It was a good job I did a little digging to get the original source of this one. Haynes – the 
workshop manual people – have issued a press release where they say a survey has shown that a third of all road users reckon they would fail their theory tests if they had to take it now.
Also, 20% cannot do basic car checks, like oil, battery, and brake fluid levels. They say that 7% admit to knowing “nothing” about car maintenance. Those over 55 are most confident at maintenance.
It doesn’t say anything about the differences between men and women, though I’m sure they have that information. So I’m sure that they’d have mentioned it if it showed that women were miles better than men at these checks.
But I digress. Haynes’ MD says:
We all remember cramming the Highway Code. The problem is we don’t remember much of the Code itself. But what’s really useful about Haynes’ new version is the extra, practical advice on looking after a car or bike and handling the paperwork – and all for the same price.
So, the survey is merely supporting publicity for Haynes’ new publication. However, the MD has a point – most people DO cram. They always have. They do it for ANY test. Nothing has changed.
What first caught my attention with this story, though, was the RAC’s version of it. According to them, drivers “fear” retaking the theory test (which is certainly not what is implied by the Haynes original). But the RAC has a completely different take on what the findings mean:
[The findings} support evidence which suggests people cram the Highway Code before sitting their theory test then forget all the information shortly after.
This is utter nonsense. I have yet to see this “evidence”, which appears to amount to something Mike Penning’s daughter said one day while she was learning to drive, and which has got him making all kinds of ridiculous assertions about the driving instruction industry. The RAC should know better than to perpetuate such rubbish.
The Haynes survey simply reveals that a third of people don’t think they’d pass the theory test now. That’s all. It does not reveal any “fear”, and it does not support any idiotic ideas that the theory test somehow influences RTAs to any significant extent.