does anything wrong and nobody dies in the process.........or do they?

Nah... the way i look at it is C: most people have a fair idea of what they are supposed to do..................they just dont give a fcuk

So I guess I dont agree with time based re-testing, but I would definately agree with retraining/stringent retesting if convicted of certain motering offences, ie dangerous/reckless driving and if you are dumb enoughto be disqualified for 12 points the same should apply. also these people should have something like the english R plate for a set period of time.

pred racer

javaboy wrote: »

It gives some incentive not to develop bad habits.

Good point. although in my case I think you would have to test me once a week:D I consider myself a good driver, but I dont drive in a manner which would pass a driving test. You know, all that hand positions on the wheel bollocks.

javaboy

pred racer wrote: »

Nah... the way i look at it is C: most people have a fair idea of what they are supposed to do..................they just dont give a fcuk

pred racer wrote: »

You know, all that hand positions on the wheel bollocks.

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

What about those of us who hold many categories. I have a full Driving Licence in 14 categories. Re-testing for me would be very expensive and time consuming. :eek:

It's handy enough for all you one category wonders!



61 or older - the driving test was introduced in 1964.

javaboy wrote: »

Did it actually take 14 tests to get your 14 categories or are a lot of them under the umbrella of one test?

I've sat in that waiting room 8 times. AFAIK, I've failed 3 categories first time, but all categories can be attained in a minimum of 5 tests if done in the correct order.

1. B which gives B, M, W.

2. C (rigid truck) which gives B, C,C1, M, W.

3. CE (artic truck) which gives B, C, C1, BE, CE, C1E, M, W.

4. D (large bus) which gives B, C, C1, BE, CE, C1E, D, D1, M, W (and it also gives DE and D1E as a bus and trailer licence is given automatically to anyone who already has a full bus and artic licence).

5. A which gives A, A1, B, BE, C, C1, CE, C1E, D, D1, DE, D1E, M, W.

stevec wrote: »

If you actually use all 14 categoires, meaning you drive heavy vehicles, coaches etc on an ongoing commercial basis then yes - all the more reason to be up-to-date on your licenses. Airline pilots have to re-certify several times a year because they are carrying passengers / cargo, why shouldn't you?

If you don't use them and you have them because you ticked all the boxes on the giveaway then yes - lets see if you can actually drive what you are licensed for.

If you worked hard for them and passed every test (fair play) but don't use any of them, don't you think it might be time for a refresher after 10 years?

I worked very hard for them stevec - I'm not old enough to have bought the licence in the Post Office and I was only 11 years of age during the amnesty.

The only ones I don't use are the motorcycle ones. I hate bikes and have absolutely no intention of ever getting up on one again. The last time I sat on one was the day of my test. It was by far the most difficult test. :eek;

I don't think I would have any problem doing any test again (bikes excepted). Contrary to normal views, I think I drive much better now than I did 20 years ago and I'm still learning each day.

B00MSTICK

Would only work if you had to take a proper test. As someone said, test driving is different to normal driving.

Its 30 mins that people have spent hours, essentially "cramming" for.
They go and drive showing that they can observe/indicate/navigate roundabouts/whatever then as soon as its over they forget it.
(Kinda like how I spent 3 years doing science in uni and forget almost all of it, got my degree, end of.)

Would these people be able to cope if they were told on the spot out of the blue to drive to say Dublin/Donegal if they were doing their test in Galway?
Not a chance. Yet as soon as they pass the test they supposedly can...

I've always said older drivers should be required to be retested/evaluated somehow. I know "Mary" down the road is 70 odd and just drives down the road to bingo and back but even a basic test (more basic than the current one?) should be done just to make sure she can get to bingo safely. An old woman I know was reasontly killed on a road in Kerry because her husband made a huge mistake whilst overtaking... Should he have been driving at all?

People are saying the main killers are speed and drink driving. It does come down to that alot but also bad driver judgement regarding overtaking and junctions especially. How are people meant to know how to overtake safely if they were never taught in real life situations?

Wishbone Ash

B00MSTICK wrote: »

I've always said older drivers should be required to be retested/evaluated somehow. I know "Mary" down the road is 70 odd and just drives down the road to bingo and back but even a basic test (more basic than the current one?) should be done just to make sure she can get to bingo safely. An old woman I know was reasontly killed on a road in Kerry because her husband made a huge mistake whilst overtaking... Should he have been driving at all?

The sector most likely to pass a driving test first time are young males.

The sector most likely to be killed on our roads are young males.

Food for thought.

Steve

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I worked very hard for them stevec - I'm not old enough to have bought the licence in the Post Office and I was only 11 years of age during the amnesty.

The only ones I don't use are the motorcycle ones. I hate bikes and have absolutely no intention of ever getting up on one again. The last time I sat on one was the day of my test. It was by far the most difficult test. :eek;

I don't think I would have any problem doing any test again (bikes excepted). Contrary to normal views, I think I drive much better now than I did 20 years ago and I'm still learning each day.

Respect to you sir, you worked hard and you earned it.

My aunt, who is in her sixties, has the same qualifications as you purely because of the amnesty, she can barely control a shopping trolley.

If you were to be tested in the morning in an artic, I'm sure you would pass and rightly take pride in your ability. The thought of my elderly aunt in control of the same vehicle scares the s**t out of me.

This is why I think re-testing would benefit us all.

B00MSTICK

Wishbone Ash wrote:

The sector most likely to pass a driving test first time are young males.

The sector most likely to be killed on our roads are young males.

Proves the cramming/passing/forgetting theory so I guess. First part is very surprising though.

With regard to the elderly I'm aware they cause few accidents, I was just suggesting a retest/evaluation as in our golden years sometimes we tend to deteriorate. My freinds grandfather for instance never had an accident but was a terrible driver!

Wishbone Ash

stevec wrote: »

My aunt, who is in her sixties, has the same qualifications as you purely because of the amnesty

Don't confuse the 'amnesty' with the pre-test brigade.

The driving test was introduced in 1964. Prior to that one went to the post office and bought a licence and ticked the required boxes. Don't be too hard on those people - they did nothing illegal.

The 'amnesty' is the subject of much undeserved urban myth and rumour.

In 1979 the waiting times for tests were horrendous in comparison to the number of vehicles on the road (up to 2 years). To help alleviate the problem, in October of that year (1 month after the Pope's visit) the Minister of the day, Sylvester Barret, gave a full driving licence to all those who were on their 2nd provisional licence in Category C (now category and who were already on the waiting list on the previous March. It was not given 'willy nilly' to everyone as some would believe but only to those who had shown some interest by applying for a test in the first place. It was not announced in advance obviously to prevent a rush of applications but only granted to those who were seen to have made an effort and who could legally drive unaccompanied.

B00MSTICK wrote: »

Proves the cramming/passing/forgetting theory so I guess. First part is very surprising though.

With regard to the elderly I'm aware they cause few accidents, I was just suggesting a retest/evaluation as in our golden years sometimes we tend to deteriorate. My freinds grandfather for instance never had an accident but was a terrible driver!

I take your point. If they were assessed on a pro-rata basis to the milage travelled , it may show a different picture.

Steve

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Don't confuse the 'amnesty' with the pre-test brigade.

Thanks for that, I didn't know the full story. (till now):D

Automan

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

The sector most likely to pass a driving test first time are young males.

The sector most likely to be killed on our roads are young males.

Food for thought.

Yes but how many of those killed had a full licence?