Compulsory re-testing.

[ipsg.glf]

I'm no convinced that the country can afford the costs of requiring people to be re-tested periodically.

It does seem a bit of a sledgehammer solution, IMHO.

If 1% of drivers cause danger why retest the other 99% who don't?

[Gerald]

Why don't local councils invest the revenue from parking fines into employing the necessary staff?

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

Maybe other slightly smaller hammers are available. Suggestions:

Anybody done for DD or DWDC.
Anybody with an at-fault insurance claim.
Anybody registering for a blue badge.
Speeders are already offered speed awareness courses, but how about something including some driving, rather than just classroom sermonising (might be less popular with this audience )

[jcochrane]

Agree with your sentiment there Chris. They would soonest have us return to needing someone walking in front carrying a red flag

I do think some form of assessment or retest would be a good idea. How it would be resourced and enforced would be another matter. DSA would go into melt-down, and many drivers would just ignore it, after all how many unlicensed drivers are on the roads? It might be one that the Insurance industry could drive forward with prohibitive premiums for older drivers unless they had their driving assessed.

The way most insurance companies scale their premiums would suggest that they view older drivers to be the safest drivers, middle aged drivers less so with younger drivers being the worst.

Maybe they have all got it wrong but if not should frequent re-testing be aimed at the yonger driver becoming less frequent as the driver gets older

I doubt that any form of retesting would be introduced unless the government could structure it in a way that would generate votes or produce income for the state coffers. When the matter was last debated in parliament I seem to remember that the conclusion was that a voluntary test should be provided for the public but run by a charitable institution. Mrs. McCann (of BSM) and others took up this idea out of which was created the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

[ROG]

To introduce retesting for those already with a licence would result in one thing - the Government in power losing the next election so it's not going to happen !!

The only way to introduce retesting would be to impose it on those who have not yet passed the test.

[martine]

Maybe other slightly smaller hammers are available. Suggestions:

Anybody done for DD or DWDC.
Anybody with an at-fault insurance claim.
Anybody registering for a blue badge.
Speeders are already offered speed awareness courses, but how about something including some driving, rather than just classroom sermonising (might be less popular with this audience )

You may not have heard of the Natonal Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS)...
http://www.driver-improvement.co.uk/CMSPro/59/211.php

It's offered by many police forces as an alternative to prosecution after an 'at-fault' accident or DWDC. It is usually 2 days with a mixture of classroom theory and practical driving with an instructor alongside.

[daz6215]

Durham run this course http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service. ... viceId=783

you even get on road training as part of the speed awareness programme too!

[TripleS]

But excluding BRAKE

Agree with your sentiment there Chris. They would soonest have us return to needing someone walking in front carrying a red flag

I do think some form of assessment or retest would be a good idea. How it would be resourced and enforced would be another matter. DSA would go into melt-down, and many drivers would just ignore it, after all how many unlicensed drivers are on the roads? It might be one that the Insurance industry could drive forward with prohibitive premiums for older drivers unless they had their driving assessed.

No, I don't agree with that. Why should older drivers as a group be faced with that, when there are plenty of young(ish) drivers who present at least as much problem in terms of road safety?

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[TripleS]

Maybe other slightly smaller hammers are available. Suggestions:

Anybody done for DD or DWDC.
Anybody with an at-fault insurance claim.
Anybody registering for a blue badge.
Speeders are already offered speed awareness courses, but how about something including some driving, rather than just classroom sermonising (might be less popular with this audience )

I thought some of the speed awareness courses did include a bit of driving and an assessment thereof. From what I've heard some of the SACs are a complete PITA with their 'speed kills' claptrap, but others are actually quite interesting and helpful.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[TripleS]

Durham run this course http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/Service. ... viceId=783

you even get on road training as part of the speed awareness programme too!

Ah, maybe that is where I got the idea from. I had a feeling that some of them did some useful stuff instead of just tiresome preaching.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

You may not have heard of the Natonal Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS)...
http://www.driver-improvement.co.uk/CMSPro/59/211.php

I hadn't. Thanks Martin.

[zadocbrown]

If 1% of drivers cause danger....

If only that were true!

[ipsg.glf]

If 1% of drivers cause danger....

If only that were true!

So what if it is 1%, 5%, 10% or 50% - Can we really afford the costs (politcal and financial) of a blanket re-testing scheme? I think not.

[zadocbrown]

Out of interest, does anyone remember what the public reaction was when the driving test was first brought in? I'm nowhere near old enough!

[waremark]

If 1% of drivers cause danger....

If only that were true!

So what if it is 1%, 5%, 10% or 50% - Can we really afford the costs (politcal and financial) of a blanket re-testing scheme? I think not.

The costs of course would be picked up by those wanting to retain their licenses, and would be insignificant in relation to the other costs of motoring. The political cost could be minimised by announcing the change very long in advance - eg drivers qualifying after 2010 will have to take retraining to renew their licenses in 2020.

Personally, I believe that universal ten yearly refresher lessons would make a significant percentage reduction in accident stats - I base this opinion on the alleged accident reduction achieved by defensive driver training implemented by corporate fleets. However, I accept that I may be wrong!