The way someone people drive these days, I think people sholud have to take a retest every five years.

I consider myself a good driver, yet I would be willing to do it. I drive twenty miles to work every working day and some peopl are in such a hurry to get to work, the road i use is more of a one car lane in the countryside and some drivers are right up behind me flashing thier lights when there is no where to move over. Or driving around every where with there fog lights on all the time.

There are other things as well which will come up later.


What does every one else think?

Personally I wouldn't like to take a re-test, but I do see the same sort of things as you, I drive on the M25 on a regular basis and I find it impossible to leave a 2 second gap with out someone cutting in. The standard of driving on the roads has gone down and road rage is on the increase, unfortunatly I see no way out of this.

well,
sumt called RTA on me again today, and a supervisor's van caught me at end-of-the-line, funny thing is
a car was chasing the bus into the (was the bus garage) turnaround-the car left after seeing the distictuve Supervisors van lights on . idling there.

or when you see an ancient old geezer struggling along the road barely able to walk, struggle behind the wheel of his mercedes. does anyone really believe he can move his foot from the accelerator to the brake quickly in an emergency?

Isn't there a compulsory retake when you get to a certain age? If there is, I don't think its low enough...

I agree that road behaviour is getting worse. Even out in the countryside where I live, people are getting more and more stressed, and driving more aggressively.

There seem to be a few types of problem drivers, and I may be stereotyping here, but I'm not trying to be sexist / ageist or whatever, but I'm getting very good at guessing the age / gender of a driver by how they drive...

1) The Rep: Drives too fast, too aggressively and cuts people up.
2) The Pensioner: Drives dangerously slow, often blocking the overtaking lane and stopping others from passing.
3) The Merecedes Driver: Thinks they own the road, and won't let faster traffic get past
4) The Secretary: far more interested in holding a phone conversation / applying makeup than driving.
5) White Van Man: Drives faster than anyone on the motorway / Dual carriageway, but slows to a crawl on any single carriageway.

I'm sure there are others to add to the list, so post them up.

I'm all for regular re-sitting of driving tests. I cant drive yet myself, but going by the way people shoot down the M4, it needs to be done.

Add those with 4x4s.

lol, 4X4s are great in the countryside, but they do piss me off when you see mum on the school run in her enormous 4X4.

What bugs me most about 4X4s is that they are intended for offroad use, and so don't have to fulfill the same road safety criteria like bumpers at the standard height or crumple zones.

People who drive them in cities should be tested on a yearly basis. The way some of them park, and half of them dont appear to nkow what certain road markings means, like the zig-zag lines in front of the school gates. Britain's Worst Driver doesnt help matters.

ok, thought of another annoying person on the motorway:

Mr Inconsistent: We all know him/her. He's the one when who you overtake him, he speeds up. Then once you've gone past, he accellerates and goes past you. Then he slows down so you catch him up, and the cycle repeats. Get cruise control twat!

the video shop cripple: when visiting a video shop they suddenly become unable to walk more than 3 or 4 yards so they have to double park right outside (also often affected by cash machines)

the cuddly toy and sticker collector: the back shelf of the car is covered with teddy bears and window stickers, the rear view mirror has an assortment of bears, baby shoes, CDs, air fresheners, horse brasses, mirrorballs etc dangling from it. often the driver is barely able to peer over the steering wheel anyway so this doesn't make the visibilty much worse than it already is. and they probably have one of those perfume things on the dash too

multi-tasker: at 95 mph on the motorway talking on the phone, drinking a can of coke, smoking a fag and writing down a number while reading a map (pausing occasionaly to make obscene hand signals). who's driving?

dutch caravanners: bastards. insist on driving 1 mph faster than large trucks so they have to stay in the outside lane overtaking them for several hundred miles. stop to piss at the side of the road and have a picnic. wear clogs

Totally agree Hugo.

I'm wondering how the mobile phone ban (starts 1st December in UK) is going to effect the multi-tasker and the secretary. They'll need to find another thing to use their shoulder for...

The ban i believe will have bollox all effect, because you get a fine of £30 already.

And a retest every 5 years would be good. Wouldnt stop me drving too fast, with my fog lights on all the time, music blaring out and flashing people to get out of my way.

The thing i hate about it is when you overtake someone, verry safely, after NOT being up their arse flashing and they get the arse on and make hand signals at me - learn to live with the fact that people drive like idiots, and its not your place to tell them otherwise, not unless you want them to get out of the car and smack you for driving inappropriately slow?

Unfortunaely im a seasoned proffesional at talking on the phone with a cig and a can of coke in hand at 100 mph.

But the re-test would be a good idea for keeping the uncoordinated off the road.

People who take time out on the motorway to activate their hazards when somebody in front brakes. Why? More bother than it's worth and dangerous to boot. Also people who don't signal/people who disregard pedestrians (nearly got killed on zebra crossing yesterday by BMW).

Yep, retest every five years or your insurance and tax skyrocket.

To make things worse, today I saw a father taking his son out for a driving lesson, whats so bad about that I hear you say, well it was down the M4 at Bridegend, junction 36, Sarn Services, I followed them off the motorway and it could have been his first driving lesson he was that bad. Now everyone has to learn but taking him on the mototrway, firstly illegal and secondly more importantly bloody stupid. The father should have his licence taken off him.

If you think driving in the UK is bad, try the USA.

I moved to Houston recently and have never expeienced such down right dangerous drivers. I've had more near-misses in 3 months driving here, than I've had in 10 years in the UK.

The best one was one lunchtime. Someone ran a red (it had been red for sometime) and nearly T-boned me. Luckily the guy in the lane next to me saw it coming and stopped, so I stopped too. Coming BACK from lunch, it happened again!!

Driving on the freeway here is also not an option. For one they are badly sign-posted and badly marked. No lines, no cats-eyes. A five lane can turn into a 3 lane with no warning.

And Houstonians seem to have mobile phones surgically attached. Saw a guy pass me at 75, no hands on the wheel, fiddling with his mobile. The same journey, a woman passed me again at 75, she was looking in her rearview putting on her make-up.

I consider myself to be a safe driver. I've never had an accident, but I've basically resigned myself to the fact that one day, some moron is going to run into me or pull out in front of me. Hopefully it won't be bad.

Whatabout the rarely seen ,lesser spotted, "i dont know which way to indicate" hazards that traverse our roads occasionally?

Particularly dangerous at roundabouts ,giving the impression it is OK to pull out as they come careening into the side of your car ?

The biggest causers of prangs if ever there were one.

crashes, while looking at rammerstein's short skirt walking on sidewalk

And then there's

Max Power Reader
Can be identified by sticker across the length of front/back window. This will usually contain the manufacturer of driven car or brand of hi-fi components.
May also have front and rear spoiler.
You may also notice the presence of said driver when vehicle is not in sight. They can be identified by the sound of 'Four on the floor' bass drums or cliched techno bass lines eminating from distorted speakers.

Driving habits include driving too fast to impress mates, wheelspinning at junctions and in local supermarket car parks, and generally driving like an immature twat.

Can also be spotted wrapped around lamp posts.

I may be in the minority here by considering myself a bad driver. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these twats who drives too fast/wheelspins/puts silly mods on Renault 5 etc. I'm just an ordinary driver - I drive a little above the limit at times, but never dangerously. I don't like driving, and I don't feel comfortable driving, and it's for this that I feel that I'm not a good driver. Fortunately, I happen to be living in a country that is full of bad drivers.

I have driven in the US, and what you say about the interstates is right. I lost count of how many times the lane I was in suddenly turned in to an exit road.

I have had my licence for nearly 8 years, things in the UK are bad.

Inner city drivers who move from lane to lane and get bloody no where.

I wish all cars these days had indicators fitted because there are some brand new cars around here they don't because people never use them, must have been a opional choice which they didn't want.

I think I was caught by a camera last night. Bugger. Obviously need to retake my test.

Naughty. I know someone who got caught speeding, but didnt have to pay the fine as he managed to convince the authorities he wasnt in the area at the time.

rammsteinrainbo spouted:
Naughty. I know someone who got caught speeding, but didnt have to pay the fine as he managed to convince the authorities he wasnt in the area at the time.

Oi! I'm a fantastic driver! ;) Well, adequate.

To clear up any misunderstanding... I was driving back from work along the A4 on the limit: 50mph, with a white van tailgating me. As I approached an intersection, the lights turned from green to amber. No room/time to stop before the lights, if I brake to sharply I will be rear ended by the van, if I brake too softly I will come to a halt in the middle of the crossroads. So I had to keep on going. The lights were still amber as I went through them, and turned to red is I was in the intersection. Bit of a Catch 22. But the camera did flash twice, so the van got it as well. Which is a small consolation. If I am sent a nasty letter, I will be contesting it.

Tell them you have an evil twin who was driving the car at the time.

wbps spouted:


But the camera did flash twice, so the van got it as well. Which is a small consolation. If I am sent a nasty letter, I will be contesting it.

you MIGHT be alright... Most speed cameras dont actually have "film" in. Have a butchers at http://www.speedcamerasuk.com and try their database.

I think that ALL motorists should be retested at worse every ten years. Over 60's (say) perhaps every 5.

Reps and the like (high mileage drivers) perhaps every 5 years also, co they pick up LOTS of bad habits (from experience ;)

Dukesy
:moo:

Retesting won't help - almost no-one drives the way they had to drive to pass their test. Even if we did retest every year, the morons who do moronic stuff would still be doing it as soon as they got outside the test centre.

The only thing it might do is stop people who have so much of a drink problem or who's eyesight is so bad that they could pass from keeping their licence.

Considering the huge numbers driving with no licence/tax/insurance anyway, I wouldn't hold your breath - sad but there it is.

My suggestion - do your best, stay calm and don't get excited. I don't think I'm anything special as a driver but I try not piss others off or be a danger.

wbps spouted:



. But the camera did flash twice, so the van got it as well. Which is a small consolation.

The camera always flashes twice, once when you trigger it, and twice when it takes a positive (i.e. law-breaking) reading. So it probably was just you who was caught :(

Well after driving to work for nearly a year, from Llantwit Major to Cardiff, it definately shows that people should take their driving test every five years.

People driving down empty lanes and then pull in sharply to the lane they want because they can't be asked to wait two minutes like everyone else. The lack of indicators really winds me up, as does idiots that weave in and out of queues.

One final thing for this rant, the amount of people who still travel with their kids in the back and don't make them wear seat belts. If it was their best china on the back seat it would be wrapped up and belted in.

you talking about where one lane is closed?
you are supposed to use both lanes and merge one after the other at the end where it becomes one lane. that way, a 2 mile queue becomes a 1 mile queue

No where both lanes are open and the inside lane is queueing to get off the dual carriage way and cars in the outside lane zoom down that lane and push in instead of joining the queue, or at traffic lights where one lane is busy they zoom down to jump in instead of waiting. It really p*sses me off, it is really inconsiderate, but there again that is the world we live in these days.

I think for most people re-taking the test willhave no impact (generaly) on how the majority of poeple drive. It is not the ability of idiots behind the wheel more the fact that they are idiots behind the wheel.

Yeah. The above post is right.

Think back to your driving test and how you drove... you don't drive like that any more do you? People are completely different animals depending on who is in the car with them.

When I'm driving, whether alone or with someone else... I always pretend that I have the people I most love in my passanger seat and in the back seats. That way, you'll be sure to drive nice and carefully.

I would - for sure - fail my test if asked to take it again.
What was all that don't cross your hands & 'quarter past three' crap about anyway?
The important skills are those you can only learn from experience: i.e. simulataneously change a tape, lighting a fag and avoiding the frail old lady crossing the road.

Think a re-test every 5 or 10 years would be a good idea, every year for over 60's. Also compulsory eye tests and reflex tests. Read a report, couple of years ago, about how many old fogeys were crashing into people. Seems the 'juddering' of the brake pedal, on cars fitted with ABS, was causing them to lift off the pedal cos they didnt know what was happening. There is no compulsory training for new gizmos that get fitted to cars.

The important skills are those you can only learn from experience: i.e. simulataneously change a tape, lighting a fag and avoiding the frail old lady crossing the road.
I suppose two out of three aint bad, and it WAS my fucking right of way.

Did she try to do anything fancy like side stepping or feinting to go the other way?

What shocked me as a fairly new driver is the sheer amount of traffic generated by parents taking their kids to school. I never noticed until around July when school finished and the roads I use to get to work went from completely packed to practically empty. Now it's September and today (1st day back for most of the schools around here) it was insane traffic again.

Now, it wasn't that long since I was at school (4 years since 6th form, 6 since high school), but we had legs. Along with many others, I used to walk about 2 miles twice per day because my parents had better things to do than ferry me back and forward all the time. It was good exercise and I didn't bat an eyelid. Why not just let the buggers walk? Don't even get me started on the gigantic gas-guzzling people carriers most of them use nowadays.

I wonder if parents who run their kids 5 yards down the road to school know just how much hold-up they cause? I have to get up 15 minutes earlier during school terms, for anyone commuting further it's probably much more. I'll bet a large percentage of them are kids being taken distances they can very easily walk at their age, and work on their social skills (those who walk with friends) or imagination (those who walk alone) at the same time.

And they wonder why today's kids are getting fatter and fatter, and can't talk properly... it's because they're sat there in a people carrier texting each other day in, day out when they should be walking and talking.

People in 4x4s need to take an extra driving test, the fuckers.

Along with the boy racers and inconsiderate bas*ards who think that everyone else should move out of their way.

When it comes to re-taking the test, I believe that the EU is pushing forwards towards making people resit their test after 10 years or so according to my driving instructor. I look how people drive as everyone tells me that once my test is passed is when you really learn to drive.

To be fair, that's very true. You take driving lessons to learn to pass the test, but the test doesn't wholely prepare you for what's out there. And some people think that once you've passed your test you've done it and just do what the hell they like. I like the new legislation there that says that with only 6 points you would be demoted back to provisional and have to re-complete your test and everything all over again.

It does frighten me though, because it only takes a minor lapse of concentration (which lets face it happens to us all) and you could be caught speeding twice and be bumped back down, whilst a far more dangerous driver just manages to get away with behaving at the 'right' time thus is never going to experience that.

If I had kids I'd take them to school in the car too (and it's a 4x4!) because frankly being on the street whether in day time or night time is just too dangerous around here. I'd never subject the poor thing to a bus crammed full of gobshites either.

Someone mentioned earlier about one lane in a two lane road being closed... I always drive down the lane that's closing up ahead wondering why there's such a massive queue in the other lane when you just get to the front and merge in... cuts out a lot of time why doesn't everybody else do it? Is it bad manners or something? Queues suck!

One that gets me, but I expect it and therefore watch out for it, are boy racer types who enter a roundabout in the right hand lane but speed up and push past to go straight on, cutting you up in the middle lane. Happens every time a certain type of car (modified, corsa 1.4, ford focus/fiesta black) pulls up.

Learning to handle gobshites is a major part of growing up. Personally I wouldn't want them to miss out on that and become scared of them later in life.

I suppose in a particularly dangerous area it might be better that way, but there's a lot of paranoia out there... I don't think there are any more pedos out there than any other time in the past, they're just so highlighted by the media that people think they're on every corner.

If I had kids I'd take them to school in the car too (and it's a 4x4!) because frankly being on the street whether in day time or night time is just too dangerous around here. I'd never subject the poor thing to a bus crammed full of gobshites either.

Vicious circle isn't it? The biggest danger to children on the streets is people driving around in 4x4s (especially those with bullbars). I live just near a school and around 3:15 the whole area is teeming with them.

If I was a kid I'd rather be getting the bus home with my mates than being picked up by my mum.

I suppose in a particularly dangerous area it might be better that way, but there's a lot of paranoia out there... I don't think there are any more pedos out there than any other time in the past, they're just so highlighted by the media that people think they're on every corner.

Peadophilia sells newspapers, it never used to be talked about in the past but now the fact it's such a horrifying act means that it's the perfect fodder for scare stories.

Learning to handle gobshites is a major part of growing up. Personally I wouldn't want them to miss out on that and become scared of them later in life.


No. I spent years of my life living next door to them as an army brat and it doesn't help at all, just makes you fear them even more. I wouldn't put my kid through it if I could help it.

To stay on topic, I wouldn't mind being asked to retake my test every 5 years or so as long as I didn't have to pay for it nor resit in a test centre. I'd rather have it sent by post. It wouldn't matter if people cheated by getting the Highway Code out because at least you're re-reading the book and still brushing up on your knowledge.

I wouldn't mind passing my test bastard bald examiner was just jealous of my hair.

Peadophilia sells newspapers, it never used to be talked about in the past but now the fact it's such a horrifying act means that it's the perfect fodder for scare stories.
Yes it does, but it is going to get to the point where it no longer holds the sting it once did and that is more frightening I think because of just how much it's used by news now.

It is a good excuse to drive your kids to school though.

what pisses me off is though i have never driven a car an inch in my life
i can get into a 200mph fuck off sports car and be given a driving leason
by anyone who has passed there test..

yet i cant sit on the back of a learner rider on a 30mph moped and teach him
/ her to ride a bike though i have passed my bike test.

i agree car drivers should have to re take a small test every 5 years or so
but it would be a vote loser so it wont happen.