Should Driving Licences Be Re-tested every so often (5 Year)

cee

Reading other threads about muppets in cars just pulling out etc got me thinking.

Should we have mandatory retests for driving licences, say every 5 years? At least that way, it would mean that the driving public would need to be up to date on the highway code to pass, and it may weed out some of the folks who I ahnd I asume others, have thought at times, "Did you inflate :oops: the Driving Test Examiner to pass".

ChrisLS

...I would say yes, but maybe a refresher after 10 years. I would limit the size of the engine in cars that new drivers can drive. I am currently training as a cycling instructor and I have really had look very closely at my roadcraft and performance in traffic when cycling. There is room for improvement. I have been cycling for 25 years and a few bad habits have developed over that time. So maybe we should all have a bit of a refresher once in a while...

cee

ChrisLS wrote:

...I would say yes, but maybe a refresher after 10 years. I would limit the size of the engine in cars that new drivers can drive. I am currently training as a cycling instructor and I have really had look very closely at my roadcraft and performance in traffic when cycling. There is room for improvement. I have been cycling for 25 years and a few bad habits have developed over that time. So maybe we should all have a bit of a refresher once in a while...

and as a thought excercise, what percentage of car drivers do you reckon would want to re-test/refresh every so often?

I would reckon a very low percentage

secretsam

Yes but only for the following:
-anyone driving as an occupation (cabbies, buses, WVM psychos)
-People over 65 (every 2 years)
-People under 25 (ditto)
-BMW drivers (all ages)
-Anyone wearing a hat whilst driving
-Anyone who's ever read Max Power, has a non-standard exhaust diameter, or has bought car wheels for any reason than due to theft or accident to originals
-Not me, I had "ahem" goes at passing before succeeding, I've done my life's quota

Driving test to include awareness of cyclists section. Punishment for failing: cleaning my bikes, both of which are insanely grimy.

Adamskii

I think cyclists should be licensed and should have to take a test similar to the CBT.

tardington

If the test was free, I'd sit it whenever you like! As it is...

Maybe mandatory if you had to resit after every traffic violation? Ie speed cameras.

dirk_van_gently

I'd retake my test tomorrow, because without wishing to sound arrogant, I know I am a better driver than 95% of them out there. This in not BTW my opinion but the opinion of professional driving assessors.
IMHO everyone should be retested every 5 years, and maybe more often for people who drive as part of their job, reps, taxi drivers, lorry drivers etc.
Bring back the cycling proficiency test, it was a simple enough test, but I remember how proud I was when I passed.
When I passed my driving test, it was considered a privilege to drive, these days some see it as a right.

cee

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

I'd retake my test tomorrow, because without wishing to sound arrogant, I know I am a better driver than 95% of them out there.

I agree. I would retake my test tomorrow as I am confident that I would pass. I do not think the same is true of the other 95% you mention.

mrwibble

I rely on my car to get to work so if I fail my 'retest' I will come knocking at your door for a lift to work and doesn't everyone think they are a better driver than what they actually are, especially white van man?

dav1

although a good idea it would me massively impractical to do this and so not a good idea overall IMO.

mrwibble

This, 'I am a great driver' is half the problem. Arrogant attitude and get stuffed to all other road users is common place today.

karl j

i don't see how it'd be impractical. DVLa issue licences for, say, 5 years ... after which time it's no longer valid. So you need to get a new one by having a retest.

The big problem as i see it, apart from arrogance and BMW's, are things like the eyesight which gradually worsens, possibly so slowly that you don't even notice. I had a problem myself last year (brain tumour) that made me lose peripheral vision at times and messed up my co-ordination etc, and while laying in hospital was told it'd probably been there 10 - 15 years laying 'dormant' until one day it woke up and started affecting things. In hindsight no way should i have been driving (and absolutely no way would i have passed a test), and subsequently my licence has been revoked by the dvla for 2 years.

So who knows what problems some of these people, like me last year, have but don't even know about

karl j

though admittedly it won't take the unlicensed a**eholes off the road

richardast

cee wrote:

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

I'd retake my test tomorrow, because without wishing to sound arrogant, I know I am a better driver than 95% of them out there.

I agree. I would retake my test tomorrow as I am confident that I would pass. I do not think the same is true of the other 95% you mention.

Don't you both realise that WVM, MaxPowered Saxo driving yoof, school run Mum in her X5 and bendy-bus driver also think that they're in the top 5% good drivers.
If you think you're a good driver, then you probably aren't because you don't recognize your limitations.

The fact is that the standard to pass a driving test is pretty low. Most licenced drivers could be careful enough to pass a 30 minute test every few years.

saveswalking

I'd hazard the guess that 50% of all 4 wheel motor vehcle drivers would would fail the driving test now if say given a random test ,

just an idea 8)

sw

Brains

I'd add to this one by saying that I have always believed driving tests should be incremental.

So you get your cycle test aged about 11
once you have passed that then:
You can take your (small) motorbike test at about 17
once you have passed that then:
You can take your big motorbike test at about 19
once you have passed that then:
You can then take your small car test at about 21
once you have passed that then:
You can take your big car test at about 25
once you have passed that then:
You can take your WMV test, HGV test, PSV test etc.

I'm all for regular retesting every 5-10 years, but to take that further I would hold the test on a motorbike, so if you cant drive a motorbike safely by your mid 40's or 50's then you will need to do something about it.

I also have a solution to the 'driving without a licence' issue both for now and for the future when the scheme above is instigated, it also will solve the "congestion charge/road pricing issue", the "uninsured drive issue" and also to a degree the "joyriding" issue.

It's called the mobile phone

Instead of having a car key, you have a slot for your mobile phone
You mobile has a pin number
If the mobile phone and car do not match then car will not start
If mobile phone and class of car do not match then car will not start
If Mobile phone user is not authorised to drive car, car will not start
Mobile phone will automatically deduct cost of trip (depending on place/time) the road charge. When phone runs out of pre-bought units, like fuel, car will stop.

The technology is there to do this now, but the political will is not.

cjw

Brains wrote:

I

It's called the mobile phone

Instead of having a car key, you have a slot for your mobile phone
You mobile has a pin number
If the mobile phone and car do not match then car will not start
If mobile phone and class of car do not match then car will not start
If Mobile phone user is not authorised to drive car, car will not start
Mobile phone will automatically deduct cost of trip (depending on place/time) the road charge. When phone runs out of pre-bought units, like fuel, car will stop.

The technology is there to do this now, but the political will is not.

Don't work for or own shares in a mobile phone company do you by any chance... mobile phones... the answer to all the words ills I don't want one :twisted:

Spinner28

The money raised from all the extra driving tests could be put into cycling projects. I know people who would recoil in horror at having to re-take a driving test. This is on the grounds that they readily admit that there's no way they would pass! Isn't that the point!!?

CraigXXL

Easiest way is to have big punishments for bad driving to act as a deterrent. This will not work though as we do not have enough police on the roads to catch the offenders.

attica

I'd echo that.

Traffic policing these days seems to centre on speeding fines. I honestly think that somebody driving like a lunatic with utter disregard for other road users is far more dangerous than a considerate motorway driver doing 80 - not that I condone that, just think policing should perhaps change it's emphasis.

Only trouble is, you can't automate that sort of policing

mtbcommuter

quote="Attica"]I'd echo that.

Traffic policing these days seems to centre on speeding fines. I honestly think that somebody driving like a lunatic with utter disregard for other road users is far more dangerous than a considerate motorway driver doing 80 - not that I condone that, just think policing should perhaps change it's emphasis.

Only trouble is, you can't automate that sort of policing [/quote]

Attica you have it spot on here.....the government has set the targets so that every time the double flash goes off on a speed camera a target is closer to being met (and of course some extra revenue is coming in). These cameras have little to do with the "traffic" police who in most forces have been cut back to a minimum amount (I think some forces don't even have traffic officers anymore) When you drive on the motorways and see the "highway officer" in their police look-a-like 4 x 4's they have no powers to enforce the law, they are simply there to clear accidents, pick up debris etc.
I have voted "no" simply because this kind of bureaucracy is binding this country up into a place where we have rules for rules sake.

There is too much of this thinking that one form of transport is infinitely better than all the others. I commute to work most days on my mtb and have fun with it when I'm not at work. My wife and eldest have an mtb & bmx. I have a cycle trailer for the youngest, which the dog can fit in as well (even though they pester each other, but that's what happens when a Jack Russell & a four year old share a small space) I own a large engined (sports) motor bike, I own a car. In the past I have been a "white van man" I have recently returned from a weekend away riding off road motor bikes around the hills and mountains of southern Spain ( http://www.redtread.com/ ).......oh and in the house & on very short journeys I'm a pedestrian.
So do I think cycling is best...yes, at times.
So do I think driving a car is best...yes, at times.
So do I think riding a road going motor cycle is best...yes, at times.
So do I think riding an off road motor cycle is best...yes, at times.
So do I think walking is best...yes, at times
Do I think that the government would love to be able to test everyone on their driving/riding/cycling ability as often as possible (with a nominal fee of course) hell yes.

We all need to accept that it isn't the type of transport but the human in control of it. If I was an idiot in a car taking chances and cutting up other road users do you think I'd be any different on my mtb/motor bike/feet/roller blades or wind surfer ?!?!

One thing I would say is that I don't know if there is an answer but the fact that I have a diverse experience in various forms of transport ( I lied about wind surfing by the way ) definitely makes me more aware of other road users. I find in a car I anticipate that a cyclist riding along the gutter is going to move over near drains & be more susceptible to cross winds. A motor cyclist will be able to accelerate twice as quickly as most cars can and will overtake when most cars couldn't. When on the motor bike I expect that some car drivers will be more interested in their phone/in car audio/passenger than me so I search for eye contact. When on my mtb I just expect that everyone else is going to do stupid things so I cover my brake because I know I can stop quicker than any of them (And one day they will make the same mistake in the path of a cement mixer and it'll be goodnight to them)