08-02-2015, 10:59 PM
(08-02-2015, 10:22 PM)Niall Wrote: You're missing the point Tom. Yes there is a huge diversity of people on the roads but there is a minimum standard to the skill of these people. If theres not, they should have that skill improved or the privilege of driving removed. Simple. You're basically saying you feel unsafe doing basic tasks like turning on/off lights or looking at your dash. Now, you're fortunate enough (depending on how you look at it i suppose) to have a car that does some of these things automatically but what happens if you crash your car and have a basic hire car for a few weeks without these things? Then you're outside your comfort zone and therefore dangerous to other road users, therefore below the minimum training level.
And i'm not just aiming this at you. Unfortunately, there are lots of people on the roads these days like this, some not as bad and some much worse and this is why the standard of driving in this country is getting progressively worse. People just dont know how to drive anymore!
You're taking it out of proportion/perspective I think. I have owned and do own a car with next to no driver aids...it does take away some concentration to operate certain controls, whether that's eyes off the road or hands off the wheel, I don't know how you can deny that? I'm not saying I couldn't drive without them there, obviously I can and do, but if there's a safer option available, why would you actively avoid that? Really annoys me when people do things like removing ABS, yeah 9 times out of 10 maybe they don't lock up on a wet corner coming across a hazard...but personally I'd like to have that safety net, for everyone else as much as myself, for the 10th time when you're not at full concentration for whatever reason, and I guarantee no-one is at full concentration/ability for 100% of the time. You also don't know how you'll react in a crisis situation until you're in one.
How do you plan to implement this removing licences due to lack of skill? It amazes me how some of my Nans friends drive to hers, theres one old lady in particular, she cant walk more than a few steps, can barely see, can barely hear....yet she's still allowed to drive her 1 tonne killing machine (albeit at 15mph everywhere with lots of clutch slip and just 'parking' where she likes) in a public area and past the village school every day... Now compared to that I'm a long way off lol. Not only that, but you've got terminally ill people still driving...my Grandad died walking through the front door...after a 20 minute drive from the supermarket!! About a month ago another of my Nans friends was in a car crash...her husband was driving and died at the wheel! Its all very well talking about basic skill, but anything can happen to anyone at any time to cause accidents. The licence really only proves you're at a basic level for one day. This is what I mean by diversity, if you remove every possible hazard from the road, there would be no-one left.