Worst case of 40mph everywhere folk

[Orange Cola]

Pretty amazing this one. I was driving along a very freshly re-surfaced road, it was done with the stone chippings that just sit on the top for a few weeks and eventually clog up the drains. It was pretty sketchy to drive on so only a day or so old. It had the usual 20mph signs up and to be fair the racket of stones bouncing off the car at 20mph was pretty bad, so with no one behind me I was happily doing 10mph-15mph.

After about half a mile I approached the end of the road and therefore the end of the re-surfacing, it was a T junction onto a 60mph A road. A silver Nissan people carrier that wasn't really a people carrier thing (might have been one of those larger Almeras, it was fairly old anyway) came up behind me along the resurfaced road at a faster pace than was necessary for the conditions, I'd hazard a guess around twice the speed of me so circa 30mph-40mph, but no bother as I was approaching the T junction which could easily be seen from several hundred meters away and then I'd be out of his way. Turned out it was only me who could see the junction approaching so well. The Nissan slowed behind me just as the junction was widening, so no fucking idea what he was thinking at this point but then he proceeded to move to the opposite side of the road and drive along side me as I was slowing to a stop for the junction anyway. As I wasn't doing a great speed my stopping distance was fairly short so fuck knows what he was thinking at this particular point but he's squarely on the wrong side of the road with less than a car length to the main road. No idea how he thought he'd ever get past me given he started the whole manoeuvre with about three car lengths to go. As he was along side me he put his indicator on and started to move over into the side of my car, a quick blast of my horn to stop him coming any further over and he panicked by which point we'd both stopped at the white line.

I'm sat there on the correct side of the road in the correct road position to turn right at the junction and this fucking numpty was sat on the wrong side of the junction blocking the access into the side road from the main A road. According to him this situation was somehow my fault made clear by his angry shouting and gesturing. He refused to put his window down so I've no idea what he actually said but as soon as I pointed out he was driving dangerously and therefore should hand his license in he shut up and looked away immediately.

After the traffic cleared we both turned a dog leg right across the A road and onto another side road, but of course he had to go first because he was blocking the whole fucking junction, so now on a perfectly clear 60mph limit - with no re-surfacing - and he sat at 40mph occasionally drifting to the left and onto the grass verge. He was in absolutely no fucking hurry at all.

We need to start re-testing these utter cock wombles, I reckon 90% of people out on the roads today would fail straight away for driving under the speed limit unnecessarily and 99% of them would be surprised they'd fail a driving test.

[Matty]

Alot of these people passed their test 20-30 years ago (or more). Its crazy to think that in these days of OTT health and safety you only need a quick 45 minutes to prove you're 'capable' and you're all set for the next 50 years.

Why were mandatory re-tests never introduced? Every 10 years, you've got 12 months to sit a theory and practical refresher. I mean, your car has to be tested every 12 months to make sure the car isn't dangerous....why isn't the driver tested every few years to make sure they're not dangerous?

[Richard]

You only have to look at the doddery old grandmas, maybe using a Zimmer frame, can hardly hold their own body weight up....

Yet, they’re going to be quick witted enough to react to a child stepping into the road? And they’re going to be strong enough to press the brake hard enough to stop?

[Orange Cola]

This particular git was at retirement age.

[NotoriousREV]

Alot of these people passed their test 20-30 years ago (or more). Its crazy to think that in these days of OTT health and safety you only need a quick 45 minutes to prove you're 'capable' and you're all set for the next 50 years.

Why were mandatory re-tests never introduced? Every 10 years, you've got 12 months to sit a theory and practical refresher. I mean, your car has to be tested every 12 months to make sure the car isn't dangerous....why isn't the driver tested every few years to make sure they're not dangerous?

You're older than you think you are. I'm 43 and passed my test 26 years ago and can drive perfectly well, thank you. These cunts you're on about passed their test 40+ years ago.

Personal, I'd make people re-sit their test every 5 years. It'll create jobs and improve the driving standard. Win win.

[jamcg]

Alot of these people passed their test 20-30 years ago (or more). Its crazy to think that in these days of OTT health and safety you only need a quick 45 minutes to prove you're 'capable' and you're all set for the next 50 years.

Why were mandatory re-tests never introduced? Every 10 years, you've got 12 months to sit a theory and practical refresher. I mean, your car has to be tested every 12 months to make sure the car isn't dangerous....why isn't the driver tested every few years to make sure they're not dangerous?

You're older than you think you are. I'm 43 and passed my test 26 years ago and can drive perfectly well, thank you. These cunts you're on about passed their test 40+ years ago.

Personal, I'd make people re-sit their test every 5 years. It'll create jobs and improve the driving standard. Win win.

I have to resit my gas/hot water certificates every 5 years, and we get updates to regs via technical bulletins which we are responsible for following once they are issued, usually with a date they become enforceable. If you need to retest driving every 5 years there would have to be some official channel to get updates to Highway Code etc. but there currently isn’t. Also having to have a week and a half away from work, not earning any money and instead paying out a couple of hundred pounds every 5 years on one thing is enough thank you very much

[NotoriousREV]

What are you on about? The Highway Code is regularly updated. A driving test takes an hour at most.

[Orange Cola]

Exactly Rev.

It's more of an inconvenience to get the car MoT'd, or serviced if it's less than three years old and still in warranty, than it is to take a retest every so often. We also need to improve the driving test but that's another topic.

[Marv]

That's a good point OC - we have to prove our cars are road worthy every year* through an MOT, why not our driving?

Is there any countries around the world, which make drivers take a test regularly though?

*Apart from you lease lovers and serial new car owners...

[NotoriousREV]

That's a good point OC - we have to prove our cars are road worthy every year* through an MOT, why not our driving?

Is there any countries around the world, which make drivers take a test regularly though?

*Apart from you lease lovers and serial new car owners...

Spain does, I think. I know my mum had to have a retest to renew her licence but that may have been an age thing.

[JLv3.0]

Pretty sure my old man did similar in France. As an aside, they asked him if he'd like a motorbike license and he said yes please

[Marv]

My cousins husband (cousin in-law?) in the Philippines told me that when he turned up to collect his driving license (you don't have to do a practical test ) they asked if he wanted a motorbike license too, so he paid the tiny bit extra and walked away with a car license and a bike license.

This may be why a Filipino driving license isn't valid anywhere else in the world!

[Orange Cola]

Even on a lease car it's subject to an annual road worthy inspection by the manufacturer in the form of a service, most cars take at least an hour to do properly even if it's just oil and oil filter changes*. I don't see how a retest every five or ten years is inconvenient. It doesn't need to be a full Henry and practical, just a practical.


*Plus talking to everyone in the service department about the car, because it's a V8 Mustang

[jamcg]

What are you on about? The Highway Code is regularly updated. A driving test takes an hour at most.

When was the last time you sat and looked at the Highway Code? Or actually saw a published update sent to your home address?

Have you ever had enforced retesting? My gas exams could be rushed through in a couple of hours or less, but you have to have a week of tuition beforehand, you can’t just take the test. You can bet a driving retest would follow the same formula, so while the test would take an hour how long would the rest take? And what happens if you fail? No license immediately or grace period for a resit? How many people would loose their jobs because they can’t drive? Gas safety enforcement stopped being exclusively about safety and became a money making franchise when corgi started, it’s one of the reasons they lost the rights to issuing certification and I’d put money on driving safety going the same way

[NotoriousREV]

What are you on about? The Highway Code is regularly updated. A driving test takes an hour at most.

When was the last time you sat and looked at the Highway Code? Or actually saw a published update sent to your home address?

Have you ever had enforced retesting? My gas exams could be rushed through in a couple of hours or less, but you have to have a week of tuition beforehand, you can’t just take the test. You can bet a driving retest would follow the same formula, so while the test would take an hour how long would the rest take? And what happens if you fail? No license immediately or grace period for a resit? How many people would loose their jobs because they can’t drive? Gas safety enforcement stopped being exclusively about safety and became a money making franchise when corgi started, it’s one of the reasons they lost the rights to issuing certification and I’d put money on driving safety going the same way

I last referred to the Highway Code on Monday. It’s available online, it’s really easy to read.

If you fail, you can’t drive until you can prove you can meet the minimum standard. If you don’t believe you could pass this at any time, you should probably post your licence back the the DVLA.

If you rely on driving for your livelihood, I’d suggest it’d be well worth your while making the tiniest amount of effort to maintain your standard of driving and knowledge to the bare fucking minimum. Again, if you really think you’d need a week of tuition before resitting your test, then A) you probably need to be retested and B) that tuition will do you some good

It’s comforting to hear a gas fitter expressing such great attitude towards safety.

[jamcg]

What are you on about? The Highway Code is regularly updated. A driving test takes an hour at most.

When was the last time you sat and looked at the Highway Code? Or actually saw a published update sent to your home address?

Have you ever had enforced retesting? My gas exams could be rushed through in a couple of hours or less, but you have to have a week of tuition beforehand, you can’t just take the test. You can bet a driving retest would follow the same formula, so while the test would take an hour how long would the rest take? And what happens if you fail? No license immediately or grace period for a resit? How many people would loose their jobs because they can’t drive? Gas safety enforcement stopped being exclusively about safety and became a money making franchise when corgi started, it’s one of the reasons they lost the rights to issuing certification and I’d put money on driving safety going the same way

I last referred to the Highway Code on Monday. It’s available online, it’s really easy to read.

If you fail, you can’t drive until you can prove you can meet the minimum standard. If you don’t believe you could pass this at any time, you should probably post your licence back the the DVLA.

If you rely on driving for your livelihood, I’d suggest it’d be well worth your while making the tiniest amount of effort to maintain your standard of driving and knowledge to the bare fucking minimum. Again, if you really think you’d need a week of tuition before resitting your test, then A) you probably need to be retested and B) that tuition will do you some good

It’s comforting to hear a gas fitter expressing such great attitude towards safety.

I do maintain my driving standards, and I do see people every day who don’t

I’m using gas safety as a template as to what I would expect enforced retesting to follow. I like to think I wouldn’t need a week of tuition to pass my gas exams but I don’t get a choice in the matter, it’s part of resitting.

Again using gas reassessment as an analogy I loose a week of work for my retesting and it costs somewhere in the region of £300-£400 so it’s a double hit- I think if the government introduced a retest for driving it would follow this formula- and the important thing to remember is how you drive probably wouldn’t get you through a test, if you cross your arms turning a corner for instance- something a lot of people do wouldn’t have got me through my driving test, would a retest have different standards to the initial test?

[NotoriousREV]

I could definitely pass my test tomorrow with no prep. Anyone who can’t shouldn’t be on the road.

[ilmostro]

Driving test is too fucking easy. Needs to be made harder, so that less cunts can pass = less traffic, so better for those that can drive.

For example, if you fail your driving test 3 times in Switzerland, you have to be assessed by a psychologist to be fit to retake / drive.

[Rich B]

I could definitely pass my test tomorrow with no prep. Anyone who can’t shouldn’t be on the road.

Got to agree with Rev on this one, if you couldn’t pass your test again (or even a basic retest version) then you shouldnt be on the road...

[IanF]

I could definitely pass my test tomorrow with no prep. Anyone who can’t shouldn’t be on the road.

Got to agree with Rev on this one, if you couldn’t pass your test again (or even a basic retest version) then you shouldnt be on the road...

Do they still ask you about stopping distances? I’d need to look them up (and then argue they were inaccurate, obviously)