This story from Australia is interesting. It refers to a woman, Michelle Leanne Thiele, who – twice in seven years – caused the death of other drivers by failing to give way at the same junction.
Deputy Coroner Anthony Schapel found Thiele was an incompetent driver who probably failed to look before she drove into the intersection.
She had five other serious traffic offences to her name. Her licence was revoked in 2010 and she has been denied even the opportunity to obtain a learner licence since then. She has appealed, and in its response the Motor Vehicle Act Review Committee said:
While the committee is of the view that you may be technically competent to operate a motor vehicle and you may pass a practical driving test if required to do so, it was not satisfied that you addressed and overcame your tendency for complacency and inattention to road rules.
The committee was not satisfied that issuing you with a learner’s permit subject to conditions requiring further technical driver training would necessarily address those attitudinal issues. The committee is not persuaded by the materials for consideration that the risk of you causing injury or death by accident to a member of the community was low.
Wow! Why can’t we have officials like that over here?
It’s a serious point. There are drivers out there who really shouldn’t be on the road, yet in the UK we absolutely never do anything about it other than maybe ban them for a short time. Oh, there are people at the end of their driving careers who – through reasons of deteriorating mental health just can’t handle a car anymore – who occasionally lose their licences, but even they would be allowed back on the roads if they passed their tests again. There is no competence-based assessment of someone’s suitability to be on the road in the first place – just the basic driving test.
In Australia, Thiele is quite rightly denied even that opportunity, and the reason given is basically incompetence when it comes to the practical part of driving. She is appealing further and the hearing is due next month.
Mind you, back in this hemisphere there have been recent rumblings in the EU about some sort of pre-licence assessment. Unfortunately, these have been of a psychometric nature – and anyone who has ever worked in industry will be fully aware of the pitfalls of psychometric testing – which is right up the alley of the current crop of coaching advisors and lifestyle coaches.