Motoring Discussion > L drivers expected to use their brains ! Miscellaneous
Thread Author: R.P. Replies: 17
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 14:11 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - R.P.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1283667/New-driving-test-ask-learners-memorise-route-10-minute-trip-instruction-examiner.html


Don't know whether it's true or not but certainly if it was it could lead to hours of fun !
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 15:17 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Old Navy
>> Don't know whether it's true or not but certainly if it was it could lead
>> to hours of fun !
>>
And lots of retests. Some drivers seem to think that thought is optional when driving.
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 16:01 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - FotheringtonTomas
A glance at that shows it to be, IMO, a bad thing. The reason given - "To mimic being lost" - is invalid. Someone who's lost is not trying to follow a route - they're trying to get "anywhere else" so that they're no longer lost.
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 16:29 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Mapmaker
Quite ridiculous.

Some people cannot tell their left from their right. To be told to take the first left, and second right and third left and first right they could end up anywhere.
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 16:39 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Armel Coussine
I disagree absolutely with the last two posts.

A major cause of random holdups and near-misses in big towns is the skittish, headless-chicken behaviour of drivers who have missed their turn or who are lost. Drivers barely out of nappies are regularly seen trying to do u-turns in major arteries without even waiting for gaps in the traffic.

A rational approach to being lost or misrouted is therefore extremely important. Drivers should be taught to stay out of the damn way and not cause crashes or holdups.

The mantra should be: When in doubt, take next sensible turning, left for preference, and if necessary stop in a suitable place to consult map'.

The test should also include motorways, with particular emphasis on joining and leaving them in a seamless manner.

OH yes: if the test car is fitted with a satnav, it must be turned off for the test. Looking at a satnav screen on the move should be an automatic fail.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Thu 3 Jun 10 at 16:41
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 16:37 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - teabelly
I'd fail if I had to remember specific instructions like a particular route. If on the other hand the route was more general eg head to certain town via certain road then it makes more sense. Also if you know the area then you may pick a different route. Would you suddenly fail if you took a short cut to somewhere?

It is also unrealistic as world + dog has satnav!

Would also be interesting to see if accident and near miss rates increase on driving tests when they implement this....
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 17:59 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Robin O'Reliant
As I understand it the examiner will ask the candidate to follow the road to such and such a location, using road signs and markings to guide them. I think the Mail has got it wrong on having to remember a set of instructions on which turnings to take.

Good idea in my opinion, it tests someones ability to read directions while still observing the other safety requirements.
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 18:07 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - teabelly
>> As I understand it the examiner will ask the candidate to follow the road to
>> such and such a location, using road signs and markings to guide them. I think
>> the Mail has got it wrong on having to remember a set of instructions on
>> which turnings to take.
>>
>> Good idea in my opinion, it tests someones ability to read directions while still observing
>> the other safety requirements.
>>

If it is that kind of thing then it is a sensible idea. Memorising a route under stressful conditions would be asking for trouble!
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 22:22 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - The Nut
I like the idea of the test being "drive to this location", as long as I could look at a map or knew the area, because if I had to remember "first left, straight on at the lights, third exit at the roundabout....." I would probably end up in the next town, safe but in the wrong place.

It is a good idea because as AC said above, inexperienced lost drivers are a menace. They should teach learners that it's not getting lost, it's called taking the scenic route, much less stressful than being lost.
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New Thu 3 Jun 10 23:35 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Robin O'Reliant
What the DSA are proposing, if my interpretation is correct, is the same as has been used on the ADI's driving test for decades with regard to following road signs. The experimental tests carried out by examiners which saw a dramatic drop in the pass rate was probably done on candidates who had not been prepared for such a system. Were learner drivers taught that way from the off it would have much less of an effect on the pass rate and be far more realistic than the present "take the next road on the left" etc.

Last edited by: Robin Regal on Thu 3 Jun 10 at 23:36
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 08:07 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Cliff Pope
It sounds a good idea if it really is "follow the road signs to X".

I hate following directions like "2nd right, 3rd left, 1st left" because of the ambiguity over what counts as a turning. Does a little tucked away cul de sac count? What about a large entrance that looks like a road but may possibly only be a private drive?
What about a junction with multiple branches, 2 left turns siamesed together? etc.

What seems obvious to the director may be far from obvious to the driver unfamiliar with the route, busily counting exits with someone tailgating behind.

I wonder if the examiner will use the infamous words "You can't miss it" ?
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 08:35 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - R.P.
In 1981 I took my bike test before this modular CBT stuff - I arrived at the test centre and was briefed about the route I was to follow (smallish market town, not that well known to me) - getting the route was critical to the examiner (who was on foot) to be able to see me at various points - so nothing new then !

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New Fri 4 Jun 10 11:00 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Robin O'Reliant
>> >> I hate following directions like "2nd right, 3rd left, 1st left" because of the ambiguity
>> over what counts as a turning. Does a little tucked away cul de sac count?
>> What about a large entrance that looks like a road but may possibly only be
>> a private drive?
>>
Examiners are clear and unambiguos in their directions. They will direct a candidate to take the next road on the left, they never use the term "turning". So if someone turns into a driveway it is because they have mis-read the road markings. Should there, for example, be a no entry sign at a junction just before the road they want to take they will direct the candidate to take the next available road on the left.
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 11:28 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Bill Payer
They'd be better putting satnav in the car, setting the route, and then telling the driver to follow it. That's how pretty well all young people drive now in unfamiliar areas.
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 11:39 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Robin O'Reliant
>> They'd be better putting satnav in the car, setting the route, and then telling the
>> driver to follow it. That's how pretty well all young people drive now in unfamiliar
>> areas.
>>
I can see the headline now -

"L driver and examiner drowned off Southend Pier. Police suspect faulty satnav software".
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 13:09 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Cliff Pope
>> >>
>> >>
>> Examiners are clear and unambiguos in their directions.>>

Ah, then it won't be a practice for the real world of motoring then :)

Most people give appalling directions, with gross inaccuracies in distances, inability to count numbers of turnings, references to irrelevant landmarks, or to former buildings remembered but long-since removed.

A woman once gave me directions " at the end of the main street there is a signed turning to the beach on the right. Go on to the end, then turn left".

What she meant was go to the end of the main street and turn left. The reference to the beach was a red herring. She thought I would find the sign a useful landmark.
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New Fri 4 Jun 10 19:36 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Ian (Cape Town)
>>
>> It is also unrealistic as world + dog has satnav!
>>

satnav, as the stories continually point out, isn't a failsafe.

I have a calculator, but can still do arithmetic in my head.

I have satnav, but can still read a map, and can grasp the concept of NSEW from the position of landmarks and/or the sun.

Maybe in this modern world we rely to much on the modern aids, and not on common sense?

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New Fri 4 Jun 10 19:43 
 L drivers expected to use their brains ! - Old Navy
>> Maybe in this modern world we rely to much on the modern aids, and not
>> on common sense?
>>
>>
Worth remembering the Americans have the "off" switch.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 4 Jun 10 at 19:43
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