I just tried a sample theory test and answered 38 out of 50 questions correctly - or 76 per cent. The pass mark is actually 86 per cent, so if I were taking it again I'd need to do some serious swotting. But I suppose for a first try, having never done a theory test before, that's not too embarrassing.
Some of the questions seem to have little to do with driving ability though. Like "How can you avoid wasting fuel?" or "How can you stop your car radio being stolen?" or "Where should you not park?" But you still have to know the answers.
You also have to be familiar with the Highway Code, which runs to 162 pages. I know it's been updated numerous times, to cover things like giving way to pedestrians and allowing for cyclists, so there'd be more swotting required.
As for the practical side, my ability to drive a car might not be what it used to be. I passed my driving test first time but no doubt my standards have slipped a bit since then. There must be a natural tendency to become a bit careless over the years and not drive quite as safely. Dodging traffic lights, speeding, driving too close to another vehicle, risky overtaking. I have to say I'm guilty of all those. So whether I could still satisfy a driving examiner is debatable.
Still, as yet I've never had a serious accident, so I must be doing something right.
PS: I've just discovered there are two parts to the theory test - multiple choice and hazard perception. If you fail one part that's a total fail and you have retake the whole theory test.
It sounds like your system is suffering from creeping bureaucratic overkill. Nobody can remember 162 pages of rules. It's a pervasive disease of bureaucratic systems -- more and more rules are steadily added, and there's a valid justification for each individual rule, but all together they add up to something too byzantine to be workable.
ReplyDeleteWasting fuel is a value judgment (who's too say whether taking a longer route to avoid an area you don't like is "wasting" it or not?), and nothing to do with safety, unless they're afraid you're going to run out of gas on a busy road.
Do people in the UK actually steal car radios? I can't picture how that would even work.
Infidel: As you say, more and more rules and how many of them make any real difference to driving ability or pedestrian safety?
DeleteWe had a car radio stolen many years ago, but that was when they were easily removable, which they aren't any more.
The theory test sounds rather stupid. I am hyper aware of how many distracted drivers there are on the road. Like 50% are looking at their phones. That should be the focus.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Drivers looking at their phones are a menace. I'm surprised there aren't a lot more accidents.
DeleteTake it from me, Nick, the English are terrible drivers.
ReplyDeleteLooking at your misdemeanours (last paragraph) I' m surprised. I had you down as a careful and considerate driver. Obviously, we all speed (well, I do - on motorways) but risky overtaking (what - on the inside?) is a definite no no. Even worse - and it is the one thing on the road that riles me more than any other when people tail you, ie are far too close to you. You see, Nick, that is where learning the "theory" comes in. One of the things we were taught in the motherland (for those who had slept through their physics lessons) how long it takes to BREAK at what speed. Cue rear-end collision. Enter domino effect. A friend of mine taught me a useful if questionable way of getting those arseholes off my back. It's risky in itself but not as much as sniffing my bumper.
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Ursula: I'm not especially careful or considerate, just enough to avoid accidents. I suppose risky overtaking only means leaving the bare minimum of open road to overtake in. Obviously I shorten or increase the distance from the car in front according to what speed we're going. And yes, tailgaters are very annoying. They drive Jenny apoplectic!
Delete64 years of driving here and I don't want to jinx myself. I had to have a medical when turning 80 to renew. But not test. Yet. Drivers out here are atrocious for a supposedly kind and caring province they take all their aggression out on roads and parking lots. I have to tell people when they come here to beware of reversing, etc. as nobody yields. Not matter what the circumstances. When I yield, I get an astonished face but no thanks. I've had better experiences on the 32 lane highways of Toronto.
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www: I don't even need a medical to renew my licence, I only have to declare that I'm medically fit to drive! I think there are a bunch of motorists in every country who are aggressive and impatient. I just keep my distance from them.
DeleteHere in Minnesota the theory test is on a computer; when you get 72% right the computer shuts down no matter how many questions are left nor how many you got wrong--72% is the passing grade and that's that. That means people are learning to skip ones they aren't sure of. Is that a good thing?
ReplyDeleteAt age 76 I only have to pass an eye test and I wear my glasses while doing that so no big deal. I'm due for that next summer and I will do it then even though I no longer drive because I like to have the possibility available in case of emergency.
Linda
Linda: If you can skip questions you're not sure of, that seems like a bit of a fiddle to me! I don't even have to take an eye test, but us over-seventies have to renew our licence every 3 years and not every 10 years.
DeleteI'm 80, and to the best of my knowledge I need only pass an eye test to renew my license. As I must do so in March of next year, I hope nothing new is sprung on me.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: I hope so too!
Deleteanonymous Fly...I have never driven, having bad eyesight, not to speak of the reaction time of a sloth, but as a passenger endured the dreadful driving habits of the French after which Costa Rican drivers are almost angels. When Leo was still driving he had to change his British licence for a Costa Rican one, so went for the medical, following one of the gentlemen who advertise on the main roads, who led him to a doctor.On the wall behind the doctor was an enormous blown up certificate of his qualifications from the University of Costa Rica.
ReplyDelete'Can you read that?' Two lines sufficed and he was sent on his way with a medical pass note.
Things are a lot tighter these days....
Fly: As I said above, when I renew my licence I only have to declare that I'm medically fit to drive. Nobody ever checks up, nobody has to examine me. Wide open to false declarations.
DeleteYes, Nick, but when you make "false declarations" you also open yourself wide for damages. If your optician/ophthalmologist advises you (and makes written note of) not to drive but you do anyway - be it on your head. Insurances won't pay should damage/carnage on the road occur. Plus, and more importantly, does anyone want to endanger OTHERS by recklessly getting behind the wheel against all advice?
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Ursula: You seem to be suggesting that I make false declarations myself, but I assure you I don't, I'm genuinely fit to drive. I agree totally that drivers who're unfit to drive but hide the fact are thoroughly irresponsible.
DeleteMary says "Some of those questions are crazy. What to they have to do with driving safely?"
ReplyDeleteMary: Exactly. But you still have to know the correct answers!
DeleteQuite glad I took my driving test years ago!
ReplyDeleteJenny: Me too. Today's driving test seems to be quite an obstacle course.
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