EXISTING DRIVER COMPETENCY TEST

[jont]

The annoying thing is not all the manoeuvres are carried out on the standard test meaning you can be perfect in the T.I.R and BAY PARK but scarily bad at PARALLEL PARK and the LEFT REVERSE and if you pass the test, well we all know what that means!

Indeed I had friends who seemed proud of the fact they passed the DSA test despite being unable to parallel park because they simply weren't asked on the test.

[Solo]

This post made me consider the different driver types I have assessed over the years and I came up with these, unscientific, but experience based, findings.

Amongst ADI's I have found that about 25 % demonstrated that they had maintained a driving standard close to ADI Part 2 (test of driving ability) level.

Amongst drivers holding Rospa advanced qualifications I have found that around 70% of them had maintained a standard close to the level previously achieved.

Amongst police 'advanced' drivers (not including 'standard’ level because that’s much lower) I estimate around 80% of them had maintained standards to the required level.

As for drivers with no, post ‘L’ test, training. Although, through experience many increase their skill levels in some areas, standards in other areas fall dramatically and of those I have seen I would suggest only about 5% would be able to meet the standards required to pass an ‘L’ test if asked to undertake it tomorrow.

Although this is might be a simplistic view, it does seem to indicate that groups who knew they would have to re-sit a test are more likely to maintain standards than those who know their driving will not be assessed again. If thats the case retests could improve driving standards in the long term.

Will retests be introduced?? There are moves afoot to make 'vocational drivers' retrain / CPD every 5 years but I doubt they will bring retests in for Cat A or B licence holders. Nice thought though.

[LEEGO]

Votes are coming in thick and fast, keep them coming!

Good post by the way Solo

Lee

[jont]

I was thinking about this again this morning. If the practicalities are such that testing everyone every few years is unrealistic, perhaps the assesments should be aimed instead at those at risk. Statistics show that once you've been involved in an accident, you're more likely to be involved in another (regardless of blame, but the correlation gets even stronger if it was your fault), so it's these people who should be targeted first for reassesment.

Similarly with speeding - following on from the thread about Speed Seminars - is a classroom session really the best way to get a message across, or should there be some element where their driving is assesed too (with further penalties/training if it's not up to scratch)?

I've sometimes thought before that if people involved in accidents were given points on their licence (not a fine) it might remove serially dangerous drivers from the road (philisophical question - if you have an RTC does that automatically mean at least one party was DWDCA, because if everyone was paying attention there woulnd't have been a crash?) One of the key laws in aviation is that being in the right does not absolve you of responsibility for avoiding a collision with another aircraft. I guess the difficulty is sorting out "blame" and it would be hard on those people who were innocent parties.

My biggest worry with any of these measures though is that it would simply increase the number of hit-and-run accidents

[vonhosen]

As said already a form of this is coming already for professional (LGV & PCV drivers) & will be with us under EU directive within a couple of years. It is not going to be enough to pass a driving test for a vocational licence, you are also going to have hold a CPC (Certificate of Professional Competency).

This will require minimum training to get it for new drivers, plus refresher training for them & existing drivers every 5 years. No refresher training/pass & you will not be able to drive the vehicles commercially.

[rlmr]

Naturally "Von" speaks the truth. Likewise I have been aware of this for some time and am glad that the scheme will be phased in so those of use who have held their LGV / PSV licences for some time will be the last to be affected whilst the LGV/PSV Learners will have very lengthy courses to go through... I am hoping my son gets through his Cat C next month then on to C+E before these additional hoops are introduced.

All in all whilst the concept is a good idea, the training burden on companies and individuals will be considerable and the cost will have to be passed on to those using haulage, which effectively puts a few pence on each item delivered... so watch out for an increase in your Crunch Nut Cornflakes

Rennie

by the time I have to attend the retraining theory courses I might just not renew my LGV and might just enjoy my retirement... not really worth the time & expense for someone like me who just drives to help out or gives LGV instruction for pocket money to run the boat & bike

[vonhosen]

Naturally "Von" speaks the truth. Likewise I have been aware of this for some time and am glad that the scheme will be phased in so those of use who have held their LGV / PSV licences for some time will be the last to be affected whilst the LGV/PSV Learners will have very lengthy courses to go through... I am hoping my son gets through his Cat C next month then on to C+E before these additional hoops are introduced.

All in all whilst the concept is a good idea, the training burden on companies and individuals will be considerable and the cost will have to be passed on to those using haulage, which effectively puts a few pence on each item delivered... so watch out for an increase in your Crunch Nut Cornflakes

Rennie

by the time I have to attend the retraining theory courses I might just not renew my LGV and might just enjoy my retirement... not really worth the time & expense for someone like me who just drives to help out or gives LGV instruction for pocket money to run the boat & bike

The UK industry keeps complaining they already have a severe shortage of qualified drivers.

[rlmr]

The UK industry keeps complaining they already have a severe shortage of qualified drivers.

This is true and consequently there are a number of schemes to train LGV drivers. However looking into the Government papers one is talking about a good number of weeks training for new starts (more cost for individual or Government) and a number of days for existing licence holders (more cost in time and cash for individuals or their companies if they are good employers = costs passed onto those requiring freight moved).

Additionally the shortages are in certain areas of the country not UK wide so not a lot of help for the local lad or lass who attends a scheme, gets licenced then has to move house to find the job.

Rennie

No political leaning meant... just a statement of fact through the eyes of a parent.

[Gareth]

The UK industry keeps complaining they already have a severe shortage of qualified drivers.

This normally means that not enough people want to do the jobs for the money industry want to pay.

[vonhosen]

The UK industry keeps complaining they already have a severe shortage of qualified drivers.

This is true and consequently there are a number of schemes to train LGV drivers. However looking into the Government papers one is talking about a good number of weeks training for new starts (more cost for individual or Government) and a number of days for existing licence holders (more cost in time and cash for individuals or their companies if they are good employers = costs passed onto those requiring freight moved).

Additionally the shortages are in certain areas of the country not UK wide so not a lot of help for the local lad or lass who attends a scheme, gets licenced then has to move house to find the job.

Rennie

No political leaning meant... just a statement of fact through the eyes of a parent.

The UK industry keeps complaining they already have a severe shortage of qualified drivers.

This normally means that not enough people want to do the jobs for the money industry want to pay.

Their costs will be going up.

A minimum of 280 hours training is required for new driver to qualify for a CPC.

There will be NVQ type learning on the job, so they can start to work whilst learning I believe, but the commitment towards the training to qualify is much longer that route.

It's minimum 35 hours training every 5 years to retain the CPC for existing vocational drivers.