Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has just announced new proposals to reform the way people learn to drive and how they are tested.
The aim of the consultation is to create safer drivers for life by strengthening the current learning and testing procedures
Road deaths and serious injuries have fallen by 33% since the mid 1990s, but the casualty rate for young drivers has not changed. One in five people have an accident within six months of passing their test, and another 70% report near- misses in the same period. Alongside this newly qualified drivers and their passengers account for one in five of all car deaths in Britain.
The aim of the consultation is to create safer drivers for life by strengthening the current learning and testing procedures, and creating a culture of extended and advanced learning.
This could see some manoeuvres being taken out of the test with Driving Instructors certifying their candidates capability to perform such tasks. This will free up more driving time to possibly include being asked to reach a destination by following the road direction signs
This is far more realistic. The proposal also wants pupils to use an Approved Driving Instructor as opposed to friends or relatives in an attempt to cut the high fatality this causes. Hopefully the proposal will also include compulsory tuition on the motorway, nighttime driving, and skid control. In fact all the things that I constantly go on about.
Maybe I should be Ruth Kelly just for a day to implement this.
FemaleFirst - Jackie Violet