It’s all very well saying we need refresher training and stricter rules following accidents and blah blah blah but most of you have a tantrum if you’re asked to do CPC or similar.
Whilst I agree in principle that there should be something done about the ■■■■ poor driving standards exhibited by all classes of drivers and especially the elderly, foreign, reps and the like who seem to have no idea at all what to do once behind the steering wheel. I don’t have an answer as to what that should be.
Smart Mart:
Not only that, everyone should have to pass a test every 5 years.
That would cure the unemployment situation as well - with something like 23,000 tests per day!
- assuming around half the population have driving licences.
Exactly…
The government introduce dCPC and we’re up in arms about it. ‘We don’t need it’ The ‘I’ve been driving 25 years and I don’t need some ■■■■ telling me how to do it’ mentality is rife on here. Yes I know the dCPC is badly flawed. But is it likely any other government developed driving scheme for car drivers would be any better? It would be the same money making charade the dCPC is and have sod all impact on driver safety.
But everyone else should have training? Why should they? The ‘I’ve been driving a car 25 years and I don’t need some ■■■■ telling me how to do it’ will be the response from a lot of car drivers too…just as it is from lorry drivers regarding the dCPC…
Ultimately, if making people retake the test every five years was practical, we’d already be doing it as it would net the government a fortune. It isn’t, so we don’t.
Besides, doing a test every five years proves nothing except how you did on that day, at that time. What you need to do is change attitudes to driving so that people take a pride in being safe and considerate driver at all times, not just once every five years or whatever. Unfortunately, you stand more chance of knitting fog than that happening.
Most accidents are caused from making basic errors of judgement. Following too close, driving too fast for the road conditions, using mobile etc. would be three good examples. A good way to help stop the latter would be to instantly ban any driver caught using a phone for a period of six months with a re-test required at the end of it. The other two are not so easy to police… Speaking of which there are nowhere near enough traffic police on the roads.
Some form of driver training would benefit a lot of drivers, but implementing it would be expensive. Compulsory attendance would be political suicide and voluntary attendance would see the better drivers that already take a pride in driving attending, whilst all the ■■■■■ carry on causing mayhem!
The answer is unfortunately, serious accidents will continue. So take care out there folks!
I can’t speak for everyone here, but I know that I wouldn’t have a problem with the dCPC if I felt it was going to provide me with proper training. For instance, one of the things which has long irritated me is the way the law changes and we’re all suppposed to know about it without ever being told. I only found out I was supposed to keep four weeks’ tachos instead of three by hearsay, as an example off the top of my head. If the dCPC addressed this issue, I’d be all for it. As it is, I think what most drivers mean when they say “I’ve been driving for 25 years and don’t need some [zb] telling me how to drive” is that they don’t need telling how to get in and out of the cab for 35 hours every five years.
Oh, and the main problem I can see with people’s driving is that everyone now believes themselves to be the most important - and often, the only - person in the world. Sort that out (no I don’t know how) and you’ll solve a lot of problems.