Driving Tests

[CX54 DKD (Moderator)]

RE: Driving Tests
Both positive moves I think. How often do you really reverse around a corner in day to day driving compared to reversing out of a parking space? I know I've done it on very few occasions since passing my test and only whilst on rural roads from memory, never had a need to otherwise.

A turn in the road is another manoeuvre only ever occasionally performed and with learners now being allowed as many shunts as they like during the turn, it's hardly a test of driving skill or ability. Worst case, you bump the kerb and then all you're really going to potentially do is damage your own vehicle slightly.

In my opinion, any move toward equipping learner drivers with skills they're actually going to use in their everyday driving is a good one. As it is, you learn to drive to pass the test and then learn to drive for real afterwards - just results in a horrendous number of drivers who've passed their test but are still completely inadequate to be on the road on their own to be blunt.

One idea for reform, as far as the driving test process is concerned, that I strongly disagree with is the idea to introduce a minimum number of hours to be performed behind the wheel as a learner. All that would do is penalise those drivers who are suitably competent to pass the test and drive safely on the roads alone. A move toward making the driving test increasingly similar to day-to-day driving is a massively better use of time. Using a sat nav on the driving test is a sensible idea too, in my opinion.