New proposal by DOT minister:-

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38464776

 

Apparently, its not intended to be mandatory part of the curriculum . . initially (Driving instructor discretion)  . . . and therefore not tested.

 

Sensible idea ?

 

 

Nick

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very sensible Idea, learner Drivers should all so drive in the dark. Motorways and country roads.  The world looks different when it's dark

Very sensible Idea, learner Drivers should all so drive in the dark. Motorways and country roads.  The world looks different when it's dark

May be add control on surface condition ,wet, ice.....

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by vrskeith

Most of our motorways up here are 2 lanes only (ignoring the madness in the middle of Glasgow) so getting lessons/practice on 70mph A roads like the Edinburgh City Bypass was perfect for preparing me for motorway driving. 

Many counties are a long way from a motorway (Norfolk, Dorset, etc.) so motorway driving not possible for all L-drivers.  However, a fast dual-carriageway with motorway style entries/exits is the next best thing.  Around here the A419 Cirencester to Swindon road is used by many driving instructors.

 

As a IAM observer I met many new drivers who hadn't a clue on how to drive on a motorway.  "The middle lane is for cars and the inside lane for trucks", "the speed limit is 80mph", are just two comments from young drivers who had recently passed their test.

Ours have to log a min 120 hrs under supervision prior to a test.

It surprised me a few years back (2012) to learn that driving instructors do not have any formal training or test for motorway driving and that instructors who teach driving instructors do not have to have any training or qualification other than to be an ADI (approved driving instructor) and obviously teaching potential driving instructors is completely different to teaching provisional licence holders.

Further to @Wet Kipper's comment above, when I was learning to drive I was driving down the A78 between Irvine and Prestwick (2 lane dual carriageway with hard shoulder and grade separated junctions, and bans on bicycles and agricultural vehicles) and commented that if I could use this road then why shouldn't I be allowed to use motorways?

 

I'd oppose compulsory m/way or "high grade dual carriageway" training though, simply because some people live literally hundreds of miles from either.

Seems a good idea. But it will have to remain optional. The most northerly motorway ends at Perth. Above that only dual carriageways.

Might be a bit of a bugger if you're sitting your test in Stornoway and you have to take two days out to fly to Glasgow to do the motorway bit.

 

 

Arguably dual carriageways are far more dangerous than motorways anyway, Motorways just have more volume of traffic and more lanes.

I've always been firmly of the opinion that learners should have to do things like skid pan training so people actually learn how to drive and handle a car rather than just operate a vehicle.

Representative of the Institute of Advanced Motorists was just on BBC News  was supportive of this proposal.

 

But, contradictorily, he also said that there is a well known threshold for learner drivers, occuring @ 120 hours on road from first car use, after which driver responsible untoward events decline significantly and remain at the lower level for the rest of the drivers road life.

 

There won't be many learners who need 120 hours on road to pass the current Driving Test -  I'm guessing current range is 15- 35 hours.

 

So, under the proposal, driving instructors, will have the authority to sanction their best students, presumably mostly composed of those with time-on-road in he lower half of that range, to drive, unrestricted, on motorways.

 

I'm wondering if that is such a good idea ?

 

Personally, with some of the  poorly surveilled local motorways having  unofficial fast lane speeds  well in-excess of 70, I wouldn't fancy accomodating a newbie with the basic 15-25 hours in the fast lane.

 

Better idea would be to  allow motorway driving, post test, only after gaining a further minimum of hours (120 ?) of experience on local roads and major A roads. So that would entail a probationary period after completeing the main DOT test, with additional an minimum of hours under DI instruction/supervision on motorways, perhaps certificated after completion, rather than examined.

 

I would agree, with others, that there is also a good case for driver hazard training as  an add-on - again, undertaken during a probationary period and incentivised by reduced insurance premiums for those presenting the appropriate certificates.

 

N

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by Clunkclick

It's about time, they've been talking about doing this for long enough. It should be mandatory, along with pass plus, or even part  of the pass plus if not part of the DOT test.

Insurance companies as always want your money. Since passing my driving test I have undergone weeks of advanced driver training and have past the most challenging driving test in the UK as well as ADI part 2 with a rare 'no fault' score and neither attract discount by insurance companies.

Representative of the Institute of Advanced Motorists was just on BBC News was supportive of this proposal.

But, contradictorily, he also said that there is a well known threshold for learner drivers, occuring @ 120 hours on road from first car use, after which driver responsible untoward events decline significantly and remain at the lower level for the rest of the drivers road life.

There won't be many learners who need 120 hours on road to pass the current Driving Test - I'm guessing current range is 15- 35 hours.

So, under the proposal, driving instructors, will have the authority to sanction their best students, presumably mostly composed of those with time-on-road in he lower half of that range, to drive, unrestricted, on motorways.

I'm wondering if that is such a good idea ?

Personally, with some of the poorly surveilled local motorways having unofficial fast lane speeds well in-excess of 70, I wouldn't fancy accomodating a newbie with the basic 15-25 hours in the fast lane.

Better idea would be to allow motorway driving, post test, only after gaining a further minimum of hours (120 ?) of experience on local roads and major A roads. So that would entail a probationary period after completeing the main DOT test, with additional an minimum of hours under DI instruction/supervision on motorways, perhaps certificated after completion, rather than examined.

I would agree, with others, that there is also a good case for driver hazard training as an add-on - again, undertaken during a probationary period and incentivised by reduced insurance premiums for those presenting the appropriate certificates.

N

Some people would never be able to achieve that. It would depend entirely on where you live.

Great idea for those sitting in an office in London/Cardif /Swansea ,where there's a motorway just outside the town. I suppose in my day I was lucky in that I passed my test in Glasgow where we had the Great Western Road which at this time was 60/70 NSL . But other locals ( my sister included) took their test a long way from Glasgow, where a non single track road was a novelty, and the nearest bit of Motorway was at least 150 miles away . How would they satisfy the xx number of motorway hours driving.

Then something I used to find in the booddocks ( and those who live in remote places in Devon /Cornwall/Wales ?) was that city folks had no idea whatever how to drive on "single rtrack roads " with psssing( could have been ****ing places for all the notice those from down south took of them) places. So will we see driving on narrow roads, long distance reversing on windy narrow roads + respect for following road users added to the test ?

Great idea for those sitting in an office in London/Cardif /Swansea ,where there's a motorway just outside the town. I suppose in my day I was lucky in that I passed my test in Glasgow where we had the Great Western Road which at this time was 60/70 NSL . But other locals ( my sister included) took their test a long way from Glasgow, where a non single track road was a novelty, and the nearest bit of Motorway was at least 150 miles away . How would they satisfy the xx number of motorway hours driving.

Then something I used to find in the booddocks ( and those who live in remote places in Devon /Cornwall/Wales ?) was that city folks had no idea whatever how to drive on "single rtrack roads " with psssing( could have been ****ing places for all the notice those from down south took of them) places. So will we see driving on narrow roads, long distance reversing on windy narrow roads + respect for following road users added to the test ?

Experience of driving down in Devon is that the recent intake of "Locals"  in their 4 x 4's drive down single track roads like a B2 doing  "nap-of-the-earth" -  when passing you get a complementary paint cut on the offside.

 

N

Some people would never be able to achieve that. It would depend entirely on where you live.

That would be, "No doeee, No jobee", up here then.

 

That said, any form of commuting is becoming increasingly infeasible up here courtesy of either road & rail logistics or ASLEF/RMT.

 

 

N.

Wonder what driving instructor would chance his arm with the average 1.2 engined driving School car in the fast lane under the control of a pre-test student ?

 

My wagon's a 1.4, I 've got 35 years driving experience, and I look very carefully nowadays before using the fast lane to overtake. Usually, up here, its populated by a  constant stream of high powered BMs, Audis, Volvos and 4x 4s steaming-up @ 80-90 min.

 

Makes about as much sense as riding a push bike in present day London.

 

 

N

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by Clunkclick

Why not just mandate an addon to the normal license to go on the motorway, along the lines of pass plus.

That way people in the sticks aren't impacted unless they actually want to drive on the motorway and then they'd have to prove they can actually drive on them.

Mind you there's a fair few dual carriageways that are way more challenging than motorways - the Edinburgh City Bypass for a start.

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by gullyg

Why not just mandate an addon to the normal license to go on the motorway, along the lines of pass plus.

That way people in the sticks aren't impacted unless they actually want to drive on the motorway and then they'd have to prove they can actually drive on them.

Mind you there's a fair few dual carriageways that are way more challenging than motorways - the Edinburgh City Bypass for a start.

So to go on holiday once a year people could spend a day with say a 6 hour round trip to reach a motorway and instructor/assessor to demonstrate their capability.

Or suddenly find they can't go to a job interview, concert, event etc.

So to go on holiday once a year people could spend a day with say a 6 hour round trip to reach a motorway and instructor/assessor to demonstrate their capability.

Or suddenly find they can't go to a job interview, concert, event etc.

Take public transport?

If the gov' wants people to be qualified to drive on the motorway what else is there? The people you are talking about are often the high risk people, possibly just passed, not driven much on high speed dual carriageways.

I grew up in the highlands and I wouldn't be very keen on being in a car with some drivers from up there on a motorway. Different skill set - just like when I'm on single track roads I'm probably the slowest person on the road pulling into passing places letting everyone past.

People need to remember driving is a privilege not a right. If they change the license to require motorway driving it will put people out, at least requiring an addon doesn't stop them driving where they need to drive.

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by gullyg

Take public transport?

If the gov' wants people to be qualified to drive on the motorway what else is there? The people you are talking about are often the high risk people, possibly just passed, not driven much on high speed dual carriageways.

I grew up in the highlands and I wouldn't be very keen on being in a car with some drivers from up there on a motorway. Different skill set - just like when I'm on single track roads I'm probably the slowest person on the road pulling into passing places letting everyone past.

People need to remember driving is a privilege not a right. If they change the license to require motorway driving it will put people out, at least requiring an addon doesn't stop them driving where they need to drive.

That assumes there is public transport.

That assumes there is public transport.

Well people need to cut their cloth. If there isn't an alternative, tough I can't think of any destination you have to drive on a motorway to get to bar service stations.

I don't have a license to tow a car and heavy trailer as I passed after 2000 (or whenever it was). This means I can't do a once a year trip at the moment without either getting someone who can to drive or me getting a license upgrade.

It was deemed too dangerous for a driver with no training to drive a large trailer or 7.5t truck. Same idea - the gov may want people qualified to drive on the motorway.

So I'm going to have to upgrade my license. No big deal - a few hundred quid and a few evenings instruction, that's life.

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by gullyg

Well people need to cut their cloth. If there isn't an alternative, tough I can't think of any destination you have to drive on a motorway to get to bar service stations.

I don't have a license to tow a car and heavy trailer as I passed after 2000 (or whenever it was). This means I can't do a once a year trip at the moment without either getting someone who can to drive or me getting a license upgrade.

It was deemed too dangerous for a driver with no training to drive a large trailer or 7.5t truck. Same idea - the gov may want people qualified to drive on the motorway.

So I'm going to have to upgrade my license. No big deal - a few hundred quid and a few evenings instruction, that's life.

So do you instruction 2-3 hours from where you live and see how much more difficult it makes things?

So do you instruction 2-3 hours from where you live and see how much more difficult it makes things?

But the point is I'm towing, not driving on roads away from here - if it was a requirement for me to learn how to drive on a private motorway and be tested on it I'd have to take that test or avoid that road/roads. Life isn't fair - my original point was that if you have it as an addon people who don't need it can disregard it or get it at a later point.

What you're saying is someone should just be allowed to do something because it's inconvenient for them to get tested? I fancy "driving" the bullet train when I'm on holiday next year but it's pretty inconvenient for me to do any training / testing as I'm up in Edinburgh so I should just be allowed to jump in surely?

Whether there is an actual need to test people to drive on the motorway is another matter and something the powers that be would need to decide.

Edited 30 December, 20169 yr by gullyg