There’s a trial with certain test centres and certain driving instructors to teach and trial these new ideas and her indoors was one of them and these were the Ideas…
Do away with turn in the road or 3 point turn.
Do away with the reverse left turn back round a corner.
Use a satellite navigation aid for learning and the test itself.
Bay parking where you drive into a space and reverse out.
Drive onto opposite side of road park against the kerb and then reverse back two car spaces.
There’s one more I think but it escapes me at the moment but what does anyone think ?
As part of the new test, the independent driving section would be extended to up to 20 minutes, half of the test’s 40.
Learners would be asked to use a satnav system to find their way to a destination, as well as conventional road signs.
The three-point turn, in which learners are asked to stop then turn the car in the opposite direction in the road, as well as the ‘turn around the corner’ where the car has to be reversed around a corner, could be scrapped in favour of testing skills more likely to be used in everyday situations, such as reversing out of a parking bay, or pulling up by the side of the road then rejoining traffic.
Safety questions asked at the outset of the test could now be asked during it, such as being asked to use the back window heaters, said the DVSA.
I think there is a grain of sense behind some of it…and it’s interesting that parts of the truck test like the independant drive and the stop/start are coming into the car tests.
Certainly being able to straight line reverse, and get into and out of bays are things that the current test doesn’t cover.
In reality, no one regularly reverses around a corner in real life (in a car), you find a wide road and swing it around, maybe with a small shunt back. Or you look for a RH turn and turn around there.
The one I’m not sure about is scrapping the 3 point turn, as when the sat nav you are now trained to follow leads you astray, being able to turn around could be handy!
Don’t agree with having the sat-nav on. You should be looking at the road signs not at a screen!
Radar19:
Don’t agree with having the sat-nav on. You should be looking at the road signs not at a screen!
Exactly. But isn’t having to prove you can safely interpret a screen for guidance without compromising your observation under test conditions a good thing? I’d imagine that staring at a screen too long would incur a serious / dangerous fault.
th2013:
Radar19:
Don’t agree with having the sat-nav on. You should be looking at the road signs not at a screen!
Exactly. But isn’t having to prove you can safely interpret a screen for guidance without compromising your observation under test conditions a good thing? I’d imagine that staring at a screen too long would incur a serious / dangerous fault.
But people (myself included) can get fixated on looking at the screen which takes away their attention from the road around them. Its less of an issue for a seasoned driver but for a newbie who’s only just past it could mean an accident. Most modern Nag-navs will tell you which lane to be in before you get there, most of the time I don’t even need to look at mine.
bald bloke:
There’s a trial with certain test centres and certain driving instructors to teach and trial these new ideas and her indoors was one of them and these were the Ideas…
Do away with turn in the road or 3 point turn.
Do away with the reverse left turn back round a corner.
Use a satellite navigation aid for learning and the test itself.
Bay parking where you drive into a space and reverse out.
Drive onto opposite side of road park against the kerb and then reverse back two car spaces.
There’s one more I think but it escapes me at the moment but what does anyone think ?
Hmmm where did you hear this from?
I can probably understand why they could do away with the turn in the road but some of the others I struggle to see the objective.
Why would they incorporate using a sat nav in a driving test?
Drive into a space and reverse out…exactly what you should not do but most do!!!
Drive to the opposite side of the road? Why would they want you to park facing the wrong direction?
Are you sure you are not mick taking?
albion1971:
Hmmm where did you hear this from?
Er my wife who is taking part in it. I’m sure if you googled it something will show up, as for facing onward traffic and then reversing bleeding ridiculous.
There was talk about this on the radio a few months back about putting a trial period in.most new ideas seem to make sense except the sat nav bit,how can it be follow signs to such and such place if they rely on nag nav? Surely not teaching them to read road signs correctly if the sat nav tells them first.
Unless you are buying an audi then nothing on the test matters as most of em don’t care about driving properly anyway 
Edit the last ones stupid just read it properly 
bald bloke:
what does anyone think ?
Wont make a difference to the poor standard of driving on British roads, that’s what I think…!
Personally I think the driving test should be made harder, there are so many idiots out there like today I was delivering in Sheffield in a LWB sprinter and on the way back on the A1M (outside lane obviously) I had a lass sat literally 2 foot off my back bumper swerving left and right but there was no where to go as the middle and inside lanes were full of middle lane hoggers or trucks. I had to brake hard at one point and was expecting her to park in the back.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had this (as most of yous will have had it too, probably BMW’s usually) and I think people fail to recognise the danger they are putting other people lives in, apart from tailgating its risky undertakes when people jump into your safety gap or people texting at 70+ mph swerving around.
We all make mistakes but there are many out there too self centered to care for others on the road til its too late, anyone see the crash A1 NB just at the Northallerton turn off/average speed cameras before catterick garrison? Perfect example of why the test should be made harder in my opinion, or at least implement some way of making learners drive something bigger and slower than a car so they get an idea of what its like being in a van or truck.
Making the test harder isn’t going to do squat. Those bad habits form after you’ve passed.
Radar19:
Making the test harder isn’t going to do squat. Those bad habits form after you’ve passed.
Exactly right. It’s regular assessments that are needed. Every 5 years for cars and 3 for trucks. Then watch the accident rate drop and driving standards improve. Of course you will still get the numb skulls that will do exactly as they wish.
Well that is possible, none of my mates drive for a living just commute (one has a work van but hes an aircon engineer) and all their driving is pretty ■■■■ tbh maybe if the test was stricter and you learned about the consequences before passing you’d be more careful.
Can’t remember being told any of the consequences before I passed but I’ve never been done for anything except parking on double yellows.
I did mean to post about assessments too but I went off on a tangent and started losing my temper thinking about BMW drivers and hit post by mistake.
ARGH I’m angry again!
Ghiabox:
Well that is possible, none of my mates drive for a living just commute (one has a work van but hes an aircon engineer) and all their driving is pretty [zb] tbh maybe if the test was stricter and you learned about the consequences before passing you’d be more careful.
Can’t remember being told any of the consequences before I passed but I’ve never been done for anything except parking on double yellows.
I did mean to post about assessments too but I went off on a tangent and started losing my temper thinking about BMW drivers and hit post by mistake.
ARGH I’m angry again!
They are not worth it Ghiabox! A far stricter test and assessments would be a step in the right direction.
Problem being people would be up in arms as they all think they are good drivers!!!
Radar19:
Don’t agree with having the sat-nav on. You should be looking at the road signs not at a screen!
+1
It should be fun to hear desypetes response when he sees this! 
Sounds like a massive dumbing down if you ask me, exactly the opposite of what’s needed.
Things need to be added not taken away. If I remember correctly there was a new thing added a while ago whereby the learner had to follow signs to a particular destination. Better than following a sat nav ( which have their place but you really should be able to do it the “old school” way). One thing they could do is have all the manouvres in the test, not just any 2 of 4 or whatever it is. Also night driving and some sort of motorway experience should be incorporated at least in the lessons.
I think the best thing they could do though to prevent newly qualified drivers killing themselves or others is to limit the car’s power for the first 2 years of passing, similar to motorbikes. Being able to pass your test in the morning and then being able to jump in a car with 500bhp in the afternoon, at the age of 17, is a ridiculous situation. (Not likely but possible) 
Also night driving and some sort of motorway experience should be incorporated at least in the lessons.
Can all be done already via Pass Plus. Something you do after you pass your basic test to improve.
Trouble is not many think they need to improve. 
Coming soon: how to text/tweet safely.
It’s already been said, but the bad habits come after passing. Yes the test should be more comprehensive, but it still comes down to the same old thing: more highly visible coppers on the road nicking idiots for all the dangerous things like tailgating, chopping across lanes, not being able to leave a slip road without causing mayhem. Even down to not showing a bit of bloody courtesy. And don’t mention signalling at roundabouts, traffic lights, etc. We’ve got all the same problems here but I’ve done and still do plenty of driving all over the UK and it’s turned to crap. Roll out the coppers !
albion1971:
Also night driving and some sort of motorway experience should be incorporated at least in the lessons.
Can all be done already via Pass Plus. Something you do after you pass your basic test to improve.
Trouble is not many think they need to improve.
That’s the point of what i said, ie make it part of the learning process BEFORE they pass. That way everyone at least has some clue about driving at times other than during the day around town, rather than just the ones who do the pass plus.