For what it's worth, I've always thought it would be a good idea to require a refresher course periodically, perhaps each time our license was up for renewal. I know that senior driver courses are widely available, and if attended, there's supposed to be a discount of some sort on car insurance (I think, not positive about that
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Used to be advanced driver courses meant lower premiums here, but apparently not so much anymore.
The faster country roads around here, you've got a closing speed way over 100mph with oncoming traffic a few feet the right-hand side, complete strangers at the wheel, which has got to mean plenty of cowboys, idiots and cardiac patients. What can do but applaud the power of social conditioning if it means we all find that acceptable, day after day after day?
Mind you, I put the way we engineer/manage road traffic and motor cars in general into the category of problems that make you ask how come we can put a man on the moon so many decades ago and still not find a better way doing things?
Driving at 30 mph over the speed limit, 100 mph on motorway, you will be disqualified from driving for at least 12 months depending on your past history.
Causing death or serious injury by dangerous driving, for which you can go to prison for 14 years. Dangerous driving without death or injury still could carry 5 years prison sentence. Speeding, no matter how marginal, is a criminal offence. eek!
I think part of the problem is that instead of designing towns and cities to cater to humans, we chose to design around cars. I read somewhere that the ideal urban area could be walked from one end to the other and back again within a few hours. That size would allow for enough density to make a place interesting and vital, and yet not overwhelming.
Oh my...had no idea that in the U.K., there's no renewal requirement. Here in the USA, the requirements may vary slightly from state to state, but regardless of where one lives, we still have to have our vision tested. Some states require seniors to be retested as a matter of course. If one is under 18, there are limits on what time of day you can drive and how many passengers (and their ages) are allowed and whether or not an adult must be in the car. Here in Florida, your driving record affects the frequency of renewal.
When I got my license at 18 (I'm now almost 60) I had to take a written exam as well as an actual driving test, plus get my eyes tested.
I'm also surprised that a car license is the only form of photo id available. I could be wrong, but I think that a non-driver can get a photo id here too. I'm sure you're absolutely correct about what others are forced to do.
Up at the hall, there are volunteers and visitors well into their 80's who still drive themselves in. We see a lot of them because we're one of the handful of routes they have memorised well enough that it doesn't matter they can't read the roadsigns anymore. I know a guy who used to be a motorway cop, he says those old folks usually end up having their licences taken away after a small shunt. All he would have to do is ask them to read a licence plate a few yards away, and he'd immediately write them up, and that was that.
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The faster country roads around here, you've got a closing speed way over 100mph with oncoming traffic a few feet the right-hand side, complete strangers at the wheel, which has got to mean plenty of cowboys, idiots and cardiac patients. What can do but applaud the power of social conditioning if it means we all find that acceptable, day after day after day?
Mind you, I put the way we engineer/manage road traffic and motor cars in general into the category of problems that make you ask how come we can put a man on the moon so many decades ago and still not find a better way doing things?
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Causing death or serious injury by dangerous driving, for which you can go to prison for 14 years.
Dangerous driving without death or injury still could carry 5 years prison sentence.
Speeding, no matter how marginal, is a criminal offence. eek!
http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/penalties
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When I got my license at 18 (I'm now almost 60) I had to take a written exam as well as an actual driving test, plus get my eyes tested.
I'm also surprised that a car license is the only form of photo id available. I could be wrong, but I think that a non-driver can get a photo id here too. I'm sure you're absolutely correct about what others are forced to do.
Reply
I know a guy who used to be a motorway cop, he says those old folks usually end up having their licences taken away after a small shunt. All he would have to do is ask them to read a licence plate a few yards away, and he'd immediately write them up, and that was that.
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