Fred66
Well-Known Member
I think a middle way would have been best option, so once you held a full licence for 5 years and had a clean licence then you could apply to upgrade to a B&E otherwise you have to pass a test to upgrade.
Government considering doing away with trailer test
- Thread starter southerncomfort
- Start date
ROG
Well-Known Member
Too many bad drivers with clean licences for that to be viable
Towing instructor sign off would be a better solution
Fred66
Well-Known Member
???
The new situation is no one sits a test so how is that any better?
ROG
Well-Known Member
They already do that for motorcycle CBT
The instructor does the basic training and then if they deem the trainee safe and competent they get officially signed off
Gallop_Away
Well-Known Member
Not read the replies but I for one am over the bloody moon!! Very annoying that I've sold my 4x4 and now have a audi hatchback but hubby needs to upgrade his jeep soon anyway.
Fred66
Well-Known Member
I’m not saying your suggestion doesn’t have merit just that the proposal is do away with tests and just drive.
So surely at least insisting new drivers aren’t able to do this is better than a free for all ?
TPO
🤠🏴
Daft question alert
If you passed your driving test on Monday morning could you tow Monday afternoon?
I know that scenario is unlikely but is it possible?
If you passed your driving test on Monday morning could you tow Monday afternoon?
I know that scenario is unlikely but is it possible?
ROG
Well-Known Member
YES you will have the pass certificate
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
You can also go onto the motorway, unsupervised, for the first time on Monday afternoon... if you really wanted to. I imagine most people take an experienced driver in the passenger seat their first time though.
duckling
Well-Known Member
I feel like this would be a much more sensible idea.
I did wonder, do you think it will impact insurance at all? So if you prove that you already had passed the test before it was scrapped your insurance would be lower? Or even for those who now go and get towing lessons, kind of like the pass plus works for new drivers. (I’m probably clutching at straws here to make myself feel better at throwing £475 to pass a test that I now don’t need to have ?)
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
My driving instructor strongly suggested we went back for a motorway lesson after passing the test. I did just that.
holeymoley
Well-Known Member
Yes I agree with having so many driving years/months etc experience first before being allowed to tow. But then the problem is as usual- who polices it!
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
Yes. I imagine most sensible people either have a lesson with an instructor or with an experienced driver. That is the wisest choice. I will be applying the same principle to towing. As will, I imagine many people.
Or equally people can drive away from the test centre and head for the M1 all alone if they like.
Or hitch up and set off with their trailer all alone.
Neither would be wise. But now both are legal, whereas before only one was.
ecb89
Well-Known Member
I never saw the big deal with motorway driving but then I live in a county with several very busy A roads which have 3 lanes. I guess if you live someone with relatively quiet roads then having to go on a motorway can seem quite daunting.
conniegirl
Well-Known Member
My first experience of driving on a motorway was getting lost and ending up on the m6 near manchester at rush hour. It terrified me.
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
I learned to drive in Sheffield, dual carriageways abound, but I still took my dad with me for my first motorway trip. Not because it is a "big deal" but because it is the sensible thing to do to have experienced support the first time you try it. It is a specific set of skills. I went on the parkway dual carriageway on my first solo drive after passing my test so I wasn't "daunted" by the motorway. Just aware of and respectful of my own inexperience.
PapaverFollis
Well-Known Member
Not all that long after I passed my test I drove from Sheffield to Portsmouth on my own. ? My mum nearly died when I told her my plan.
ROG
Well-Known Member
The motorway thing is silly which is why learners are now allowed to do it with a qualified ADI during pre test training
Most dual carriageways are a lot more dangerous than motorways
You tend not to get tractors, bicycles, pedestrians and ..... horses .... on motorways
Most dual carriageways are a lot more dangerous than motorways
You tend not to get tractors, bicycles, pedestrians and ..... horses .... on motorways
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
Good plan.
Both the lads did the Pass Plus course after passing their driving tests. It was taken by and assessed by their regular driving instructor. There is usually an insurance discount after getting Pass Plus.
https://www.gov.uk/pass-plus/how-pass-plus-training-works
Pass Plus training takes at least 6 hours. It has 6 modules, covering driving:
- in town
- in all weathers
- on rural roads
- at night
- on dual carriageways
- on motorways
ecb89
Well-Known Member
In Essex the a12 is worse than the m25
ROG
Well-Known Member
When I was an active senior observer with the IAM I had two 17 year old lads who did the pass plus and the advanced - both stated that the PP was almost a waste of time but the advanced taught them much much more
Kat
Well-Known Member
Similar for me, I had agreed with my parents that I would do a motorway driving lesson or two before driving on the motorway.
Then I was out with my Mum and we got a bit lost and ended up on the M6.
She's a calm passenger and a cautious driver. I already had experience of driving on several national speed limit 2 or 3 lane A roads. So it was fine and I never bothered with the lessons.
conniegirl
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately i was with my little sister!
Kat
Well-Known Member
Not so good!
teddypops
Well-Known Member
There are no motorways where I come from and I passed my test in a small village with no roundabout or even any traffic lights and very little traffic. It was not really a problem to drive somewhere busy and on motorways for me luckily but I had a friend who avoided roundabouts for years!
PSD
Well-Known Member
that would terrify me now and I’ve been driving nearly 6 years!
my first motorway experience was nice. Friend was moving my pony so I followed her up the motorway on a quiet Sunday morning. I was alone which I liked, I didn’t have to worry about what lane I needed etc as I followed her and I didn’t have any distractions.
I hate driving on the motorway simply because of how boring it is, in fact I dislike driving in general. I won’t be towing though, I’ll stick to 3.5 tonnes. Feel much safer!
DabDab
Ah mud, splendid
I didn't have anyone with me the first time I went on a motorway....because I was a knobhead 17yo.
I very much doubt that I am in the minority.
I very much doubt that I am in the minority.
Tiddlypom
Carries on creakily
The lads found the Pass Plus to be very useful. It helped that it was with their regular instructor who pushed them that bit harder and gave them lots of useful tips.
rabatsa
Confuddled
I passed my driving test in a small town that only had traffic lights on the railway crossing and had its roundabout put in the week before my test so no chance to practice using it.
I had to drive straight from passing my test on the M62 to Manchester with some case notes for my sister, who needed them for exams the next day. I was in a Series 2a Land Rover and got sandwiched between two wagons.
The next day was a pony club rally and I was towing the trailer.
The roads may have been quieter but the nerves are still the same.
I had to drive straight from passing my test on the M62 to Manchester with some case notes for my sister, who needed them for exams the next day. I was in a Series 2a Land Rover and got sandwiched between two wagons.
The next day was a pony club rally and I was towing the trailer.
The roads may have been quieter but the nerves are still the same.
View
Well-Known Member
Well given what I experienced today on my morning school run, heaven help us.
Compulsory training and instructor sign off should have required, no matter when anyone passed their car test.
This morning, as I approached a blind bend, I doubled tapped the horn on the bus and was flashing the headlights. And was confronted halfway round by a man in a Transit with a wood chipper on the tow bar..
He indicates that I should back up - not a chance, I have around a dozen cars behind me. Point out it will be far simpler for him to reverse. He suggests I put a low floor bus up onto the pavement. No, too much can be damaged under the bus. He’s not trying to be awkward but he’s towing - well I’m not trying to be awkward but
a) I warned of my presence
b) he has a straight line reverse and I would not
c) nothing behind him and plenty behind me
He gives up and tries to reverse. The word is tries.
5 minutes later, many, many shunts later he has managed to back up but is now on my side of the road but leaving me enough room to get around him.
contrast that with the young lady I met on the same bend yesterday driving a long wheelbase pickup and a stock trailer. In one move she backed it up and dropped into a gateway. No fuss.
Compulsory training and instructor sign off should have required, no matter when anyone passed their car test.
This morning, as I approached a blind bend, I doubled tapped the horn on the bus and was flashing the headlights. And was confronted halfway round by a man in a Transit with a wood chipper on the tow bar..
He indicates that I should back up - not a chance, I have around a dozen cars behind me. Point out it will be far simpler for him to reverse. He suggests I put a low floor bus up onto the pavement. No, too much can be damaged under the bus. He’s not trying to be awkward but he’s towing - well I’m not trying to be awkward but
a) I warned of my presence
b) he has a straight line reverse and I would not
c) nothing behind him and plenty behind me
He gives up and tries to reverse. The word is tries.
5 minutes later, many, many shunts later he has managed to back up but is now on my side of the road but leaving me enough room to get around him.
contrast that with the young lady I met on the same bend yesterday driving a long wheelbase pickup and a stock trailer. In one move she backed it up and dropped into a gateway. No fuss.