I would give a retest ago but im not confident i would pass the theory again becasue ive heard of the way its tested (i did it when it 1st came out which was on multiple choice paper, and it was sent off to be marked) but now its on computer ive heard that on the hazard perception thing you can fail for being to "trigger happy" on the mouse (or whatever it is)
however I for my practical test i only passed on the second one, failing on the 1st becasue I hesitated at a roundabout so im not that confident i would pass it due to my driving style and bad habits, and im rubbish at parrallell parking as ive never had to do it for a while"
|
I think that we're mistaking driving skills for other things that are disappearing from our society - respect, care etc. Link that to a feeling of invulnerability that seems to be developing (Blame NCAP ratings and driver aids amongst other things) and you get the driving styles we see about us everyday....
Compulsory 12 months on a motorbike prior to a car licence would sort a lot out.
|
Compulsory 12 months on a motorbike prior to a car licence would sort a lot out.
There is a lot to be said for that idea.
|
Have a look here 2pass.co.uk and go to forums section it will make for lots of interesting reading.
There is no targets at all for driving tests. The only slight thing which could influence an examiner is at the end of each month their pass/fail rates have to more or less even out.
Many people do fail their driving tests, the test centre I passed at had a pass rate at 28%.
I also believe that the test is harder in a big city because too many other drivers cause cause you fail. In places with less traffic it much easier to 'fluke' the test.
The problem is that too many young people either get into bad habbits but more importantly are not mature enough to handle a high power vehicle (even a 3 pot Corsa is enough to kill somebody).
I think attitudes are changing though, certainly the Corsa forum I am member of has many many young drivers, every month we do get the I have crashed my car going too fast round a corner thread but most of them stick within the law and have clean licences.
For those that think they would pass a test now I wouldn't be so sure. There are always things on the way high code which catch you out. A common test failure is NOT driving in a bus lane for example.
|
|
|
|
I some how managed to pass the parallel parking bit, was supposed to do reverse around the corner by every corner was full with parked cars so had to the PP. Never done it since though!!
I would pass the theory, if you drive the hazzard perception is actually very easy it is just the obvious like spotting somebody who has just parked e.g hazard of a door opening.
|
I would pass the theory if you drive the hazzard perception is actually very easy it is just the obvious like spotting somebody who has just parked e.g hazard of a door opening.
Not sure I'd agree with that, Rattle.
The correct 'buzzing moment' on the hazard perception test is when the hazard 'develops'. Experienced drivers tend to 'buzz' too early - i.e. when a hazard is first spotted.
|
|
But with some practices on the CD-ROMs you soon get to used to it :) That said I didn't do too well on mine.
|
|
|
|
Yes, I do think they are too easy and no I don't think I would pass first time if I had to retake the test.
I do also believe this to be true of the HGV test as well, to give a balanced view.
The driving test should be in 2 parts and the second part should be on motorway driving and how to use slip roads as acceleration lanes.
If that isn't achievable because of distance from a motorway then it should be carried out on fast stretches of dual carriageways.
Much in the same way that HGV tests should include a loaded trailer as it's a very situation stopping one than it is with an empty trailer.
I have known people to pass their test and still, some years later, they are scared to drive on a motorway. Surely this isn't an acceptable way to train and grant a licence for people to handle what can become, a lethal weapon.
Pat
|
I am on one them, I will and have drove on motorways but I will never do it alone, I always have to have a driver in the passenger seat. I think once my probation is over I will then start doing a lot more high speed driving.
That said I drove from Carnafen to a North Anglesey alone after a fall out with my friends which meant navigating high speed roundabouts and was fine. I tend to use the train for long distances.
I won't pretend that I do like driving because I don't, well I do give me a nice open country road then I love every bit of it, its traffic I don't like. I love cars and if I didn't I may not have bothered to learn to drive.
|
After passing my first driving test in 1980 I took my bike test 2 months ago and am now the proud owner of a motorcycle license. When I started the training I was appalled by how bad my driving and road knowledge was and there is no way I would have passed the test, no way at all. The training showed up my bad habits and outlined that although I thought I was a good driver I was not. One example was I thought if it was my right of way passed parked cars I would go through and the other driver can back up because he is in the wrong as it is my right of way. I now drive defensively in both the car and on the bike because my life depends on it. I treat all road users as if they cannot see me and if they do see me they are on a mission to kill me.
To be honest the theory and hazard perception tests were simple and anyone can revise the information and remember it for a test. I only passed Mod 1 and Mod 2 both first time because I dedicated my time to lots of proper training and listened and practiced exactly what my instructor instructed me to do. He corrected so much I was doing wrong and I cannot begin to list them because I have not got the time. I will be joining a local advanced group of riders for further training as I want to be a safe as I possibly can be for both myself and other road users.
What I have experienced is that the standard of driving on our roads by a high percentage of the population is not at all good. As I mentioned earlier I was equally as bad but did not realize it.
I think that every 5 years or so you should have to attend some kind of refresher course and I would have no problem in being retested say every 10 years when the license needs renewing.
In answer to the question Is the driving test too easy? I would say it is easy providing you have the correct training and study and apply what you have learned properly
|
|
|
|
Surely this isn't an acceptable way to train and grant a licence for people to handle what can become a lethal weapon.
A vehicle is never a "lethal weapon" unless it's used as such. It could be a tool used lethally, though.
|
>>>>can become a lethal weapon<<<,
>>>A vehicle is never a "lethal weapon" unless it's used as such<<<<
Spot the difference because I can't find it:)
Or are we just grouchy today FT:)
Pat
|
>>>>can become a lethal weapon<<< >>>A vehicle is never a "lethal weapon" unless it's used as such<<<< Spot the difference because I can't find it:)
A car is a tool for doing a job, as is a lawn-mower, a lollipop lady's sign, a jack, or whatever. It's only should you use these things as weapons that they become such. If you have a crash, not meaning to, even if you're drunk and on bald tyres, your car is not a weapon. If you actually try to flatten someone with your vehicle, then it's a weapon.
Or are we just grouchy today FT:)
Thank you, no, I am all sweetness and light, as normal. Sorry if I appear grumpy, but I'm not!
|
Maybe I just shouldn't bother at all.
I find it impossible to post on here at time for fear of someone 'nit picking' and no matter how you try to justify it, that's what it is.
Pat
|
I find it impossible to post on here at time for fear of someone 'nit picking'
One can see what you mean Pat, but I don't think you need to take it to heart coming from FT. It's his nature, some people are like that, but they mean no harm as a rule.
If I cared to wear an editor's or proofreader's hat in the back room I could easily pass for the Nitpicking Daddy of them All. Apart from the essential boorishness of that activity though, one would soon be discouraged by having to cross swords with the many rivals there would be for the position. And the essential uselessness of the activity: either the person has made a typo so the criticism is redundant, or they haven't and the criticism might upset them unnecessarily.
There's no reason for you to feel shy about posting I would have thought. You make sense and don't have 'poor communication skills'. What's more you are a woman (your gender being somewhat unrepresented here) as well as a trucker - chapeau! - so if anyone is nasty to you there's a fair chance they feel envious and a bit outclassed...
|
|
|
I some how managed to pass the parallel parking bit (snip) Never done it since though!!
Crumbs. I wish I lived in your neck of the woods, with such long rows of free space at the side of the road to park in.
Edited by FotheringtonThomas on 19/11/2009 at 13:03
|
I just wait till a space of about two car lengths or more is free :). Sometimes that does involve parking 300 yards away from the job though! I am lucky where I live there is no houses opposite as such (well opposite is the side of a house) so there always lots of free parking. It is about the only place in my round here where it is so easy to park.
I've warned all the people of my area that I crash into a lot of parked cars so they avoid this area :DD * joke.
|
|
|
ive never done the hazard perception thing, so i really cant comment on that im just relaying what other people have said to me
When i did my theroy, I had to travel to Middlesbrough to sit in a exam room, the test was quoted at 1hr long (as I say i was one of the 1st people to do it)
im not being a big head here, but 10 min i put my pencil down and i had finished the test I dont know what my pass rate was but i had to wait 4 weeks for a pass certificate to be posted out.
There where no (AFAIK) stopping distance questions, just pictures of signs and 4 choices to choose from what they ment and some general questions and thats it.
Rattle:
I understand your fears of motorways I was a little aprahensive at 1st but i love motorway driving My driving instructor was the best, now sadly departed, he is right about what he said to me that the hardest bit of driving is through city centres, motorway driving is easy as long as you keep alert and he is so right and i quote "one gear, one speed, one direction you cant get more easy than that" everytime i join a motorway i think of that.
Driving test standards can be questioned On my 1st test (last one of the afternoon) i hesitated at a roundabout, becasue i hate them and i still do hate roundabouts - but i hesitated and I failed.
My Second test (1st one of the morning) i clipped a kerb trying to reverse turn it, i paniced and then grated the gears trying to correct it - i passed that test!!!
I didnt complain though lol
Edited by redviper on 19/11/2009 at 13:17
|
Whatever the pass rate is, and regardless of whether there is a target or not, everyone who wants to drive does pass in the end. So it isn't designed to weed out people who are unsuitable as drivers, it merely delays them a bit until they have taken the test enough times.
It would be a lot simpler just to pass anyone who applied, without a test, but then wait a year before it became valid.
|
|
Thats true, you take a test to pass a standard, i was always told that "you really learn to drive when you have passed your test, and take to the road by yourself for the 1st time"
|
Like a Karate Black Belt, someone who has passed the driving test is a beginner, the equivalent of a toddler. They have passed a test that entitles them to get into the real environment and start to learn how to drive safely and efficiently.
Unfortunately this view is not much propagated. Apart from acquiring the odd sloppy habit, many drivers make no progress once they have passed the test. If people can acquire degrees and Ph. Ds without losing the manners and abilities of an illiterate yobbo (and believe me, they can), why shouldn't people pass the driving test and remain dangerous and obstructive on the road?
We know that many do after all.
I don't suppose the driving test is too easy and it would worry me to have to take it again. It's just that it gives no indication whatsoever of real driving ability.
|
|
But it does give a lot of ability. Most people after a few lessons and barely control a car yet alone pass. All the test does is ensure drivers at a certain standard, not ensure they are good drivers and the government are open about that. I do try and learn as when I make mistakes I tend to beat myself up about it.
|
|
|
My wife eventually decided to drive when she got to 40 and eventually passed the test after 4 attempts. She then challenged me that I would not pass the test again having driven for 20 years.
As it would have been pointless taking the DoT test again I took the ROSPA advanced test, just to prove I could do it. I managed to get a Silver level pass but was shocked at the list of faults and habits I had developed.
I will admit though that I can now concentrate to pass the Rospa test to a gold standard but will revert to many bad habits soon afterwards.
|
|
|
|
|
such long rows of free space at the side of the road to park in.
Heh heh... just like a Hollywood B movie in which the central characters nearly always glide straight into an enormous parking space and on departure drive straight out of it, without any of the squalid reversing, tyre bruising and bumper graunching that afflicts drivers in real life.
One can imagine a satirical thriller movie in which the real action could never quite take place being stymied by endless trivial transport glitches.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
