Grrrr... Venting about learning to drive

superscaper

Butlers1982 wrote: »

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

Have to agree, what is practically possible and what is actually done in reality aren't always the same. Depending on where you live, even now it can take absolutely ages to retake your test it's so fully booked up. As for driving lesson costs I'm not sure what the OP wants, the driving instuctors I know are hardly making a fortune. £20 is certainly not bad for about an hour of a professional's time. People charge much more than that in other service sectors for a person's time so I don't quite see what the problem is. The fact that someone needs so many lessons and keeps needing to retake tests is hardly enough to say that the rates are too high. Some people need fewer lessons and some need more, I think the cost of lessons is fair for what it is.

davey4444

£20 sounds a pretty good price to me. I was paying that 11 years ago!

candygirl

superscaper wrote: »

Have to agree, what is practically possible and what is actually done in reality aren't always the same. Depending on where you live, even now it can take absolutely ages to retake your test it's so fully booked up. As for driving lesson costs I'm not sure what the OP wants, the driving instuctors I know are hardly making a fortune. £20 is certainly not bad for about an hour of a professional's time. People charge much more than that in other service sectors for a person's time so I don't quite see what the problem is. The fact that someone needs so many lessons and keeps needing to retake tests is hardly enough to say that the rates are too high. Some people need fewer lessons and some need more, I think the cost of lessons is fair for what it is.

If you get a good instructor £20 is a good deal.I had to get rid of 2 ,and then was lucky with the 3rd one who taught me so well i needed fewer lessons than predicted:p

Butlers1982

I think the cost of lessons is fair for what it is.

I also think that, I mean how much does a plumber,sparky or mechanic charge far more than £20.

theallpowerful

going2die_rich wrote: »

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.

I would agree with you, that people SHOULD have an independent assessment of the way they drive in order to be allowed unaccompanied on the road, but the current system makes that impractical for many people, and encourages them to flout the law!

I'm also not arguing with the INDIVIDUAL cost of lessons (I happen to think our driving instructor is excellent, and fantastic value at only £20 a lesson! BSM charge way more than that) I'm arguing about the overall cost of getting through an increasingly difficult test, and the fact that this causes people to take the risk of not taking the test.

I personally think the system has swung too far in the direction of "Let's make the test monumentally difficult so that when people pass it we know they're fantastic drivers" I can understand the sentiment behind this, and in an ideal world full of sensible community minded people it would be great.

Sadly, we live in a world where the prisons are full to overflowing, the police are overworked and underfunded, and a good proportion of the population will do whatever they can get away with. This means that we have to find a happy medium, where the test is difficult enough to provide an actual challenge and maintain a good basic standard of driving, but no so hard and so expensive that increasing numbers of people just do without it and take their chances.

Basically, it needs to be a lot easier to take the test and work with the system than it is to ignore the test and flaunt the system, since most people will take the path of least resistance.

candygirl wrote:

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:

Didn't know that... I'll wind her up with it next time I see her :T I'm tired of moralising to people about what is right and wrong and them ignore me or get annoyed... I've decided to just mock them and hope secretly that the legal system will catch up with them some day... :mad:

superscaper

theallpowerful wrote: »

I personally think the system has swung too far in the direction of "Let's make the test monumentally difficult so that when people pass it we know they're fantastic drivers" I can understand the sentiment behind this, and in an ideal world full of sensible community minded people it would be great.

I'm kind of glad it is. I actually half thought the test was too easy. But I don't think it is too tough and I think the sentiment is right and works and that is especially true when you see the driving standards of just about any other country you go to. We shouldn't make the test easier, we should be enforcing the law and penalising more for those that flout the motoring laws such as driving without a licence etc.

marleyboy

Wouldnt it be logical to make it impossible to have a tax disk without having a licence, if in a scenario, the owner of the vehicle wasnt the one driving the car, hence the car has a tax disk but the driver has no insurance, ultimately, unless the car was stolen, it becomes the owners liability.

Too many people are driving cars on the road without insurance, its too easy to buy a used car and simply drive off in it regardless of insurance.

Hapless_2

Certain disabled vehicles only need a provisional to use them, not a full license (and that includes certain biker trikes).

Lifeisbutadream

Toots wrote: »

Just a thought - don't know if it is totally ridiculous but would it be better if car insurance premiums were reduced dramatically so that it is more affordable rather than us having to pay premiums to cover uninsured drivers?

It would not be possible. Insurance companies are not charities.

marleyboy

Toots wrote: »

This is someone you knew was driving illegally - I bet you would have gone beserk if they had been responsible for the death in a traffic accident of a member of your family.

Did you report her to the police or crimestoppers?

I think the point he is getting at, is it goes on, and is very common, I know of people who do likewise, as much as I am against it I dont want to branded as the towns Grass, I lost my neice a few years ago whom was killed in an accident by an uninsured driver, she was 17 and had a child, who now is growing up minus a Mother, so I know exactly how it makes me feel.

The problem is they do it because they can, reporting one isnt going to stop the other. Its more likely just going to cause me more problems, I just pray they get caught before another victim does.