Radical driving licence changes put to Parliament
Radical driving licence changes put to Parliament
Author
Discussion

prubbert

Original Poster:

70 posts

210 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Brake are appealing to MP's to make some serious changes to driving licenses for young people. This is copied from the article linked here....

http://www.confused.com/featured-articles/motoring...

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"What Brake want to see is a “graduated driving licence” , which would compel new drivers to undergo a minimum learning period of one year before taking a driving test. Once passed, the novice driver would be allowed to drive unsupervised but would have restrictions on their licence for a minimum of two years.

Other key components include:

Restrictions on the time of day that young drivers can drive
Giving young drivers a lower alcohol limit
Restricting them from carrying young passengers
Banning motorway driving in the first year after the test
A second driving test at the end of the two-year period to help ensure safe driving on all types of roads."
  • *************
In the past Brake seem to be mainly focused on speeding as being the root cause of most accidents, which is far too simplistic. However, in this case I can see some merit in their points above.



k_jessop

191 posts

218 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
But if they want all that for young drivers, what about old ones?

Ari

19,825 posts

245 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Rather than banning new drivers from motorways, wouldn't it make more sense to teach them to drive on them?

I'm all for some system whereby people are actually taught to drive rather than simply instructed in the rules of the road and how to operate the machinery.

BarnatosGhost

34,153 posts

283 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Time restrictions seem a bit draconian. Most of the people working in the licensed trade are young and depend on their cars to get home from work.

The rest of it seems uncommonly reasonable for Brake.

Another Fluffer

3,888 posts

195 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Glad I have passed my test, that sounds like st!

marcosgt

11,498 posts

206 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Where's that thread "What makes you think knob?"...

Motorway ban seems insane given they're the safest roads in the country...

M.

Zad

13,008 posts

266 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Yes, good luck enforcing all that.

wackojacko

8,581 posts

220 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Sounds like a similar concept to Finland's driving regulations.

ZOLLAR

19,920 posts

203 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Time restrictions, what about young people who work at night?.

Finlandia

7,818 posts

261 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
wackojacko said:
Sounds like a similar concept to Finland's driving regulations.
Not that far off, no.

sjj84

2,396 posts

249 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Those restrictions all sound rediculous to me. Driving on motorways should become part of the driving test, not restricted for another year. The amount of people that haven't a clue how to use different lanes and slip roads could certainly be reduced if it was taught rather than pass your test and left to get on with it.

mike88

362 posts

186 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Glad i passed when i did..

I think some changes would be good, motorways for example. But night time driving, and country roads would also be another good one. Yes it'll increase the number of lessons you need to take, and the test would become longer but then these younger AND older people learning to drive will know what they should be doing not guessing.

oj121

1,548 posts

202 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Not letting people drive in the dark = having no more ability to drive in the dark than the day they passed their test
Not letting people drive on M Way = no understanding or ability to drive on the M Way so the first time they do it is still the first time regardless of how long they have driven on 'normal roads'.

I like the idea of limitations BUT it has to be done properly. Just because your young doesnt mean you cant drive. Some young drivers are better than most of us. If you are not allowed to experience certain conditions how do you learn?

Maybe putting in restrictions like bikes might be the way to go (if we have to change at all). BHP/tonne limits?

anonymous-user

84 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
In order to enforce any of these "rules", it would require a huge amount more police patrols/traffic officers or new technology in cameras. Both of these options are pretty unfeasable in the current economic climate.

Would the police really pull over every young driver they saw on the motorway just to see how old they are?

Fubles

394 posts

211 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
Will this only be limited to people who pass their test when they're young like the DAS test for bikes, or will it be for all drivers? The main problem I have is that people don't magically become more responsible at 18 or 21

time of day restrictions are a bit harsh, what if they work shifts or night work?

motorways need to be taught rather than avoided, otherwise they'll get to the end of the one year thing and still won't have any driving experience on them.

education and more involved testing is probably a better way forward. Perhaps move away from leting people get taught by their uncle Dave to pass a test and have a bit more input on how cars work, route planning, observations and perhaps some bigger incentives to be a good driver rather than just pass a test.


JohnnyRims

900 posts

189 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
prubbert said:
In the past Brake seem to be mainly focused on speeding as being the root cause of most accidents, which is far too simplistic. However, in this case I can see some merit in their points above.
Yeah they'd love to appear reasonable and become legitimised, That way they'd be harder to ignore when they go back to their usual anti-car rhetoric.

Dublte

75 posts

191 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
I can see some sense in it but I doubt how much of an influence it will have on accident rates. Young people passing in six lessons can go years without accidents where as I know of people who have had to spend thousands and are still not able to drive well.

Agreed with some of the points above with regards motorway driving, it should definitely be taught!

All the rules seem to do is to give the driving companies and DVLA more money for something that won't provide all that much of an advantage. I'm more for the introduction of a retest if they want more money, having witnessed my mother's erratic driving and been cut up many a time by someone who doesn't know basic rules I fully appreciate the need to tighten the whole process!

Streps

2,457 posts

196 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
quotequote all
"Restrictions on the time of day that young drivers can drive
Restricting them from carrying young passengers
Banning motorway driving in the first year after the test
A second driving test at the end of the two-year period to help ensure safe driving on all types of roads."

So it completely takes the point out of driving then.....
fk OFF Brake

HowMuchLonger

3,041 posts

223 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
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I thought this thread was going down the road legal Radical SR3 route.

Negative Creep

26,092 posts

257 months

Monday 23rd May 2011
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So what happens in winter when it gets dark at 4pm? With something like 1 in 5 youths unemployed all this will do is exclude them from even more forms of employment