Just interested in what people think on this one and should we be re-tested every few years?
Does anybody know which country has the hardest test to pass?

yes

maybe

finland

Yes. They have a duty to prove that they can drive to the same low standards that we do.

yes, yes, no idea.

Also, much more frequent eye testing – something like third of people at the recent motor show failed the reading a reg at x metres test.

YES

I actually think that ALL drivers should be re-examined every 5 years in an attempt to maintain standards.

Yes but you’ve put permanent; what if they only have temporary leave? Do you ban them completely from driving? What if they wanted to hire a car like many do on holiday? Problem is when the detail is considered its start to get a lot more complicated and therefore seemingly sensible ideas get scrapped

You assume the driving test is the best standard it can be. Generally experienced drivers are considered better than new ones, with experience comes adaptation of techniques – maybe if they fed-back the info from experienced drivers and advanced (police?) drivers into the learning process it might be workable. No-one shuffles after their 2nd day, its slow and dangerous in many situations, many of the things taught in driving lessons become redundant as they were/are a way of getting the person to understand how things work etc.

Anyone entering the country should have to take a test, I know many Chinese students coming in and using their 1 “free” year – they’re lethal.

Yes
No
Dunno, somewhere nordic or germanic i’d guess.

Why should they? I didn’t have to retest here in Spain…

whilst i can’t drive. should they heck this countries got enough taxes and shite like eighty quid passports, oh and these chinese students pay enough in uni/college fees, add to that my local polish bus drivers are better and politer than many a british driver.

A more workable solution would be to create a list of countries whose test is up to standard and allow those free reign. Anyone else should be required to take a short test before being allowed to drive.

A friend of a friend bought a Phillipines driving licence for a fiver while on a gap year over there. I hope they’re not valid over here!

Why should they? I didn’t have to retest here in Spain…

That’s irrelevant. What they choose to do is no bearing on us.

And as for the cost issue…

I dont really care how much they pay in uni fees, that has nothing to do with the fact that they’re a damn sight more likely to kill you when your’re cycling or driving to work. You want that for the sake of charging them for a basic UK test? Get real.

As said, if their test is of a similar standard – sure, let them, if not – I’m not sorry and I dont want them on the road thanks.

And yes, a bought £5 phillipines license is valid for 12 months here.

Why should they? I didn’t have to retest here in Spain…

I took it as read we’d being excluding other EEA nationals as there is no way Europe would let us retest them if they could show they had a valid driving licence from their EEA country.

The fact is many of these foreign drivers are more than good enough and drive in more challenging conditions than the uk, but of course no one and i mean no one is better than the STW drivers. I don’t wanna price foreign people out of visiting or residing in this country, in fact i quite like them coming here.

Yes, and incomers from many countries are required to do this already.

Yes, and it is on its way. It’l be in within the next 10 years.

Finland.

Coffeeking

The driving test is a very low level of test. There are many many levels of test above it.

I consider experienced drivers to be more of a liability than new drivers. The idea that you can pass a test at 17 and then go on and have a life time of incident free motoring is frankly ludicrous.

There is constant feedback from the advanced driving community into the learning and testing process.

Pullpush method of steering is by far the safest. What happens if you go round a bend all crossed up and you suddenly need to change direction?

None of the things you learn in driving lessons become redundant – that attitude is why incident rates are so **** high. People are so used to driving shit, that shit driving have became accepted by many to be the best way of doing things….

Yes.
Maybe….
Poland (some 80% of examiners in major towns have been jailed for bribery).

coffeeking – Member

Why should they? I didn’t have to retest here in Spain…

That’s irrelevant. What they choose to do is no bearing on us.

OK, so if that’s irrelevant then the OP’s question is irrelevant.

nukeproof – Member

Why should they? I didn’t have to retest here in Spain…

I took it as read we’d being excluding other EEA nationals as there is no way Europe would let us retest them if they could show they had a valid driving licence from their EEA country.

I don’t understand 😯

Yes. Freak me out once my Polish colleague told me she knew how to drive but found out later … Jesusss! I nearly shite myself.

No.

Afghanistan … because you need to drive well or the Taliban gets you.

😆

Got my regular driving license in Denmark and my MC license in the UK and my perception is that Denmark is a lot stricter. But then again I was only 18 when I took it in Denmark and 24 in the UK.

I think it might be a good idea to take a test as you go to the UK solely because most of europe drive in the other side. Has made me confused once or twice….

I say yes, for countries that have not been assessed to have an acceptable standard.

What I say no to is the fact that many people are allowed to drive for a year before they have to pass a test, on the basis of them just having a licence. One of my colleagues from India did that – drove in the UK for a year (and was **** awful at it!), and then proceeded to fail his test 7 times.

Re testing is coming. I discovered today that you have to have your photo updated every 10 years! At only £17.50

you’d better start putting aside 14p a month to save up for your next one then 🙂

Where retests would get interesting is that most people driving today took a much less involving test in order to be licensed to drive a much wider range of vehicles than anyone who took their test in the last ten years or so

By the same measure do you apply the same standards to incoming residents as for new UK drivers? In that case they’d be taking a more stringent test than the majority of UK drivers have taken themselves.

So what standards do you retest to and what entitlements do you retain? Do we all loose entitlement to tow trailer and drive 7.5tonners until we take a specific test to earn that right back? There may well still be motorists on the road who have a license but never took a test as they used to be issued to army personnel back in the day.

when our test is something more than box ticking maybe

IIRC the Canadians test you if you are on a working visa after a few months

if you fail you are off the road for a couple of months before you are allowed to retake the test

If you come from most countries to the UK your licence is only valid for a limited time. I had to re-sit the exam to convert my US licence to a UK one (failed first time :-). But you can swap one EU licence for another without testing – except in Holland. In Holland they had to be taken to court to force them to allow you to swap, and even now you can’t swap on a “like for like” basis.