A great many poor drivers could be prevented from obtaining a full license by simply adding these two questions to the written exam.

1. Which make of car do you aspire to own?
2. Do you watch Top Gear?

If the answers are, Audi or BMW and yes, then you fail irrespective of how well you scored in the rest of the exam.

Google need to finish their testing and release the driverless car asap. That'll reduce road deaths massively*

They've been driving around California for years, the only accidents being when other vehicle drivers have driven into one of them.


*I'm not saying a driverless car should ever be operated by someone under the influence. More looking at the other '6 out of every 7 deaths' stat.

The only problem with driverless cars is that they will always stick to the speed limit and unless you make their use compulsory and ban all not-driverless cars from using the same roads then you will always get some petrolhead or simpleton in a car too powerful for his/her brain who will overtake, undertake, cut across lanes, follow too close, not be watching when the driverless car in front stops or just generally behave like your average sales rep in a BMW 3 series - ie there will still be plenty of knobheads left to collide with the driverless cars and then blame everyone else.

THIS could make it exciting.

THIS could make it exciting.

I think you are probably right there. It will be interesting to see if there is any significant change in the number of drink-drive related accidents but I have my doubts there will be. I mean if people were careful enough not to go over the old limit were they the ones causing mayhem on the roads? I doubt it.



The SNP used to be referred to as the Tartan Tories. If Sturgeon gets her way and Scotland eventually does become independent I think you (and she) might find not every Scottish Nationalist is a socialist. Which is why I always felt voting "yes" in the referendum just to be rid of a Tory controlled Westminster was a very short sighted reason for voting that way.

Not that they have anything to do with socialism any more, Labour are toast in Scotland, even more so that they now have arch-Blairite Jim Murphy in charge of them. Quite apart from his grandstanding, the fact he's a Celtic supporter will turn most protestants away from him. He could well be out of a job come the 2015 election and the following Scottish elections

Although this is about drinking and driving, a side issue (asociated with convicted offenders being banned from driving). perhaps FA can illuminate.
Several younger drivers where I live are open about not having insurance or worrying too much about whether they a re banned or not. A fewer number of older males have the same idea. (As FA wants sources, it comes from many conversations over many years in a local forum, and also the local rag's reporting of magistrate cases.) the reason for ignoring insurance is obvious even if you disagree with it: the cost. It gets in the way of the right to drive (again, even if you disagree with such).

When challenged, they point to the number of repeat offenders who only get a fine and a further ban (on already an ignored ban or bans) and to the fact the police are so pressed, they get away with it time and time again. They realise the cost of prison means it will be rare. Few of these drink (or if they do, they tend to drink spirits).

How does a more draconian driving check such as in this thread deter these.

Th council is bringing in 20 mph speed limits : 30 mph is being ignored. So much that speed bumps (etc.) are being introduced to a busy road.

As a resident of Bradford, which for many years has had several postal districts at the pinnacle of the annual Uninsured vehicles list, with many tens of thousands of perennially uninsured cars, i don't know why you would think I need "sources" on the endemic problem of uninsured driving. I don't, I have access to more than you could shake a stick at, thanks.

You answer your own question that you raise. Like any offence, the trade-off is the risk of getting caught, and the likely penalty. It is trite to state that these are almost useless to deter uninsured driving, which is endemic not just in Bradford but in the country. Uninsured drivers are indeed a blight on society, but then so are (for example) drug dealers, yet drugs are more endemic than uninsured driving. And you can't simply lock half the population up (and even if you did it's easier to get drugs in prison than outside, though tbf you can't drive in Armley).

If you have a workable policy to change this let's hear it, though I'm not sure what your point actually is.

Can they take and crush your car if found to be driving it with no insurance? That'd be a decent deterrant.

Errlee Berd wrote:Can they take and crush your car if found to be driving it with no insurance? That'd be a decent deterrant. Indeed they can, and do. here's just one example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northwes ... cars.shtml I don't know how much of n overall deterrent it is, though; many of the cars aren't worth much and so you mightsay that the risk of having your £300 Astra crushed is worth taking to save on the £5000 cost of a policy? That article suggests that as a result of the crackdown maybe 20,000 extra insurance policies were taken out in the area, so it's all good, and i applaud the campaign, but that would still leave the vast majority of uninsured drivers demonstrably not really bothered. http://stayinsured.askmid.com/seized.html

Errlee Berd wrote:Can they take and crush your car if found to be driving it with no insurance? That'd be a decent deterrant. Indeed they can, and do. here's just one example: http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/northwes ... cars.shtml I don't know how much of n overall deterrent it is, though; many of the cars aren't worth much and so you mightsay that the risk of having your £300 Astra crushed is worth taking to save on the £5000 cost of a policy? That article suggests that as a result of the crackdown maybe 20,000 extra insurance policies were taken out in the area, so it's all good, and i applaud the campaign, but that would still leave the vast majority of uninsured drivers demonstrably not really bothered. http://stayinsured.askmid.com/seized.html