This story from the TRL News Hub says that the “appalling” casualty rate of young drivers needs tackling… according to MPs.
Yes, it does. But if MPs were even close to living on this planet, they would realise that it isn’t the driving test that will achieve any reduction.
A recent report from the Transport Select Committee proposed making the current driving test more rigorous in an effort to reduce accident rates, claiming that it is “essential” young drivers are thoroughly prepared before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle alone.
When will people realise that it isn’t driving skill per se that is the problem?
The driving test has always been intended to make sure people are capable of going out on the road as new drivers, and then continuing to learn through experience gained over their subsequent driving lifetime. It has never been intended to put perfect drivers with a lifetime of experience out there.
Because it can’t. Ever,
The real problem lies in the fact that your average 21st Century 17-24 year old male thinks he is Buzz Lightyear, and your average 21st Century 17-24 year old female is more than happy to be posting her life story on Facebook or Twitter while she is driving her kids around. It didn’t used to be like this, but it is like it now. And it is the gradual change from the former to the latter (current) situation which is the real explanation for why so many of them kill themselves or others.
The TRL story also contains some more realistic recommendations from Brake, the road safety charity:
[Brake]… suggested implementing a system of ‘graduated driver licensing’, where there is a set learning period, followed by time spent as a novice driver where exposure to high risk is limited.This gives people the chance to build up their skills and experience on the road before they obtain their full licence, the charity explained.
Exactly. If the idiots can’t behave, then they either need to be made to behave – or prevented from misbehaving.
But even then, the focus of the Brake proposal is still on giving them the skills to behave like idiots without killing themselves rather than stopping them from behaving like idiots in the first place.
If you needed proof of all this, take a look at this BBC story. It reports on a delinquent named Philip Truong, who was apparently racing his car with another and effectively caused the death of two teenagers in the process (though one of them, the driver of the other car, deserves little sympathy) when the other car lost control. He was speeding, yet he has been cleared of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving. Truong admitted he was “showing off” and his own defence lawyer said he was “immature”. He is 22, for God’s sake.
He may or may not go to jail.
And that’s the deterrent to behaving like idiots. There really almost isn’t one.