To think that anyone who has been driving a Tesla for a while, should have to redo the driving test before being allowed back in a normal car?

[Confusedmom25]

'D'H driving right now and im scared at how much he has deskilled. But if i say anything, it will result in a massive row. Surely im not the only one who thinks this

I have a fancy pants BMW that’s brand new and DH drives a 15 year old BMW. On the odd occasion that I drive his car, it’s not a great experience. My car has a digital Speedo, speed limit reminders, dab radio, reversing camera, is an auto, cruise control is easy to use and the handbrake comes off automatically when I accelerate. It does take a minute to get used to the Speedo dial to ensure I’m not speeding and I sometimes find I’m doing 70 in 3rd for miles or approach a roundabout and suddenly remember I need to be changing gears. His indicators are weird but at least he has them. However, his has a cd player.

I was once an excellent driver but people laugh at me now.

so it’s not just Teslas.

Speeding and using mobile phones while driving are also dangerous, and far, far more widespread than EV drivers forgetting how to use a clutch. Money would definitely be better spent eliminating speeding and mobile phone use.

If Tesla’s are that intuitive, why are they usually driven badly and hogging the middle lane?

That they drive Teslas.

Ah, so you’re just on the wind-up. Got it.

I only drive an automatic now and there is no way I would be competent in a manual after all this time. YANBU

Strange. I drive a Tesla and a ‘normal’ manual car with no mod cons. I can drive both just fine.

Most people can't recognise that they are bad drivers! 😆

I’d love to create a virtual driving experience for qualified drivers, that would score their performance at the end of the session.

Every 3 years or so, you would have to sit a compulsory simulation, and if you score less than 90%, you would just re- sit until you passed , to re-validate your licence.

It could also be mandatory after driving offences, or when switching from an automatic transmission to a manual after a break of longer than 9 months

Basically it would allow for rapid re-skilling without endangering other road users, and pick up on cognitive degeneration.

Maybe your husband is just a bit shit at driving.🤷‍♀️ We both drove a Tesla for years and neither of us had a problem going back to having a different car that was manual. My son learnt in a manual a few years ago, drove a manual for a few months, then drove a Tesla for 2 years. Now he is back in another manual car with no issues. Let’s not punish everyone because of your husband.

I’d actually say your family are the outliers, Tesla literally tries to do everything for you and takes away some of the common sense moves you’d have to work on yourself, including basic things like watching your speed and road positioning, proximity to cars around you, use of your different lights, how you use the brakes, parking and reversing. Go manual and then you’re also thinking gears and clutches. And yes I know newer cars have controls and cameras and so much but Tesla is a different level I’d guess (was in one a number of times with in
laws and when dh test drove one).

What is a ‘normal’ car though?

God forbid anybody has to reverse park a car without parking sensors and a camera

They will be incapable

It's not just Tesla though. Auto handbrake, auto wipers, auto headlights, lane control, brake assist, adaptive cruise control and loads of other safety features. All pretty standard now on conventional ICE cars.

You know plenty of people have driving licences and don’t own / regularly use a car at all?

Okay , I'll have to ask

How much of this is Tesla issue and how much is an Elon Musk issue .

Bit like Dyson , so many "I'd never touch a Dyson , not giving him my hard earned cash" threads ...

I'm really curious to drive a Tesla now, I didn't know they did that much!

I’ve driven an electric car for years. Need to drive a minibus for work and old enough to have a minibus license automatically. Just had to do a competency test (MIDAS). No problem switching to an older driving style - gears, clutch, manual wipers and lights. Still had a reversing camera (which is very good as the rear visibility is rubbish especially when the minibus is full).

Some people might become deskilled but it isn’t a given.

I have no idea what you’re talking about.

i didn’t drive my manual for over a year, only drove the tesla. Got back in and drove the manual fine.

It’s not just Tesla’s, it’s all automatics. We got rid of my manual car a couple of years ago when we decided to drop to one car, kept DHs automatic. A few weeks ago we had two weekends on the run when we needed a second car so hired one. I really struggled for the first drive! Granted, any different car takes you a time to get used to, but going from automatic that’s very tech heavy to a manual that’s not- that’s tricky.

if it helps, with both cars we hired (different ones over each weekend) I was ok within half an hour, I found one much easier to drive than the other, the one I preferred had less tech in, felt more like the sort of basic car I learned to drive in.

Manual cars will become a thing of the past though.

I love an old fashioned handbrake. I don’t trust the automatic ones. Especially in an automatic car where you can’t leave it in the opposite gear so it won’t roll away.

there's other situations too

When I first moved from outer London to central London, I didn't have a car or drive at all for about 12 years. I chose to take a couple of driving lessons to get back in the swing - but no requirement to do so.

At one point I considered adding a friend to my insurance to drive my car - the
premiums would have come down because she was in the police (v junior cadet, about 8 months in). I then found out she'd passed her test about 15 years before, but hadn't driven since. Changed my mind about the whole thing.

Half and half.

Yes but I do think there is an argument for retesting nuisance drivers.

electric car driver here. I loveee that my car does all the thinking for me🙈
my favourite being traffic jam assist- great for morning commute on busy motorways with stop start traffic and adaptive cruise control. Will spead up/ slow down depending on what is happening around me. Also steers the car but I'm not a fan of this so don't use that.

Yes I read that this morning. Bloody terrifying. Very glad I drive a ten year old Honda with absolutely zero automation or driving aids.

DH recently had a courtesy car which had lane adjust that kept trying to kill him and crash into cyclists.

The automatic emergency stop feature in my car has been disabled after it tried to do it on the M60 for no reason. Apparently there's a spot where there's interference from radio signals and there's messages online about it. The dealer says there is no problem and no fault. I don't trust it. So it's gone off.

My very average model new Honda hybrid has a lot drive tech - not sure what Tesla’s do - but it was a shock driving an automatic, with parking assist, lane assist, automatic lights, speed limiting etc etc after driving my 12 year old car! I think automatics with all the assistance is just how cars are going.