Calls to change how we learn to drive

Interesting story in the news this morning, about the UK’s ‘learning to drive’ experience. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has come out and said the whole system is flawed and needs a massive overhaul. It says instruction should take a minimum of a year and there ought to be a heap of restrictions on novices about where and when they can motor. On the plus side, they could start aged 16 and a half, rather than the current 17. I have to say I agree 100 per cent; it’s been something I’ve thought and written about many times. But it doesn’t go far enough. What it fails to take account of is any kind of regular retraining, which I think is vitally important.That you can learn to drive aged 17 and pass your test inside three months – as I did in 1988 – then have no further instruction for decades is a scandal. A car is a deadly weapon if you lack the skills to use it, and people get rusty over time. Airline pilots have regular retraining and drivers should too. I think it should be every five years. Not a pass/fail test, but a mandatory two-hour session with an instructor who can point out what you’re doing right and wrong. You would have a three-month window to complete your session and if you didn’t do it your licence is suspended until you did. The cost would be fixed, say £40, and it would provide extra income for driving instructors. Doubt it will ever happen because it’s not a political vote-winner.