You know what they should do for the driving test...

SuperInfinity

What they should do, to save lives and improve road safety and efficiency on the road, instead of marking people off on the stingiest, most ridiculous technicalities, is to get every person to drive in rush-hour traffic in the city for about an hour on the most notoriously hard-to-drive places.... and maybe in the dark and the rain. That'd sort fairly quickly the posers from the people who can actually drive, and may save a lot of lives as well. Also merging and changing lanes on main roads: if the tester is scared out of his skin by the end of the ride but they got all the "technicalities" right they don't pass the test.

What they take marks off now for, going around slow-moving estates are:

1) Idle habits that help people feel comfortable driving like the way they steer and 2) things that would actually be dangerous to be thinking about all the time.

Allow me to explain 2). Suppose I actually went ahead and looked in my mirror every three seconds, and made 100% sure I was never over the line while taking a corner and doing all of those things... that doesn't make you one bit safer, all it does is increase your cognitive load. And you'll miss the things you should REALLY have been paying attention to if you're trying to look into the mirror when turning off in case the guy behind is going to barge into you. The same with gear shifting, durr.. maybe I'm driving in a high gear to save petrol and reduce my workload... while shifting up and down all the time for no reason not only is a waste of money, but distracts you. It's all fine when there's nothing going on, but if something goes amiss and you have to decide what to do fast and react really quickly? You don't want to be changing gears while trying to react. They talk about less control in higher gears? When you're changing gears you have NO control apart from the brakes.

Leelaa22

Its true selective attention can make it so that concentrating soley on certain points will increase the chances we will miss something else.
I had my 1st driving lesson this evening and i felt like more of a hazzard today than my 1st time behind the wheel 3 months ago.

This proves the selective attention theory.

http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/videos.html

Anan1

SuperInfinity wrote: »

What they should do, to save lives and improve road safety and efficiency on the road, instead of marking people off on the stingiest, most ridiculous technicalities, is to get every person to drive in rush-hour traffic in the city for about an hour on the most notoriously hard-to-drive places.... and maybe in the dark and the rain. That'd sort fairly quickly the posers from the people who can actually drive, and may save a lot of lives as well. Also merging and changing lanes on main roads: if the tester is scared out of his skin by the end of the ride but they got all the "technicalities" right they don't pass the test.

What they take marks off now for, going around slow-moving estates are:

1) Idle habits that help people feel comfortable driving like the way they steer and 2) things that would actually be dangerous to be thinking about all the time.

Allow me to explain 2). Suppose I actually went ahead and looked in my mirror every three seconds, and made 100% sure I was never over the line while taking a corner and doing all of those things... that doesn't make you one bit safer, all it does is increase your cognitive load. And you'll miss the things you should REALLY have been paying attention to if you're trying to look into the mirror when turning off in case the guy behind is going to barge into you. The same with gear shifting, durr.. maybe I'm driving in a high gear to save petrol and reduce my workload... while shifting up and down all the time for no reason not only is a waste of money, but distracts you. It's all fine when there's nothing going on, but if something goes amiss and you have to decide what to do fast and react really quickly? You don't want to be changing gears while trying to react. They talk about less control in higher gears? When you're changing gears you have NO control apart from the brakes.

I'm guessing from the above that you haven't been driving for long? It seems like a lot at first, but things like keeping a constant eye on your mirrors will quickly become second nature if you make the effort.:)

Danbo!

If shifting gears distracts you then you shouldn't be on the road. Shifting should be second nature to a driver, same with checking mirrors. You shouldnt think about it.

What they really need is a motorway test or part of the test to be on a motorway. Some driving schools offer motorway lessons after you've passed your test, but who is gonna take one of those? Passing your test makes you feel like the best driver in the world, I can't imagine many going out, picking up their new licence and thinking, hmm, I might phone my instructor for another lesson.

Edit: my first paragraph was a little harsh and the poster above said it better!

SuperInfinity

Anan1 wrote: »

I'm guessing from the above that you haven't been driving for long? It seems like a lot at first, but things like keeping a constant eye on your mirrors will quickly become second nature if you make the effort.

I've been driving for years. They are second nature, but something second nature still takes a small bit of time/effort.

Danbo! wrote: »

If shifting gears distracts you then you shouldn't be on the road. Shifting should be second nature to a driver, same with checking mirrors. You shouldnt think about it.

Shifting gears undeniably requires time and effort from all human beings. You can say "shur I can do that without thinking" all you want, it does take reaction time.

Not wanting to change gear or keep looking in the mirror ALL the time is not just laziness or carelessness... it's our instinctive drive to do things as efficiently as possible. And a part of the reason we have this desire is so we can react quickly to dangerous situations. Another point which is just occuring to me now is that always doing all of those technical things can also tire you out and make you sick of driving a lot faster.... which is not a good position to be in when on the road.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving glances in the mirror every now and then, especially on the motorway if there are lots of cars around. I'm also all for gear shift being "second-nature", but just not all the time.... fourth does fine for the vast majority of situations when you're not stopping/starting.

Danbo! wrote: »

What they really need is a motorway test or part of the test to be on a motorway. Some driving schools offer motorway lessons after you've passed your test, but who is gonna take one of those? Passing your test makes you feel like the best driver in the world, I can't imagine many going out, picking up their new licence and thinking, hmm, I might phone my instructor for another lesson.

Agreed.

djimi

SuperInfinity wrote: »

Allow me to explain 2). Suppose I actually went ahead and looked in my mirror every three seconds, and made 100% sure I was never over the line while taking a corner and doing all of those things... that doesn't make you one bit safer, all it does is increase your cognitive load. And you'll miss the things you should REALLY have been paying attention to if you're trying to look into the mirror when turning off in case the guy behind is going to barge into you. The same with gear shifting, durr.. maybe I'm driving in a high gear to save petrol and reduce my workload... while shifting up and down all the time for no reason not only is a waste of money, but distracts you. It's all fine when there's nothing going on, but if something goes amiss and you have to decide what to do fast and react really quickly? You don't want to be changing gears while trying to react. They talk about less control in higher gears? When you're changing gears you have NO control apart from the brakes.

1. You should never cross the white line in the normal course of driving (ie when not overtaking) and certainly never when taking a corner. How you can say that paying attention to your road position does not make you safer is beyond me.

2. Driving in a higher gear does not necessarily save petrol. Also, changing gears comes second nature to anyone whos been driving a car for more than 5 minutes. I am every bit as in control of a car when changing gear as I am when Im not, and if you feel differently then I seriously recommend you take a long look at your driving style.

I agree there is a lot that about the driving test that needs to be reviewed. Im actually of the opinion that a full drivers license should include several modules which must be completed. It should include motorway driving and not just be confined to 30mph town/city driving. It should include night time driving. Driving in hazardous conditions (very wet or icy roads). Only then can we truely assess whether someone is capable of being given the responsibility of being allowed to drive a car.

Idleater

I've already done 2 90 minute tests on varying road types from backroad to motorway. My renewal is next year.

Anyone that feels the doe test is too easy is more than welcome to do the RoSPA or other advanced exam.

These tests address the issues you raise of varied conditions and the fact that while it is easy to potentially bluff and fluke the doe test, it is actually quite difficult to maintain standards for 90 mins in test conditions. For this reason marking is inverted, you are assumed to make mistakes, but should demonstrate how you deal with them.

Obviously the less mistakes the higher the grade, and obviously rudimentary mistakes are not tolerated as you are assumed to have passed the doe test.

Wolverine_1999

SuperInfinity wrote: »

Allow me to explain 2). Suppose I actually went ahead and looked in my mirror every three seconds, and made 100% sure I was never over the line while taking a corner and doing all of those things... that doesn't make you one bit safer, all it does is increase your cognitive load

I'm not surprised that people in Ireland don't have a clue what's going on behind them in the car with comments like this!

A few safety points for junior drivers:

• When joining the Motorway, or Dual Carriageways, drive at the speed limit and no slower!
• Look in your mirrors on the Motorway! Why are people surprised when they are being flashed for not moving out of the overtaking lane!
• If you are going over the line when cornering, you are driving too fast! Slow Down! That's what Motorways are for.
  
  

SuperInfinity

Wolverine_1999 wrote: »

I'm not surprised that people in Ireland don't have a clue what's going on behind them in the car with comments like this!

A few safety points for junior drivers:

Ahahaha!!!!.... :P

There's never any shortage of patronizing people on the internet is there? :rolleyes: You obviously have no clue about the driving test in Ireland and how bad they are with the mirrors/observation, as shown by your following comments, which are not what I meant at all.

Wolverine_1999 wrote: »

When joining the Motorway, or Dual Carriageways, drive at the speed limit and no slower!

I hope you're talking about some type of entry speed limit and not the 75mph speed limit of motorways or dual carriageways.

Regardless, people should pay no attention to your advice or speed limits when merging, you have to play it by ear and go at the same speed as the main road traffic. Sometimes if it's busy on merging either lane may have to slow down to 50mph or maybe even 40 mph if it there's a mistake in merging, anything lower than that would generally mean there was gridlock ahead anyway.

Wolverine_1999 wrote: »

Look in your mirrors on the Motorway! Why are people surprised when they are being flashed for not moving out of the overtaking lane!

I'm not talking about not noticing there was someone behind you on a motorway, I'm talking about looking in your mirrors every three seconds when traffic is sparse. That's what they make you do for the test here.

Wolverine_1999 wrote: »

If you are going over the line when cornering, you are driving too fast! Slow Down! That's what Motorways are for.

What I'm talking about there is like if you were turning off right onto a minor road from a major road and there were no cars within a country mile on your right and you are trying to get into the fairly narrow opening fast because of the onslaught of cars in front of you and you're holding up cars behind you.

Also, there are minorly bendy roads where you can see a country mile ahead of you with no cars coming so that instead of having to roughly steer left and right, you keep in a more straightforward path.

I'm obviously not talking about coming around a busy blind corner with your car over the line.