{"id":3566,"date":"2010-09-09T19:44:15","date_gmt":"2010-09-09T19:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=3566"},"modified":"2023-05-01T00:23:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T23:23:47","slug":"they-will-never-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=3566","title":{"rendered":"Will They Ever Learn?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is an old post. A very old one. DSA is now DVSA. However, the points made are still valid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I was searching for news articles concerned with the impending change to the driving test, I came upon this one on the BBC\u00a0website from May 1999<\/a>. It relates to a previous change to the driving test, and makes hilarious reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to the DSA’s Test Timeline , the changes made in 1999 were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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…extending the length of the test, randomising the emergency stop manoeuvre and failing candidates for committing 16 or more driving faults.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Today, we take this for granted and no one gives it a second thought. But look at the rubbish being spouted back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keith Cameron, the head of road safety policy at the British School of Motoring (BSM), said: “Minor faults are minor faults, let’s face it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…Mr Cameron, a former chief examiner with the Driving Standards Agency, told BBC News Online: “Their argument is that if someone commits 15 faults they are not very good at driving so they should not be on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But nerves can affect someone’s performance on the day and if it’s only affecting in terms of minor faults then it should not matter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Cameron said the Driving Standards Agency had conceded there would be a drop in the pass rate, but he said he thought they had underestimated how many people would fail under the new rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It really is not difficult to ratchet up 15 minor errors,” he said. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is hilarious! If someone gets anywhere near 15 faults they are a crap driver – on the day of the test, at least. Examiners can tell if someone is a poor driver or not, just as I can when I’m taking someone out for the first time who can allegedly drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, he claims that the pass rate was going to fall. Let’s take a look at the reality – the DSA’s own pass rates for every year since 1935 (up until 2004 in this table) . Notice how the pass rate gradually fell from 63% in 1935 – with no big steps, and almost completely in a downwards direction year-on-year – to 45% in 1977, and then rose gradually back up to around 52% in the early 90s. It then gradually fell again to 47% in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a hiccup to 48% in 1998, and it dropped to 46% in 1999. It has been at 43-44% since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the worst you can say happened is that the new test introduced in 1999 caused the pass rate to fall by 5% (and that’s by taking the most extreme values). In reality, it was more like 2-3% – and even that doesn’t allow for any background fall that might have occurred anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s not a lot when you consider that according to BSM’s Keith Cameron, the end of the world was nigh, is it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, just bear that in mind when you hear some of the rubbish being spread around about Independent Driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n