Driving Tests - are they harder now?

Jakg

Yes the test is much much harder, it's a knee-jerk reaction to "people die on the roads" .

I see lots of bad driving, but usually those people have not just passed their test - they are relying on 20 years of bad habits.

Lum

sassy-one wrote: »

Lum, I got a speeding ticket for doing 37 MPH in a 30 MPH zone a few years back, £60 fine and 3 points, no offer of a course, was sent via the post 2 months after the offence.
I thought it was very petty, specially when I often see drivers take red lights and speeding on single lane roads, and what I was on was a dual lane road.

I didn't worry about the points, the first points I have ever had, it was the simple fact I wasn't offered some kind of course when other offenders who have repeated speeding do get it offered to them.

The rules on speed awareness courses are that you may only take one every 3 years. The criteria for offering them is set by the individual camera partnerships and is almost always people at the lower end of the spectrum. For example a typical partnership may have the cameras trigger at 35mph and offer the course up to 36mph. Some may apply this sort of rule across all 6 speed limits, some may restrict it to 30s or 40s.

I suspect this is as much to do with how many courses they can run and how much paperwork they can process as much as it is about targetting those who benefit most.

I remember years ago that you would rarely see anyone with a brake light or indicator bulb out, now a days I see it on a daily basis, even some drivers driving with one head light.

However, Policing has changed and there are not enough Police to pick every driver with a bulb gone out, so it's the lesser of the two evils

Yup, the bulb thing is a very good example of the point I was making. Brake lights are the most difficult bulb to check on your own (I check mine every time I reverse up to a reflective surface like a big glass building) and if a copper points it out to you most people get it sorted. But they don't do that these days.

That said, a mate of mine makes a small extra income buying bulbs in bulk (£5 for a pack of 30), and telling people their brake lights are (genuinely) out and then selling the bulbs for a quid, which is still cheaper than Halfords.

sassy_one

Lum wrote: »

The rules on speed awareness courses are that you may only take one every 3 years. The criteria for offering them is set by the individual camera partnerships and is almost always people at the lower end of the spectrum. For example a typical partnership may have the cameras trigger at 35mph and offer the course up to 36mph. Some may apply this sort of rule across all 6 speed limits, some may restrict it to 30s or 40s.

I suspect this is as much to do with how many courses they can run and how much paperwork they can process as much as it is about targetting those who benefit most.



Yup, the bulb thing is a very good example of the point I was making. Brake lights are the most difficult bulb to check on your own (I check mine every time I reverse up to a reflective surface like a big glass building) and if a copper points it out to you most people get it sorted. But they don't do that these days.

That said, a mate of mine makes a small extra income buying bulbs in bulk (£5 for a pack of 30), and telling people their brake lights are (genuinely) out and then selling the bulbs for a quid, which is still cheaper than Halfords.

I didn't know that you can only take a speed awareness course every 3 years, is this new or has this always been the case?

Yeah, I always check my bulbs too, once a month at least, often more often and as of yet haven't had any out.

I do remember the times you are on about when the Police would stop you for the small things and you would get it fixed and that would be enough to sort it.

Like I said however, I think Policing has changed a great deal, specially traffic Police as they are more on the look out for banned drivers, no insurance/tax/mot/wanted persons and drugs, which is great, but taking that into account, clearly they cannot Police the 'small' motoring issues.

Lum

sassy-one wrote: »

I didn't know that you can only take a speed awareness course every 3 years, is this new or has this always been the case?

It's always been the case but in the last year or so there has been the launch of a national system to track who has been on them. Not sure who runs it, probably our old friends the DVLA.

Inactive

darich wrote: »

^^ couldn't agree more but see it regularly - even in a learner vehicle with someone in passenger seat, presumably instructing

Or possibly a driving examiner conducting a driving test.;)

To answer the OP, if somebody fails 4 tests, then I would be considering changing ADI.

What grade ADI is your Son's Instructor?

hethmar

Hi, I have said to son he should try a different instructor but he is reluctant - well hostile actually - to change. A further hurdle has arisen this morning. Since he failed yesterday afternoon, Id been trying to book a further test for him online but the system wouldnt allow it and the phone booking was off line. This morning still had probs, phoned them and they say the first test is 11 weeks away and sons theory pass runs out 10 and half weeks away.

I am entering his details over and over on he booking system to see if a cancellation comes up. Oh, I wish they gave any available dates before you have to do the page after page of entries.

flyingscotno1

newbie007 wrote: »

The test is harder now than it was 10 years ago no doubt. Back then it was 30mins now it's 40mins and questions about under the bonnet parts and theory test plus the option of a bay parking manoeurve.

.

I don't think it is unreasonably harder- I'd say the test has become more rigorous but not greatly increased in general difficulty in recent years. Certainly from the 1960s it has but from those who passed late 1990s early 2000s not much.

The thing is that driving tests are luck of those around you on the day. I had an ex colleague who failed simply because of another driver making a mistake (the other driver was the overtake learner at all costs type and went straight on in a right turn lane which forced ex colleague to move over to let him through and he used a bus lane till he shot past, then got into a muddle and a few other things went wrong).

A lot of it is confidence related to I often think the examiner knows where he is with a driver after first 10 minutes. If you are confident and good, I feel he knows what type of driver you are and how he is assessing it.

hethmar

Woo hoo, at last, a cancellation only a month away - booked. Fingers crossed now.