Big driving test shake-up proposed.

[buttons]

I'm glad to say that holding a driving license is open to all. Not just the most intelligent rich and capable members of society. Passing the test must be for anyone who can drive a car safely.

 

[simsy56]

And, taught what a 'disabled parking' bay is for, and whom it is for. They are not for Range Rovers, only!

Craig

 

[mitzimad]

i can never work out why supermarket bays are not angled to make it easier to pull in and reverse out pretty sure they were when we visited america many years ago

 

[Tootles]

Good point. Depends how the car park is laid out, I suppose. I've been driving vehicles with side doors for so long now I haven't had to think about getting to the boot in a supermarket car park for a long time. Partly because of where we live, a big supermarket shop in a rarity for us anyway - I can't remember the last time I had to take a trolley to the van.

Best method is just to park in one of those 'mother and child' spaces...... Plenty of room then!.

 

[trophychap]

Id like to see a review every 10 years on peoples driving standards possibly linked to insurance rates, similar to IAM skills for life programme

Some of the worse drivers i have seen seem to be aged from 30+ upwards. The one i hate is on a dual or single carriageway displaying national speedlimit and someone dawdling at 40 with no road awareness of traffic conditions other than that at the end of their bonnet.

Sorry to say it but the newly passed drivers seem to be a damn site safer than the mature drivers.

Rant over

Errr, motor insurance rates have been based on accident records of various age-groups ever since Henry Ford was a lad. Hence why young drivers premiums are so HIGH !

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[buttons]

Id like to see a review every 10 years on peoples driving standards possibly linked to insurance rates, similar to IAM skills for life programme

Some of the worse drivers i have seen seem to be aged from 30+ upwards. The one i hate is on a dual or single carriageway displaying national speedlimit and someone dawdling at 40 with no road awareness of traffic conditions other than that at the end of their bonnet.

Sorry to say it but the newly passed drivers seem to be a damn site safer than the mature drivers.

Rant over

Not everyone is in a hurry on every trip, not everyone wants to drive at the national speed limit at all times. Did you not cover the overtaking maneuver during your training. I can drive as fast as the next man but sometimes I'm just enjoying the drive.

 

[Scattycat]

I was under the impression that the reason the, so called, 3 point turn, reversing around a corner manoever and parallel parking was a test of vehicle control and spacial awareness.
Pretty important skills I'd have thought

 

[OllieUK]

I think they should include handbrake turns, reverse flicks, j turns & doughnuts

Are J Turns same as Jam Tarts? if so I agree with the jam tarts and the doughnuts yummy

 

[OllieUK]

You can't reverse into a parking space and load a trolley full of food into your boot....and at Christmas time it's possibly 2 Trolley loads....now if supermarkets made the spaces wider with hatched lines down the sides and back, then maybe....but you would still get some idiot parking on the hatched bits and screwing up your well laid plans!

If I ever had to hump the contents of 2 trolleys full of groceries home from the supermarket, (This will NEVER HAPPEN) I would pay the fiver to get the provisions DELIVERED to my door. I do believe they now bring it inside for you to check off.. the time it would have taken to do all that shopping, queing at the checkout, trudging across a packed car par worrying where youv'e parked the car, I could spend lazing about somewhere without a worry in the world instead of getting stressed deciding whether to park front end in or out or if the local car park had hatched bits or not and with my stress level now at a peak, how other users have parked their cars screwing up my plans..

I do agree with you however car park spaces are far to small and narrow. I have to breath in till I'm blue in the face, to get out sometimes. Phew.... ( I need to diet)

p.s. loverly looking dogs in your profile pic.

 

[Puddleduck]

Does the 'reverse parallel park' feature in these suggestions, I wonder. Or is it already included?

Already included. Daughter backed into a different space than the examiner meant.... a much smaller space. Examiner said he would never have managed it but she did it flawlessly.

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[Puddleduck]

I would pay the fiver to get the provisions DELIVERED to my door. I do believe they now bring it inside for you to check off..

Not here they don't. It's left at the end of the road and you need to take the car to collect it.

 

[joncris]

I think they should include handbrake turns, reverse flicks, j turns & doughnuts

I agree. Also just in case you lose your keys hot wiring the ignition should also be included as should (in case you get a flat in the outside lane of a motorway) removing all 4 wheels in under 4 mins

 

[OllieUK]

Not here they don't. It's left at the end of the road and you need to take the car to collect it.

Are you saying they dump your groceries at the end of your road? Wow what supermarkets are in your area?

 

[OllieUK]

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Broken Link Removed

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[Bobby22]

Ben Chi..........the 'duck lives off the beaten track.......they must agree to rendevous point.

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[Gromett]

I think everyone should have to take their driving test ever 10 years until aged 50 then every 5 years. Judging by my experience close to half of people on the road appear to have forgotten basics such as what are indicators for. Those that do remember seem to use them after they have started the manoeuvre so I can guess what they are doing before they indicate. Grrrr.

 

[Puddleduck]

Are you saying they dump your groceries at the end of your road? Wow what supermarkets are in your area?

26 miles to Tesco, Asda, and Iceland. Too far out for Iceland to deliver. 27 miles to Aldi (who don't deliver anyway)

8 miles to Lidl who don't deliver.

 

[gus-lopez]

i can never work out why supermarket bays are not angled to make it easier to pull in and reverse out pretty sure they were when we visited america many years ago

In America you have to drive in . Reversing in is illegal as there are no front number plates.

If I unfortunately have to use a UK supermarket I avoid all the disabled, parent & child & oap bays & park as far away as possible to ensure that my vehicles aren't damaged.

 

[Puddleduck]

In America you have to drive in . Reversing in is illegal as there are no front number plates.

That depends on the state.

In the UK reversing in is my preferred option as it is safer when pulling out. A drive through is the best of all of course!

 

[OllieUK]

26 miles to Tesco, Asda, and Iceland. Too far out for Iceland to deliver. 27 miles to Aldi (who don't deliver anyway)

8 miles to Lidl who don't deliver.

You must be in a remote area.

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[tonyidle]

Perhaps if you drove into the supermarket parking space normally, done your shopping, loaded your purchases into the boot of your car saftley, would it not be common sense that you would then have to reverse out of that space without hitting vehicles on either side of you? avoid any traffic entering the car park looking for a space, avoid pedestrians with trollies, kids, the dog. weaving out between cars. I think I would prefer to reverse into a space it seems far more safer to me to have a clear sight of everything going on as I leave. But there again, I am a man and spend as little time as I can in shops so have no problem throwing a bag or to onto the back seat.
LOL

True - it would. But reversing out carefully is possible. Manoeuvring a trolley between two close-parked cars and then into a 6" gap at the rear is not.

 

[sedge]

1st me being pedantic and all that there is no such thing that a professional instructor or examiner would describe as a 'three point turn' Its proper title is 'a turn in the road by means of forward and reverse gears' AND you can take as many moves as required to complete the turn

I said that LOL

My driving instructor actually said to me as his parting shot when he drove me back home after I passed my test, 'Here you are Jen, been nice teaching you - now you can learn to drive!'

 

[tonyidle]

If I ever had to hump the contents of 2 trolleys full of groceries home from the supermarket, (This will NEVER HAPPEN) I would pay the fiver to get the provisions DELIVERED to my door. I do believe they now bring it inside for you to check off.. .

We do that - and they will bring them inside to check off. So our once-weekly trek to park dangerously in the supermarket car-park is no more. It's now a once a month trip to do the same at a different supermarket to buy the stuff that we can't get from the supermarket that we use for delivery.

 

[Puddleduck]

You must be in a remote area.

Not as remote as we used to be when it was a mile to a road

We are in the no-mans land between Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh (we are on the Scottish side - just), you know the part of the UK that everyone forgets about. Westminster appears to think England stops at Newcastle and Holyrood thinks Scotland starts at Dalkeith.

9 miles to Sainsbury but they only have an 8 mile delivery circle at that store.

 

[Badknee]

Best method is just to park in one of those 'mother and child' spaces...... Plenty of room then!.

I used to park in them all the time when I took my mum shopping.

Well I was her child.

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[buttons]

I think everyone should have to take their driving test ever 10 years until aged 50 then every 5 years. Judging by my experience close to half of people on the road appear to have forgotten basics such as what are indicators for. Those that do remember seem to use them after they have started the manoeuvre so I can guess what they are doing before they indicate. Grrrr.

You are a driver too Gromett which half do you put yourself in. Do you feel that you require a test every five years. Dont forget failing your test could in your case also make you homeless.

 

[buttons]

Not as remote as we used to be when it was a mile to a road

We are in the no-mans land between Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh (we are on the Scottish side - just), you know the part of the UK that everyone forgets about. Westminster appears to think England stops at Newcastle and Holyrood thinks Scotland starts at Dalkeith.
9 miles to Sainsbury but they only have an 8 mile delivery circle at that store.

Each to their own Puddleduck, just the thought of all that solitude makes me shudder.
We have every outlet known to man within spitting distance with Stations Airports hospitals and the like just a hop away. Even more important we have people, loads and loads of people of every persuasion everywhere. I just love it.
Just for the record we also have clear calm blue sky's today. Absolute bliss.

 

[Puddleduck]

Each to their own Puddleduck, just the thought of all that solitude makes me shudder.
We have every outlet known to man within spitting distance with Stations Airports hospitals and the like just a hop away. Even more important we have people, loads and loads of people of every persuasion everywhere. I just love it.
Just for the record we also have clear calm blue sky's today. Absolute bliss.

As you say each to their own. I panic when there are too many people and there is too much noise. Good job we are all different.

 

[Gromett]

You are a driver too Gromett which half do you put yourself in. Do you feel that you require a test every five years. Dont forget failing your test could in your case also make you homeless.

I drive all the time as though I am on a driving test. I do however take a driving lesson every 6-7 years and a mock driving test. I usually learn something I should or shouldn't be doing. I took my C1 test in 2007 and took a mock test again in 2012. I wouldn't class myself as a great driver but I do feel I am competent and safe in part because I take my responsibilities seriously behind the wheel.

I would suggest the retake every 10 years or 5 years with a 1 year lead time. So you can take the test up to a year in advance to ensure that you have time to pass. Seriously I feel that if I can't pass the driving test I shouldn't be driving no matter how long ago it was since I took my original test.

 

[buttons]

I drive all the time as though I am on a driving test. I do however take a driving lesson every 6-7 years and a mock driving test. I usually learn something I should or shouldn't be doing. I took my C1 test in 2007 and took a mock test again in 2012. I wouldn't class myself as a great driver but I do feel I am competent and safe in part because I take my responsibilities seriously behind the wheel.

I would suggest the retake every 10 years or 5 years with a 1 year lead time. So you can take the test up to a year in advance to ensure that you have time to pass. Seriously I feel that if I can't pass the driving test I shouldn't be driving no matter how long ago it was since I took my original test.

I would be interested in hearing some examples of things that you have benefited from in taking your test every 6-7 years. How about a short list.

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