Theory Tests

[Frizz]

Is it me, or are these an absoulute piece of piss? I hardly did any preperation for it, and i pass. It's funny how people were breathing down my neck and whinging saying "Bah, no swatting, you're gonna fail".

Well, HAH! IN YOUR FACE! So much of it is plain common sense, i can't understand how you'd fail tbh.

Now all i have to do is worry about the practical test. I've heard some real horror stories with those however.

In the interest of starting some sort of debate here though, do you people think that the difficulty of these tests should be upped? In my (limited) experience, i've seen so many stupid mistakes, and general lack of care and attentionon the roads. Personally, i feel people should be tested on a kind of regular basis, something like once every 5 years or something.

 

[jaba]

Yeah personally I think they should be upped, and a question should be introduced along the lines of "are you going to buy a fiesta (insert other small car name here) and put a huge great exhaust on it, large stereo, stupid sized spoiler?" if they answer yes to this they should be failed immediately...or if any large gold earrings/ thick gold chains are worn to the exams they should be failed imediately!

On the upside, congrats Frizz thats great news!

 

[granny]

Personally, i feel people should be tested on a kind of regular basis, something like once every 5 years or something.

This is a great idea but it would be extremely difficult to implement. What's the waiting list like for driving tests at the moment? I know it varies from place to place but I'm sure it's in the region of 12 weeks in a lot of places. Now add to that the massive increase in tests that would need to be carried out even if you only required retesting every 10 years... that's a fuck of a lot of new testing centres & driving examiners you need, which is gonna cost a fortune.

And yeah I agree the theory tests are a piece of absolute piss but again there's one major problem with making them a lot harder - there'd be an outcry since the failure rate would skyrocket because huge numbers of people really are lacking in basic common sense. The accusation would be the same as that levied against increased speed cam numbers, ie. that making the theroy tests more difficult was just a revenue-raising exercise designed to make people pay repeatedly for their theory tests.

I tell ya, money, stupidity and self-centeredness are what shape our world, not sense or logic.

 

[jaba]

I tell ya, money, stupidity and self-centeredness are what shape our world, not sense or logic.

That is possibly the most profound thing I have ever heard

 

[Will]

Why not have it like motorbike tests...you can't have a powerful bike unless you are over a certain age, and have passed a more demanding test.

 

[leggy]

That is possibly the most profound thing I have ever heard

Granny Freud

 

[Whipped]

Why not have it like motorbike tests...you can't have a powerful bike unless you are over a certain age, and have passed a more demanding test.

I've always thought along these lines. If I'm right, you're limited to a 250cc motorbike for 2 years after passing the CBT and in that time you have to pass your full test.

I have a old school friend that was killed a few years ago when he was a passenger in a car driven by a 18 year old kid that had just passed his test, and persuded his dad to let him take the BMW out for a spin. Hit a subway wall at 120 MPH!!

Now, I'm not saying they wouldn't have crashed in a shit little ford fiesta, but at least the speed may have been a lot lower and they may have had a greater chance of surviving.

People seem to think that once they can drive, ever car will be the same!

 

[Bullitt]

I was talking about driving lessons and tests the other day actually and my parents mentioned an 'intense driving course' where you do the full deal (lessons and tests) over one weekend.

This is what they used to do however 'back in the day' and i was wondering if they still do them now?

 

[Lazarus]

I was talking about driving lessons and tests the other day actually and my parents mentioned an 'intense driving course' where you do the full deal (lessons and tests) over one weekend.

This is what they used to do however 'back in the day' and i was wondering if they still do them now?

you do have that option. Some driving schools offer this package

 

[DaGaffer]

I've always thought along these lines. If I'm right, you're limited to a 250cc motorbike for 2 years after passing the CBT and in that time you have to pass your full test.

I have a old school friend that was killed a few years ago when he was a passenger in a car driven by a 18 year old kid that had just passed his test, and persuded his dad to let him take the BMW out for a spin. Hit a subway wall at 120 MPH!!

Now, I'm not saying they wouldn't have crashed in a shit little ford fiesta, but at least the speed may have been a lot lower and they may have had a greater chance of surviving.

People seem to think that once they can drive, ever car will be the same!

Ah, what's the word I'm looking for here? Oh, yes. Bollocks. Read your statement, look for the cause, and I'll think you'll find 'Daddy' letting Junior out in his BMW might have something to do with it. How about, and here's a wild idea, instead of legislating for every possible eventuality, every possible threat to our oh so precious lives, we actually take responsibility for our own actions and accept our own fek ups. I'm sorry for your school friend, but he didn't have to get in the car with someone who'd just passed their test, and all the laws in the world probably wouldn't change that (apart from anything else a new BMW is probably far more survivable at most speeds than an old Fiesta; if he was doing 120 in a BMW you can be sure he's the type who would have taken a Fiesta to the max and he would be just as dead).

Anyway, age is no protector. The power/age rating thing applies to bikes, but the most likely group of people to be killed in a bike accident are now the 30-something born again bikers who go out and buy an R1 when their last bike was a FS1E 20-odd years ago.

And finally, there is a de facto age registriction for most people, its called car insurance.

 

[Tom]

Most young drivers are killed in accidents involving shit cars. Stopping someone who has just passed their test from driving a Ferrari isn't really going to make much sense, when you consider that a Ferrari is a much safer car than a Fiesta.

In my opinion, the age at which you can drive a car should be raised to 18, and there should be a retest within 1 year of that person passing their test. If they fail the test, tough shit, they don't deserve to be driving.

Anyway, I have no sympathy with people who go out and wrap themselves around trees. Its the innocent bystanders and the passengers who I feel sorry for.

 

[Mofo8]

I'm taking lessons again after a gap of 12 years. I've only had 3 so far, but it's all coming back to me quickly, and tbh, it's a piece of piss. I haven't yet sat the theory test, but I've got a copy of one of those CDs that simulates it and the hazard perception test, and it looks easy as fuck. It's multiple choice ffs. Far better than some twisted, bitter, humourless, grey-faced, bad-breathed, Gestapo wannabe asking you random questions at the end of your practical test.

 

[GekuL]

The difficulty of the test is fine (shouldn't you pass this before you start asking for it to be harder though? ). The reason there are so many bad drivers is because people let themselves slip once the pressure is off. There are a lot of stupid people on the roads though.

 

[DaGaffer]

The difficulty of the test is fine (shouldn't you pass this before you start asking for it to be harder though? ). The reason there are so many bad drivers is because people let themselves slip once the pressure is off. There are a lot of stupid people on the roads though.

That's partly true, but as my old driving instructor said to me, the problem is that people are trained to pass the test, not trained how to drive. Kind of 'garbage in, garbage out'. You don't really learn how to drive until after you pass your test and you get motorways/night/bad weather etc. under your belt.

 

[granny]

Want to reduce deaths on roads? Lower the speed limits. The faster you're going when you have a crash, the greater the chance there will be a fatal injury to someone. It's very, very simple.

Everyone makes mistakes sometimes when driving, maybe you've had a shit day at work, maybe your girlfriend just dumped you by text message, maybe your attention wanders for a second, nobody is immune. If we make a mistake at 20mph the chance of killing yourself or someone else because of that mistake is vastly less than if you make that mistake at 90mph.

Personally I say reduce speed limits to 20mph in residential areas and actually enforce the 70mph limit on motorways. More speed cameras and far harsher penalties please. None of this fine & points crap. 10mph over speed limit, ban for 3 months. 20mph over limit ban for 2 years. Repeat offence ban for life.

 

[tris-]

That's partly true, but as my old driving instructor said to me, the problem is that people are trained to pass the test, not trained how to drive.

my instructor says that too. you can also do pass plus, which teaches you how to drive (not pass a test) and lowers your insurance.

also, to be an examiner you only need 35/35 and 65/75 hazard perception, same as the mark i got :/

 

[DaGaffer]

Want to reduce deaths on roads? Lower the speed limits. The faster you're going when you have a crash, the greater the chance there will be a fatal injury to someone. It's very, very simple.

Everyone makes mistakes sometimes when driving, maybe you've had a shit day at work, maybe your girlfriend just dumped you by text message, maybe your attention wanders for a second, nobody is immune. If we make a mistake at 20mph the chance of killing yourself or someone else because of that mistake is vastly less than if you make that mistake at 90mph.

Personally I say reduce speed limits to 20mph in residential areas and actually enforce the 70mph limit on motorways. More speed cameras and far harsher penalties please. None of this fine & points crap. 10mph over speed limit, ban for 3 months. 20mph over limit ban for 2 years. Repeat offence ban for life.

Aww, feck off. On the motorway, everyone is going in the same direction, so relative speeds are low. 70mph is a completely arbitrary figure anyway (based on oil crisis needs NOT safety), so by your reckoning why not make the motorway limit 55, or 40? Why not make us all get out and walk ffs? No danger to our precious little selves then. Jesus, we've spent a century learning how to go faster in more safety than ever before, and we've still got flat earthers wanting to stick a bloke with a red flag up front. Try and understand, if the death rate goes up a bit, it doesn't matter and overall human happiness would go up. No politician would ever dare say it, but if we carry on bricking it about every possible threat to our precious hides the world is going to go to hell in a (very slow) handcart.

 

[Will]

Motorway speed limits are probably fine as they are. I don't drive on them often enough to be able to comment. Some people want them higher, some people want them lower.

Certainly for quiet residential streets, lowering the limit to 20mph would be a good idea. For main roads though, limits should stay at 30mph or 40mph, but actually be enforced. The combination of the two would help to reduce accidents, and also discourages rat run shortcuts.

 

[Krazeh]

What I don't understand is the way you can fail your test time and time again and still be given a license if by some fluke you finally pass. There should be a limit to how many times you can take the test and then enforce a waiting period before it can be attempted again

 

[tris-]

i disagree with lower speed limits, if you go too fast and kill your self and the old granny trying to cross the street, its your own fault. i hate it when people moan that they got a speeding ticket, how about you dont drive over the fuckin limit? "lets blame the government for making the speed limit so high, because i cant think for my self and control my self". fine, lower the speed limit to 20mph, but if you did that now everyone will still wanna do 30 and break the speed limit.

 

[Will]

i disagree with lower speed limits, if you go too fast and kill your self and the old granny trying to cross the street, its your own fault. i hate it when people moan that they got a speeding ticket, how about you dont drive over the fuckin limit? "lets blame the government for making the speed limit so high, because i cant think for my self and control my self". fine, lower the speed limit to 20mph, but if you did that now everyone will still wanna do 30 and break the speed limit.

I don't think the relatives of the granny would share your view. The speed limit isn't to protect the driver, it is to protect everyone else.

 

[tris-]

the point i was trying to make was - its not the speed limits fault that you drive too fast. its set at 30mph for a reason and if you decide to drive over that its your own fault. people should take responsibilty for them selves and not blame stuff on everything else. like people complain because they get a speeding ticket, its their own fault for speeding, isnt it? and people who get parking tickets, well dont park on a double yellow line and you wont get one.

 

[Garaen]

What I don't understand is the way you can fail your test time and time again and still be given a license if by some fluke you finally pass. There should be a limit to how many times you can take the test and then enforce a waiting period before it can be attempted again

I'm not sure about the U.K, but in Germany they do. You get 3 chances. Every time you fail you have to wait a period of 2 weeks and have a couple of lessons (Theory or Practical) After the 3 chances are up you need to wait 3 months before you can take your test again.

 

[JBP|]

the whole point of the driving tests (practical and theory) are to prove that you have the ability and know how to control a potential killing machine.

you dont actually learn how to drive your car on the roads competently until after you have passed your test.


as for lowering the speed limits you joking right?
its just as dangerous driving at 40mph as it is at 60 or 70mph

(infact the car doing 40 when in reality it should be doing 70 is the probable cause of the acciden in the first place)

and as for pedestrians im sorry but when i was a kid they got darth vader to slip into some green tights and make some adverts on safe road crossing.

these days it seems easier to tell the driver to slow down,slap a few concrete blocks in the middle of the road and let the pedestrians jump out at you from all angles.

 

[mank!]

I'm just going to open myself upto a whole world of abuse by saying I passed my practical test yesterday first time.

Coincidentally I failed the hazard perception of my theory test twice and passed on the third time. The introduction video was different each time and it made the exercise incredibly confusing.

Yeah. I'm a bad driver or something.