Hot news...(BBC website)
A woman who took 33 years to pass her driving test and spent tens of thousands of pounds in the process has bought her first set of wheels.
Venida Crabtree, of Cowley, Oxford, qualified in July at the age of 50 after starting lessons in 1972 aged 17.
The former publican believes it took her at least 40 attempts, at a cost of £27,000 with seven instructors.
Mrs Crabtree took to her second-hand 980cc Suzuki on Wednesday, freeing her husband of a life as her "chauffeur".
"She's driving for the first time today and I'm no longer the chauffeur," said Ralph Crabtree, 53, who drives for a living as part of a delivery service.
Mrs Crabtree said: "It's fantastic. I'm very pleased."
My comment:
And another person, who patently cannot drive, joins us on the road.
Why does the system let people like this keep on trying?
Other countries such as Germany require a person who keeps failing to undergo psychological tests whereby this would preclude them from driving ever again. Whether they then do so illegally is another matter.
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I have thought like this in the past, but then someone pointed out to me - what if it's not an inability to drive properly, but just sheer nervousness in a test environment.
I don't think there's enough information on this woman to adequately judge the matter, although I agree that it is suggestive.
In a similar way I believe that the theory test is so massively based on common sense that anyone who is capable of failing it should never be allowed behind a wheel, but again, there can be mitigating factors which I'm not considering.
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I can remember Central News covering this story back in the summer. Apparantly her driving was ok, it's just she went to pieces on the test making silly little mistakes. Enough silly mistakes to earn a fail.
From one of the news stories:-
"In the past her faults have included going into third gear instead of first, failing to indicate when turning, not looking in her mirrors enough and stalling in a dangerous place. "
How many of us are also guilty of that?
archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2005/7/16/87226.ht...l
archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2005/11/8/89350.ht...l
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Going to pieces in a test environment is one thing, but if nothing else then it is a good indicator of type of reaction that will ensue if placed in a testing environment on the road.
If a child runs into the road or another road user suddenly does something dangerous then to have someone in a following car who goes to pieces can turn a dangerous situation into a fatal one.
On a more conciliatory note, if the difficulty lies in the test environment then that should be addressed. I think in Germany it is three fails and a shrink is wheeled in. This womans issues will have been adressed at the fourth attempt and not the fortieth.
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