Drivers to resit driving test every 5 years... maybe

Not a bad idea overall but they will need to make the test relevent to real driving conditions.

As for the defencive driving course my kids will be doing one as soon as they get their P's licence ( both are on L's at the moment )

I know that doing one of these when I was on my car P's would have gone a long way to preventing me from having a crash that I should not have walked away from!!

I am planing on doing one for the bike soon as well. It is much better knowing what to do and how to do it before you need to use these skills.

 

Definetely think that there is a need for refresher/update courses for all motorists - regardless of how many wheels are on the vehicle of choice.  Rules, roads and traffic environments (introduction of tunnels, etc) change on a regular basis and not everyone (me included) is always aware of these new rules..  Could be a voluntary system where those of us who chose to do refresher or defensive driving courses on a regular basis (every 5 years or so) are entitled to some form of tangible and meaningful acknowledgement.  That could be a reduction in registration or insurance fees????  But would hate to see it used as an opportunity for charging excessive fees to do the courses/tests.
My two cents anyhoo, I'll step down off my soap box now.. :-X

 

Head checks when lane changing in a car should be part of the test.  I was very suprised that it is not according to a person I met the other day who had just done the test.  I got my car license in South Africa where it was a requirement.

Mirrors hardly see anything........

 

Myself, I support roadside summary executions for soccar mums driving toorak taxis (nearly got killed by them three times in 9 months of riding... Elsewise, I don't think re-testing is the soloution... the reality is people do good when they know they're being assessed, and do what they like on the road...

I hate to be the doomsayer, but stricter penalties for negligent driving, greater police prescence and powers in dealing with idiot drivers... Education, or re-education, will work to a point, however I've seen perfectly reasonable educated people walk out of the test and on the same day do stupid things or impationt things or downright dangerous things they JUST got perfect scores on.

There's something about the road that turns people into impationt, negligent, angry, unpleasent entities. No-one cares, no-one shares, and no-one gives way. Forgive me if I seem jaded here but I don't think re-testing will work. Everyone acts fine when the teacher is looking.

 

Yep, soccer mums in pseudo 4WD vehicles. The most dangerous situations I've encountered have been with this very species - the more expensive the 4WD the more ridiculous the circumstances. In fact, a work colleague was hit by one of these very same animals on his postie bike this week. A soccer mum was doing a U-turn without checking for oncoming traffic and hit the guy. Eight broken ribs and a shattered shoulder he sustained.

Jeez - it's not as if posties aren't visible, they're wearing more hi-viz clothing than you can poke a stick at. Four wheel drive idiots simply don't look outside their air-conditioned bubble...

 

I love the hi-vis flags they have... no idea how well they work if people never look, but myself, I love to see one of those flags zipping around traffic

 

I believe the flags do work - I notice the difference when I get back on my own bike - people do see the flags, especially at roundabouts.