WomenTough is good - if it applies to all
‘You pass your test. Then you learn to drive.’ Those words, from my driving instructor (a fantastic bloke) ring as true now as they did years back when he uttered them.
Venturing out alone on to the roads is tough for a novice. You’ve spent months building confidence, with someone at your elbow for advice. Then you pass and you’re out, solo, on some of the busiest roads anywhere. The Government’s plans to toughen the driving test are wise, driven by the desire to save some of the 300 lives lost annually in crashes involving inexperienced drivers.
But we can’t help feeling that the plans as they stand are a job half done. It’s all well and good teaching to a higher standard. What about the one in 20 drivers who don't bother to register or insure their cars, though? Given that learning to drive costs an average of £1500, and first-year insurance can easily top £2000, the temptation to do as they do is strong. A full-on crackdown is long overdue.
And while we’re looking at the big picture, what of the many youngsters who travel here from elsewhere in the EC in search of work? The UK already has one of the toughest driving tests of anywhere. But if you’ve a licence from another EC country, you can drive here for 12 months, and then exchange it for a GB licence by completing some paperwork. It’s too easy a side-step. Shouldn’t passing the test be compulsory – for everyone?
Meanwhile, a stricter test should mean new UK licence holders drive to a higher standard. But there’s nothing in place to help during their early months on the road.
Why not, for instance, replace L-plates with P (for ‘probationary’) plates. These have been a voluntary option for some years but have fallen out of favour lately. In Australia, all new drivers must have them for two years and the system works well. Why not make them compulsory? We believe they’d boost the confidence of new drivers, while giving others on the road the chance to hang back and allow a little more leeway.
At the same time, we’d like the Government to add its weight to post-test training. The current Pass Plus scheme, which promises insurance discounts for new drivers as a reward for extra tuition, is an excellent idea but isn’t as widely publicised as it should be.
Sky-high insurance premiums mean most new drivers start in modestly powered small cars. But, if cash is no object, there’s nothing to stop them from stepping straight into a 200bhp performance machine. Perhaps a restriction on the type of car available to new drivers would help.
Put these ideas together and you’ve the start of a proper plan to guide and protect novices during those vital early months. Make it tougher for illegal drivers and those from abroad and you’ve done what you can to cut road deaths.
But what do you think? Should the Govt do still more?
If the Government was really serious about raising driving standards, why don’t they adopt a scheme similar to that in most States of America. Every couple of years every driver has to retake their test (practical and theory) to ensure they are a competent driver and aware of the latest version of the Highway Code, plus take a sight test to prove they have adequate vision to drive a vehicle. Imagine all the additional jobs this approach would create in the Department of Transport! Obviously, some of this would be passed financially onto the driver, but I’d be more than willing to do this every two years (bus drivers have to go through this every five years now as it is), it’d keep my driving up to speed so to speak, plus any optical problems I was unware of could be rectified pronto.