To think the new driving proposals are a fantastic idea?

[Sallystyle]

Teenagers could have to wait a year longer than currently before they are allowed to take their driving test.

The government is considering issuing only 12-month probationary licences at the age of 18 in a bid to cut accidents involving young motorists.

New drivers would also face a curfew between 22:00 and 05:00 unless a passenger aged over 30 was in the car.
It recommended a one-year "learner stage" during which drivers would have to total at least 100 hours of daytime and 20 hours of night-time practice under supervision.

During this stage, drivers under the age of 30 would also be banned from carrying any passengers also under 30.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24485792

There is also talk about making motorway lessons mandatory.

Not that I know of popping, it's why you get so many of those driving "schools" claiming they can get you to pass in 10 lessons. That's a maximum of 20 hours, that's crazy.

sounds ageist to me. the worst relative i have for driving is my FIL. And my mother's partner could only see out of 1 eye when he used to drive.

It will be a nightmare where we live and cause logistical issues. no more lifts to school or out clubbing etc.

it also sounds expensive - will the 100 hours have to be paid for, if not how can it be proven?

We have no motorways here. But if you do a pass plus, they'll take you on them. I think if we had a system where you had to demonstrate a range of competencies, in a range of conditions and be signed off as fit by an instructor, you could be given a conditional one year licence with restrictions. I mean restrictions like you have to take additional motorway instruction from an approved instructor before you can drive on a motorway. Then in those 12 months, you have to clock up x number of hours (not sure how you'd assess this tbh) and you have to have a clean licence and then once you've been driving for a year, you take a driving test. And not a half hour pootle about, but maybe a full day of demonstrating ability in all manoeuvres, theory etc. Too many people say 'oh I hope I get reverse park because I can't do x manoeuvre'. Those people shouldn't be driving. You have to be able to demonstrate to somebody that you can do ALL of it.

I learnt to drive this year and it took 7 weeks. I needed to learn asap but my instructor was brillig. He would not put anybody in for a test until he was sure they were a safe, competent driver. He said he could teach any fool to pass a test, but he was in the business of teaching people to drive safely.

I also meant to add (brain on the blink) that the worst drivers for tailgating and crap driving are the more high end Marques like BMW, etc and you need to a certain age to be able to afford to insure them! So these rules are ridiculous.

This system is currently in place in Australia, in the state of Victoria. 120 hours driving with supervision before taking a driving test, curfews and 0.0 blood alcohol limit for drivers' first 3 years. New drivers are on 'probation' for first 3 years (P plates), then full license. Very strict. Sadly, there is still a high number of young drivers and passengers killed in road accidents every year. A number of these deaths are caused by unlicensed (and underaged) drivers out for thrills!!! Also the car insurance for drivers under 25 is still prohibitive, as it is in UK.

And you only have to read the threads about driving on here to see that people don't know the rules around driving and these are people who have been driving for years.

How many people think you can break the speed limit if you're overtaking? How many people think there's a fast, medium and slow lane on a motorway? How many people think it's okay to undertake as long as x is happening? How many think they're safe to do 80 on the motorway because they know their car? How many think they're safer to stay in the middle lane because constantly changing lanes is a bad idea?

We absolutely need refresher tests too.

Ill consider many of these when the over 70's have to take a test every five - ten years.

Young people die in crashes driving unsafe cars. Old people crash safer cars.

Who has the rapidly failing eyesight?

I don't have a problem with 17 yr olds passing their test, bit I do agree with the rest of the proposal. They should also limit engine to 1.1 or below (preferably 1.0) until you've been driving for a while. It's ridiculous that you can pass your test one day and jump into a Porsche (or similar) the following day!

I think there should be a 'course work' element as well as a test e.g certified instructor fills out assessments to prove competency driving at night, country lanes, etc. The problem is test routes differ so dramatically throughout the country that in theory, someone can pass their test having never driven on a road faster than 40mph, and then jump on the 4 lane fucking nightmare M25 with no additional knowledge or help!

Some grey areas there ShowOf illegal but not necessarily unsafe. A competent driver in a modern car is perfectly safe at 80 on a motorway in good conditions with light traffic. Exceeding the speed limit whilst overtaking is a trade off against time spent on the wrong side of the road. I will certainly complete all overtakes as quickly as possible using the full performance of the car. The problem with concentrating purely on speed is that we'll have a generation of drivers who believe that they're great drivers because they don't speed. You only have to drive for matter of minutes already to see shit driving below the speed limit. The way to make new drivers safer is to focus on road craft as a whole and make advanced driving and car control testing compulsory. Those that don't make the grade don't get to drive.

Also agree with refresher tests. I am currently learning, and people constantly cut me up, pull out on me, and generally drive very inconsiderately and dangerously, all so that they don't get stuck behind a learner. Not one of these idiots have been what you'd call young!

I think insurance does a good job of limiting engine size 3k for a girl in a standard Corsa 1.2 round here, 2 with the black boxes.

I've heard so many older drivers (and we're not talking OAPs) say, "oh I couldn't pass the driving test how it is now", that's fairly scary.

I passed my test when I was 28 and had a toddler. I would never have been able to drive anywhere as always had him with me.

I passed at 30 and had a 4 year old and a 2 year old!

Just realised that those rules would have meant my husband wouldn't have been able to drive me home from hospital with our dd when she was born.

Therefore you could do open heart surgery on someone but not be allowed to drive home after your shift.

Can't drive your child to school/nursery but can go on an operational tour for the army.

Think this may well under estimate a lot of the under 30s.

Given all the recent benefit cuts for young people/increased tuition fees I feel our current government may not want the 'young person's vote'.

Blow that just realised he couldn't have driven me to the hospital when I was in labour!

I'm 28 and passed my test 11 months ago, so under these regulations wouldn't be able to drive at night.

It took me ten years and eight attempts to finally pass (mainly down to nerves) and even during that time the test got significantly and noticeably harder.

It's great to improve driving standards, but there are SO many people already on the roads who either passed when cars were smaller and less powerful, and the roads were much quieter (I'm talking anyone who has been driving more than about 20 years), or passed in another country. I'd really like to see everyone retested every 10 years to ensure they meet current standards. I think it's insane that you have to renew your passport every decade but not your driving license.

They have a limited version of the "no passengers" rule in California (just for teens though I think). The idea is to limit those terrible crashes where cars full of teenagers die but enable teenagers to drive themselves (and siblings too I think) to school from 16/17.

jacks Yep, same here. Nuts isn't it?

"I think it's insane that you have to renew your passport every decade but not your driving license."

You do have to renew the photo on your driving license every 10 years, but no re-test.

I don't agree with the proposals.

I think everyone should have to retake their test regularly, but the interval could be age/interval dependent.

So for the first ?6 years after passing retest at 3 yearly intervals. If both passed then extend to 10 yearly, then when aged ?70 retest every 3 years again.

These stats might help:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2009/crash/8414354.stm

As you can see 64% of the deaths of 17-25 year olds occurred between 10pm and 5am.

For 17-25 year olds, the figure is 64%.

(For 26-35 it is 31%)

These are not people coming back from the night shift, or the hospital or whatever. They are drunks, and they are killing people needlessly, and they should be off the roads.

Young drivers are a fucking menace, you can't change that fact, but you can put in measures to protect the rest of society from the death and destruction they cause.