![]() Practical cycle training should be mandatory for all driving instructors (with suitable alternatives offered to those with disabilities). Ideally, all driving test candidates should undertake cycle training unless they have already completed level 3 Bikeability – which I think should be part of the national curriculum and offered by every secondary school as standard. I know most people would stop a friend driving after drinking too much, but how many people ask their friends to stop texting whilst driving?Ĭycle awareness should become an integral part of the driver training and testing process with a specified amount of instruction time devoted to it. I would prefer to see questions that test the understanding of the reasons why speeding, texting, using your mobile phone and Sat Nav are dangerous. I am assured by the DVLA that the theory test part of the driving test does now include cycle awareness, and it is normal for a cycling-question to come up in any given individual's theory test, but I don’t think that is enough. It is not enough not to hit a cyclist, you also need to do all you can not to scare them by driving too close for comfort! There's a lot drivers need to know about cyclists. The hazard perception test needs to be strengthened to test trainees’ awareness of how their driving can affect both the actual and perceived safety of cyclists. I just knew I had to tick the right box and then I would soon be on the road without L plates. I really didn’t give much thought as to why. I, like most young people studying for their theory test, learnt the facts – the correct answers. That is why CTC recommends there should be a few changes to the driving test.Īs a driver I passed my test 15 years ago and I don’t really remember learning much about overtaking cyclists. In 1996, the Theory Test was added and then in 2002 learner drivers also had to pass the Hazard Perception Exam but, as we know from bitter experience fighting for justice for cyclists at CTC, a minority of drivers do not understand how to drive safely when they are sharing the roads with cyclists. Over eight decades the Driving Test has undergone many changes. So, does the Driving Test equip motorists for driving in 2015? Of course, the roads in the UK were very different in 1935 - there were just two million drivers, now there are 27 million. Join our Pumped Up Crew of micro volunteers!Įighty years ago this week, Mr Beene of Kensington, London was the first person to pass the practical driving test.Safe roads, traffic offences and the law.What to do if you have a cycling crash?.Getting sponsorship to cycle for Cycling UK.The consultation closes on 8 January and the department will respond later next year. Changes could include streamlining the application process and improving the sharing of information between agencies. Ways of increasing the number of large goods vehicle drivers – one of the most pressing issues facing the road haulage industry – will also be considered. “These proposals are about modernising customer services and improving road safety, particularly for younger drivers,” he said. The proposals are part of a wider push to improve the efficiency of government motoring agencies, said transport minister Lord Tariq Ahmad. The consultation, to be announced on Friday, will also consider introducing more flexibility to driving tests so that applicants can take them at night or on weekends, and from a wider range of centres. “We support measures that will encourage learner drivers to get the experience they need to pass their test first time with flying colours, rather than barely scraping through or failing and having to repeat the process a few months down the road at yet more expense,” he said. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said the organisation backed the proposals. “There is anecdotal evidence that some learner drivers are booking a practical test date well in advance, at the start of their lessons, and then taking the test at that time whether or not they are ready,” the consultation states. Learners who fail will get no rebate on the £62 charge under the plans, which have been put out to public consultation by the Department of Transport. Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “This change will give those who pass first time some money back and provide an incentive for learners to be more prepared before they take their first test.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |