Safe Speed Forums

Would an advanced driving test, which must be passed within ten years of your normal driving test, be a good idea? This would make people think about their quality of their driving from the start. If the test were at the level of the IAM test, surely most people would be able to pass it in ten years.

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http://kalvis.com/

In "EE Doc Smiths" world, passing the advanced test entitled the license holder to special privilages such as special derestricted lanes on the motorway etc.

Now theres a thought!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

I could envisage the rate of delinquency on this being so high as to render it unenforceable.

What would be an appropriate sanction against someone who did not take the advanced test but had had no accidents in the 10 years previously?

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

It would involve a vast amount of time and expense for very little benefit. Accidents overwhelmingly result from failures of attitude or concentration, not from lack of competence as such. And there was a post the other day reporting that no discernible benefit in accident rates could be attributed to the Pass Plus course.

Also, if people are forced to take a test, rather than undertaking it voluntarily, they will tend to regard it as an imposition that has to be "got through" for the sake of it. And people are at most risk in the first few years of driving anyway. Once they have been driving for ten years experience will have made them much safer.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

The idea was to have something to aim for, which would still help in the early years. Also, to check the skills of drivers at 10 years, and expect a higher level given their ten years of experience does not seem unreasonable. I would be very worried by someone who could not pass an advanced test after 10 years.

Advanced driving tests do test more than just driving control skills!

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http://kalvis.com/

If it were a legal requirement, I guess you would be banned.

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http://kalvis.com/

I'd actually go the other way and advocate a brief 'refresher' test once a decade, just to check people haven't gone really down hill.

I don't think that need be a cause for concern. It is perfectly possible to fail an advanced test but still have a driving style that is consistently safe and smooth to a high degree.

The problem, to my mind, is that advanced tests require the candidate to demonstrate proficiency in numerous aspects of driving, some of which are overly prescriptive (IMHO), without contributing much of value in terms of safe driving.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

I decided not to do the IAM advanced test for that very reason. They have a "system" described in their handbook and unless you conform to that system you will fail. Now if thee is one thing that I have learned in a long and misspent life it is that there is no-one-size-fits all system for anything. It is quite easy to be a safe and competent driver without conforming to anybodies system. (Which is why I treat COAST with a bit of circumspection)

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

Johnny agrees with dcbwhaley shocker!

The advanced method seems to be stuck in a time warp that bears little resemblance to modern cars or driving conditions.

...and, yes, Malcolm agrees with both of you!

IAM have certain obsessions which I do not agree with.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

Makes three - the above for me says it all.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I spent a day with some ADUK members earlier in the year. One chap I went out with is a rospa observer and hpc member, we discussed the system, pull/push and h&t. His take was that it was fine if you could demonstrate a systematic and competent driving style even if your system was not 'the system'. His opinion was that I could probably get a silver without changing my style, it was only if you wanted a gold that you had to drive to the exact letter of their system.

If a mandatory advanced test had flexible gradings then it might be more useful.

Needs work - come back in a year
Almost there - come back within three years
Competent if not to the book - see you in ten years
By the book - have a gold star, see you in ten years

Whether that is practical or not?

Another issue would be for drivers that do not drive regularly. I passed my test at 17, however then I got into bikes and did not own a car until I was nearly 30. I would occasionally hire, borrow or use a company pool car, but it was pretty infrequently. There must be plenty of people that get a licence but do not drive very often.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May