The Decline Of Civilisation

[Serial_Apologist]

The worst of it is that cyclists do not have to have insurance (though some do have it) and they're not required to hold a valid full drivers' licence, which some do but which they all should - furthermore, even those cyclists who do hold valid full drivers' licences can neither lose them nor acquire penalty points on them, however serious the driving offence when using their cycles might be.

How old does one have to be to hold a driving license in the UK? 18? This would rule out younger children cycling the public highway - potentially a very useful means to inculcating road sense and discipline prior to driving.

[MrGongGong]

How old does one have to be to hold a driving license in the UK? 18? .

It should be 25
that would ease congestion and cut accidents massively

grump grump grump

and another thing ..............
I thought it was a licence NOT a license ?

[teamsaint]

How old does one have to be to hold a driving license in the UK? 18? This would rule out younger children cycling the public highway - potentially a very useful means to inculcating road sense and discipline prior to driving.

its 17. God knows why.

Young drivers are insanely dangerous.
I think i remember seeing recently that 20 % of male drivers have a serious accident in their first year after passing the test. Its 10% for girls.

If it was anything other than the oil burning industry, the age would indeed be 25 or older.

[amateur51]

PS
I think 99% of all other drivers should have their proficiency re-tested.

Yup - all drivers re-tested every five years to ensure that they've kept up-to-date with new traffic layouts, new traffic signs, etc.

And ALL purchasers of 4x4s to be tested before they can drive them away re parking, manoeuvering in confined spaces, etc.

A job creation scheme that reduces road traffic and road accidents - marvy!

No I don't drive, just take my life in my hands crossing the road

[teamsaint]

there should also be an allowance for sales reps to have a couple of free speeding infringements each year......after all accumulating points is easy to do on 40k miles a year !!

[MrGongGong]

there should also be an allowance for sales reps to have a couple of free speeding infringements each year......after all accumulating points is easy to do on 40k miles a year !!

and maybe (ref: a previous thread !) a total exemption for those in shiny BMW's

[teamsaint]

and maybe (ref: a previous thread !) a total exemption for those in shiny BMW's

i think you might have been referring to to the much vaunted "Audi A3 amnesty" !!
Now THAT would be a great idea !!

[Nick Armstrong]

i think you might have been referring to to the much vaunted "Audi A3 amnesty" !!
Now THAT would be a great idea !!

Yes! An amnesty for slightly un-shiny Audis! Second the motion! (Not that I need an amnesty of course! )

[MrGongGong]

i think you might have been referring to to the much vaunted "Audi A3 amnesty" !!
Now THAT would be a great idea !!

Also known as the inverse hedgehog effect ?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It should be 25
that would ease congestion and cut accidents massively

grump grump grump

and another thing ..............
I thought it was a licence NOT a license ?

Quite right, Mr GG, but I can see 8 errors (lack of punctuation and capital letters) in your quotation above.

[Don Petter]

My statement was not intended to be taken entirely seriously, just as your response to it presumably isn't; the real irritation perhaps rather more often occurs when that one word from the waiter is just a small part of a routine that begins along the lines of "my name is Delbert and I'm your waiter for the evening".

In America we had a waiter who, during one of these introductions, grabbed a large coloured children's crayon from the pot on the table (it was that sort of place) and rapidly wrote 'DELBERT' on the paper tablecloth, backwards and upside down, so that we could read it. I was so impressed I almost 'had a nice day' ahead of schedule.

[MrGongGong]

Quite right, Mr GG, but I can see 8 errors (lack of punctuation and capital letters) in your quotation above.

you might think that an internet messageboard is an essay, letter etc
but I don't ....... so

and how

do

YOU


kNow

that..................................it's

not

P.....................oetry



(as i need it !)



?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

you might think that an internet messageboard is an essay, letter etc
but I don't ....... so

But you did pull someone else up for a typo (or an Americanism).
So I think that makes you fair game.

Anyway, this is a bit like letter writing...

[ahinton]

How old does one have to be to hold a driving license in the UK? 18? This would rule out younger children cycling the public highway - potentially a very useful means to inculcating road sense and discipline prior to driving.

17, as far as I'm aware. There might need to be a further reduction in the age at which a full drivers' licence can be held if they became compulsory for cyclists, but a better solution would probably be to issue licences that entitle holders to drive non-motorised bicycles only, for all that this would involve quite a substantial increase in DVLA's administrative burden which would put up the costs.

[ahinton]

Yup - all drivers re-tested every five years to ensure that they've kept up-to-date with new traffic layouts, new traffic signs, etc.

And ALL purchasers of 4x4s to be tested before they can drive them away re parking, manoeuvering in confined spaces, etc.

A job creation scheme that reduces road traffic and road accidents - marvy!

No I don't drive, just take my life in my hands crossing the road

That's all very well, but just think of the additional costs involved! Mightn't it be better to make the standard driving test at least as challenging as the IAM test? - or even a scaled-down version of the police class 1 test? - again, up would certainly go the costs involved, but not by anything like what you propose here!