Should The Driving Test Be Made More Difficult?

Young car drivers came in for criticism this week from the car insurance companies. So should they make the driving test more difficult?

I've three kids under 25, two passed their driving test about a year ago and one sevens years ago. They can all drive a car properly and know their theory. However they know nothing about their cars and aspects of car safety. These need to be areas for improvement even testing.

My kids have no idea how a car works. The couldn't hear if the car was working properly because they have their music too loud. They don't know what the problem is when their steering shudders at speed or their brake pedal vibrates or their brakes become noisy. They have no idea that a significant number of accidents are caused by problems with the car. From memory, 6% of car accidents are due to tyre failure.

According to Renault there are four aspects to car safety - education, perception, prevention and protection. All motorists could improve their knowledge in these areas.

Motorists should educate themselves about tailgating, night driving, lane changes, skidding, emergency braking and human errors. Maybe car insurance companies have stats about the causes of accidents they could share with driving schools.

Car manufacturers have made significant improvements to driver ergonomics, wipers, mirrors and lighting to aid perception so accidents can be anticipated and prevented. However awareness and attention is seriously compromised by loud music and mobile phones.

Surveys have revealed poor knowledge about ABS and practically no awareness of ESP. Both are active safety systems to help prevent car accidents.

Motorist seem to rely on car safety protection but know little about Euro NCAP ratings except the more stars the better. They seem to believe an NCAP rating, seat belts and air bags will protect them in all accidents which is not true.

So yes, the driving test could do with considerably more test questions. I've a question for car insurance companies, do they provide education about cars and car safety to driving schools and colleges?

Regards
Ralph.