Why do people buy manuals these days ?

ElkyElky

jase1 wrote: »

You're approaching this from entirely the wrong direction IMO.

There are bad drivers littering our roads. Too slow, too fast, inattentive, careless, unthinking, reckless, dangerous, take your pick.

I don't think it's helpful to single out one group of drivers over another. There are some excellent 80 year old drivers out there, and some very, very poor 30 year old ones. And vice-versa, of course.

Everyone should be made to retake their test every 10 years. Every 5 preferably.

I agree. It's wrong that once you pass your test, you don't ever have to worry about it again. An older driver I know hasn't read the highway code in over 20 years and didn't even know what a boxed junction is or its purpose until I told him.

At the very least, everyone should be forced to retake the theory test as the highway code changes frequently.

Harry_Flashman

jase1 wrote: »

Everyone should be made to retake their test every 10 years. Every 5 preferably.

And pay for the privilege?

Excellent, let's squeeze some more money out of motorists?

jase1

Harry_Flashman wrote: »

And pay for the privilege?

Excellent, let's squeeze some more money out of motorists?

A-ha! People who don't like the idea. What's the matter, frightened you'll fail?

There is no justification for that view. Safety trumps all else, and drivers who are incapable of passing the test shouldn't be on the road. Many of them, who passed perhaps on the 10th or 15th attempt, fluked the test and really shouldn't be licenced. Driving is a privilege and not a right.

There's no particular reason why the retests should be paid for at the point of delivery in any case.

mikey72

ElkyElky wrote: »

I agree. It's wrong that once you pass your test, you don't ever have to worry about it again. An older driver I know hasn't read the highway code in over 20 years and didn't even know what a boxed junction is or its purpose until I told him.

At the very least, everyone should be forced to retake the theory test as the highway code changes frequently.

Worse drivers I see are thirty year olds who think if there is a parked car on their side of the road, they can drive into mine and I have to stop.

Flyboy152

jase1 wrote: »

A-ha! People who don't like the idea. What's the matter, frightened you'll fail?

There is no justification for that view. Safety trumps all else, and drivers who are incapable of passing the test shouldn't be on the road. Many of them, who passed perhaps on the 10th or 15th attempt, fluked the test and really shouldn't be licenced. Driving is a privilege and not a right.

There's no particular reason why the retests should be paid for at the point of delivery in any case.

Perhaps the fee could be fully, or partly, refunded if the driver passes.

mikey72

Do it on points.
6 points, automatic re-test for any age.

Flyboy152

mikey72 wrote: »

Do it on points.
6 points, automatic re-test for any age.

Some drivers go through their entire lives without being caught, but they can still be lethal, if they can't push the brake pedal when they are seventy.

jase1

> Perhaps the fee could be fully, or partly, refunded if the driver passes.

Excellent idea.

> Do it on points. 6 points, automatic re-test for any age.

Works for me (in addition to the 10 year rule). But if we are going to do this, the police need to be more widely deployed than they are. This is, of course, a separate argument, but there are too many examples of bad driving that are hardly ever caught, because they require a human being in authority to spot them. This of course will cost a lot of money (perhaps paid for by all the extra tests?).

mikey72

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Some drivers go through their entire lives without being caught, but they can still be lethal, if they can't push the brake pedal when they are seventy.

Worry about the ones you haven't caught after you've sorted out all the ones you have caught.
Re-test the ones that are lethal first, rather than the ones that might be.

rev_henry

mikey72 wrote: »

Do it on points.
6 points, automatic re-test for any age.

So its basically the same as the 2 year rule for newly qualified drivers. Seems a good idea to me. Raises a few questions though. Can you retest immediately? And surely the 12 point totting up ban rule should be reduced to 9 or so as a result?