The problem is there are just too many laws governing what we can & can't do
people aren't stupid, just poorly trained.
Driving lessons should include speeding whilst on the phone & smoking with a can of Tennants Super between your legs. If they are a recreational drug user they should also be on their drug of choice.
Once they can do this with no problems they pass their test & we can get rid of all these silly laws.
( broadsword, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:19, archived)

You forgot the other trick
Driving with your bare feet while changing a shirt after a four-hour drive from Cardiff.
(theneet began to cut her hair and long for balls, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:20, archived)

I reckon you should have to do more advanced stuff,
like how to control a skid. What you learn in driving lessons as they are is all well and good as long as nothing goes wrong.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:21, archived)

Yup, can't argue with that

( broadsword, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:25, archived)

yeah
but if anything useful about car control was actually taught, then loads of mouth-breathers would never pass their tests. And then oh fucking christ, what would we do, all people have the RIGHT to drive their fat arses everywhere and screw the safety of the rest of the population.

I know people who struggle to tie their shoelaces but have driving licences. Terrifying.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:27, archived)

I disagree on the "stupid" thing.
if you need to be trained to drive properly, you aren't cut out to drive. It should be second nature. You should be able to have a million distractions going on and still notice the bike coming down the inside out of the corner of your eye, but it should be subconscious, not learned. Bar the actual "how to operate a motor vehicle" part of driving lessons, anyone that needs training should simply be banned from driving. Cuts accidents and congestion at a stroke.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:23, archived)

Age old debate here...
But what's the age at which you have to re-take a driving test? Is it over 75?
(theneet began to cut her hair and long for balls, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:25, archived)

It should be 30.
seeing how anyone over that age is old.

Although, in all seriousness, I think that people who took their tests a significant time ago (ie when roads were less crowded and cars were less technologically advanced) should have to take a stripped down test.
( Master Of Turnips. Only gays and morons believe in ghosts., Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:27, archived)

Agreed
I was about to say something along those lines; not because older people are incapable drivers or anything, but because factors change such as car prowess and brake reaction distance as one ages.

My grandad's 73 and hasn't had a re-test yet, he's in the pinnacle of health but his driving definitely isn't what it used to be.
(theneet began to cut her hair and long for balls, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:29, archived)

that's nonsense,
nobody ever gets really good at anything without training and a lot of practice.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:25, archived)

You might have noticed I'm not being entirely serious here.
but, for the purposes of following through with it

training and practice for car control, yes, I agree. If you need training and practice to spot other road users, or rapidly process the number of possible scenarios involving these other users, and take appropriate action, then driving isn't something you should be doing. i.e., if you need to consciously think at all, even for a millisecond, to be able to drive safely, then you shouldn't be doing it. It doesn't need to be taught.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:31, archived)

I don't know how you do teach that sort of thing, to be honest,
but it's like a sort of habitual thought. Practice can get you into the habit, and then it becomes second nature.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:33, archived)

It's what the hazard perception test is supposed to be there for.

( Master Of Turnips. Only gays and morons believe in ghosts., Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:33, archived)

I saw a bad accident yesterday involving 3 cars* and a tractor
How anyone can not see a tractor is beyond me.

*It might have just been 2 cars and the third was there to help before the police came.
( Pickle Fairy is clumsily dancing away this fear, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:26, archived)

What had happened
Had both cars hit the tractor, or had one car hit the tractor then the other car gone into the back of the first?
(theneet began to cut her hair and long for balls, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:35, archived)

YEAH
Stop training atheletes because their athletisism is second nature. Musicians should never study as it is second nature.
( broadsword, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:29, archived)

ician lim
( Master Of Turnips. Only gays and morons believe in ghosts., Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:30, archived)

for the purposes of argument
apart from the fact than I'm not arguing this seriously, separate driving into two parts: Car control, which of course you must learn and practice, and inate common sense, which if you have to practice or train then you shouldn't drive.

Does that make more sense? In the same way that you train as a musician in order to "control" the instrument, but you can't train your natural ability to know what sounds good and what doesn't.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 16 Jun 2009, 13:35, archived)