Grrrr... Venting about learning to drive

theallpowerful

My wife's learning to drive at the moment, and I'm now beginning to understand why there are people driving around out there without a driving license!

1) Lessons cost a stinking fortune! We've got the cheapest guy we could find, and he still charges £20 a lesson (if you have one a week like she does it mounts to £80 a month!)

2) It's a huge surcharge on my insurance for a learner driver for the two cars, AND then there's the extra petrol when she's out practicing...

3) Driving tests cost a FORTUNE! It cost me £48.50 for a chap to sit in the car with her for 40 minutes and then tell her she'd failed! I wish I could earn over a pound a minute!

4) The DSA are constantly making driving tests harder and harder... is this just so more and more people will fail the test, requiring a re-test and thus further payment to them?

I agree that driving tests are important, making sure road users have a certain level of competency, but with roughly 60% of driving tests resulting in a fail and tests costing a MINIMUM of £48.50 (then add on a two hour driving lesson on top of that if you can afford it and you're closing on £90!) I can understand how some people, particularly those on a low income, just can't afford to get a driving license and drive around without one!

My friend's sister is 16 and has been driving around on a daily basis, including trips up the motorway from Bristol to Preston without so much as insurance for the last year... the Police have stopped her once, asked to see her documents, and then given her 72 hours to present documents... she didn't of course, not having any.. that was 3 months ago, and absolutely nothing has happened...

Are driving licenses now much like TV licenses? just a tax on those of us honest enough to throw our money at another government agency, with no legal regress for those who ignore the system?

Rant over... I'll step away from the soap box...

Feel free to pick holes in my rant... it's probably not cohesive

going2die_rich

To be fair, they don't make it harder just to spite people, it's because they want to raise the standard of safety, by reducing the number of idiots allowed to be on the roads legally.

Sooner or later they should introduce testing every 10 years or so, get rid of the idiots that passed when tests were easy or passed and then just ignored/forgot everything and now pose a danger to others.

A car can be lethal after all if you don't actual act in a sensible safe manor, not only to you but others.

theallpowerful

But in supposedly raising the standards on the roads, all they do is raise the stakes:

"It's hard and expensive to get a driving license, so I'll just risk it and drive without one"

Just from personal experience, I can list about half a dozen people who are driving around without one for that very reason...

katiekittykat

It is expensive ( i heard the other day that the theory test has gone up in price)

I passed 9th time (don't laugh - theory 1st time) as you can imagine it cos a fortune!!!!

Butlers1982

I agree with you wholeheartedly.

The other thing that really gets on my wick is when people are sent to court for driving without a license and insurance and get a £200 pound fine!! I pay more than that insurance!!!!! Just imagine they had been driving around for 3 years how much they save!

I passed first time and first time on my theory( for reference)! !

they should introduce testing every 10 years or so

thats impossible, how long is the waiting list for people to take their first test?? Thats about 2 months, just imagine the list if they were trying to make "everyone" re take their test! It would be a 4 year waiting list!!

oldagetraveller

going2die_rich wrote: »

Sooner or later they should introduce testing every 10 years or so, get rid of the idiots that passed when tests were easy or passed and then just ignored/forgot everything and now pose a danger to others.

I've thought this for a number of years, not a full test, how many of us would pass now after developing not necessarily bad habits, possibly some form of assessment?
I agree though, it will probably not happen because of the initial cost and lack of suitable examiners.

I did read recently of the biggest recall in motoring history which is about to happen. It refers to direction indicators not functioning on a surprising number of BMWs, Mercedes Benz, Volvos, taxis and 16s. :rolleyes:

going2die_rich

So when one of these peopel who haven't passed the test and crash and kill someone, wont your first question be why was this person even able to drive on the roads in the first place?

Just because someone hasn't been stopped or hasn't had an accident doesn't mean one day they wont. When it happens, me along with plenty of others no doubt will be saying give them prison sentences since they have no moral dilemma's of getting in to a car when they have never had an unbiased opinion of whether they are capable of driving on british roads or not.

Do you really think society should turn a blind eye to this? Teenagers roaming around thinking they can control a car because they've had a few lessons with their dad?

Harsher penalties are needed to MAKE people to CHOOSE to want to pass the test because they know the alternative of not doing so and driving anyway is not worth the risk.

Hapless_2

My best mate's mum is a driving instructor, her insurance is £3,500 a year for a dual control nissan micra. She is self employed so she has to cover her own tax and N.I., also because she keeps her car in a garage (she lives in Barnet) she has to pay business rates on the garage. Then there is servicing, fuel, car tax, etc.
You see all the adverts earn £30,000 a year as a driving instructor? Yup as long as you do 10hrs a day, 7 days a week and that is before the cost of the car etc.

Last time she did a tax return she had earned, money in pocket, £7,500.

going2die_rich

Butlers1982 wrote: »

thats impossible, how long is the waiting list for people to take their first test?? Thats about 2 months, just imagine the list if they were trying to make "everyone" re take their test! It would be a 4 year waiting list!!

It isn't impossible, they'd increase the number of examiners to deal with the capacity. It's would just be expensive, since the costs would have to be passed on to the consumer.

It isn't just teenagers flying around driving dangerously, their are plenty older generations who think they know it all and they have right of way no matter what. Thats why a retesting during your driving life is needed.

candygirl

I only passed my test last year and it did cost me a fortune, but it's worth it as I am now doing the job i want, and have a better lifestyle cos I can go where I want.
There are a lot of people driving about illegally like the teenager you mentioned.The police have up to 6 months to follow it up though, so tell her not to get too complacent about it till then, and I hope for her sake she doesn't carry on, or even worse get involved in an accident :mad:

Butlers1982

they'd increase the number of examiners to deal with the capacity.

But there isnt enough now to deal with the current capacity thats the point im making.