wrote:
On 25/11/2019 11:36, wrote:
On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 10:58:07 +0000
wrote:
On 24/11/2019 10:50, wrote:
The test for a commercial vehicle is a LOT harder than a car. You don't get
away with many mistakes and the test enviroment is a lot more varied. Kev and

Trace might scrape through driving their corsa a bit erratically on a car
test
but they'd be failed in minutes on an HGV or bus test.

My cousin did his HGV test using all that was available... A tank
transported loaded with a tank.

Apparently he mounted the kerb several times and bent a few bollards but
still passed.

I'm guessing that was a while back, he wouldn't get away with that today.

Only about 10 years ago.

It depends exactly where and why that happened!


The military have different rules don’t they? ICBW but aren’t the age
limits lower to obtain a licence for large vehicles for personnel serving
in the forces. And at various times since motorised vehicles replaced
horses
when the need demanded it a military test was basically not much more than
can you make it move ,can you steer it ,can you stop it. Pass any two
,well done lad you are now a driver. Though during WW2 driving tests were
suspended for civilians as well and many people took advantage that a
driving permit or provisional licence issued could for a short time
afterwards be converted to a full licence without any further test.
Explains a lot of the dire driving standards encountered from that
generation over the following decades especially when they became elderly
know it alls ,at least those reaching those years now will normally have
passed a test at some time.

GH

"Marland" wrote in message
...
Though during WW2 driving tests were
suspended for civilians as well and many people took advantage that a
driving permit or provisional licence issued could for a short time
afterwards be converted to a full licence without any further test.
Explains a lot of the dire driving standards encountered from that
generation over the following decades especially when they became elderly
know it alls ,at least those reaching those years now will normally have
passed a test at some time.

I didn't know that the civilian driving test was suspended during WWII -
presumably to free up examiners to do war work, and to remove all the
bureaucracy of administering the tests. However very few civilians would
have been able to get petrol unless they were in a reserved occupation.

Apart from the WWII window of opportunity, the youngest person who has not
passed a test would have been 17 in 1935, so they'd be born in 1918 and
therefore 101 now. And the youngest person who would have slipped through
the WWII window would have been 17 in 1945 and therefore 91. Assuming that
the age of starting to drive was 17 in those days as well.

I think a lot of the problem with driving standards is not due to lack of
test, but to bravado and overconfidence (mainly in the young), or being
completely oblivious of surroundings and car controls (mainly in the
elderly) - in both cases, I'm making very broad-brush generalisations.
Intoxication and falling asleep at the wheel probably applies to most ages.

As I understand it, a lot of the cases of drivers (usually elderly) who
accidentally drive/reverse into shop fronts is because they confuse the
accelerator and brake in an automatic car, and then press the accelerator
instead of the brake when they realise they are out of control.


My grandpa was still driving right up until he died (*) when he was in his
mid 90s. He was very choosy about when/where he drove - out of rush hour, on
rural roads rather than busy urban roads. The last time I rode with him, I
was impressed with his standard of driving: he didn't cut corners when
pulling out from side roads, he got up to nearly the speed limit without too
much dawdling, he was cautious but not hesitant at junctions. The only
"funny" was that he had a habit of slipping the car into neutral and
coasting as he was approaching a junction or when going downhill, which I
think was a carry-over from wartime petrol rationing days as a fuel-saving
measure. Nowadays with fuel injection it would actually work against you: if
you stay in gear, the ECU detects that the car is in over-run and cuts the
fuel completely, whereas in neutral a bit of fuel is needed to keep the
engine idling. The instantaneous fuel consumption display on my car's trip
computer shows this: when coasting in neutral, the consumption is about 200
mpg, whereas in gear with no throttle it is 999 ("infinite") mpg.


(*) And that was complications from a fall when he was shopping, not in a
car crash ;-)

On Mon, 25 Nov 2019 15:27:24 -0000, "NY" wrote:



"Marland" wrote in message
...
Though during WW2 driving tests were
suspended for civilians as well and many people took advantage that a
driving permit or provisional licence issued could for a short time
afterwards be converted to a full licence without any further test.
Explains a lot of the dire driving standards encountered from that
generation over the following decades especially when they became elderly
know it alls ,at least those reaching those years now will normally have
passed a test at some time.

I didn't know that the civilian driving test was suspended during WWII -
presumably to free up examiners to do war work, and to remove all the
bureaucracy of administering the tests. However very few civilians would
have been able to get petrol unless they were in a reserved occupation.

Saving fuel was a significant reason IIRC.
snip

On 25/11/2019 18:45, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Mon, 25 Nov 2019 15:27:24 -0000, "NY" wrote:



"Marland" wrote in message
...
Though during WW2 driving tests were
suspended for civilians as well and many people took advantage that a
driving permit or provisional licence issued could for a short time
afterwards be converted to a full licence without any further test.
Explains a lot of the dire driving standards encountered from that
generation over the following decades especially when they became elderly
know it alls ,at least those reaching those years now will normally have
passed a test at some time.

I didn't know that the civilian driving test was suspended during WWII -
presumably to free up examiners to do war work, and to remove all the
bureaucracy of administering the tests. However very few civilians would
have been able to get petrol unless they were in a reserved occupation.

Saving fuel was a significant reason IIRC.
snip


Do not know about military / civilian licences, but the idea that
driving tests were stopped during the war is correct.
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...e-driving-test

--
Colin

On 25/11/2019 14:44, Marland wrote:
wrote:
On 25/11/2019 11:36, wrote:
On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 10:58:07 +0000
wrote:
On 24/11/2019 10:50, wrote:
The test for a commercial vehicle is a LOT harder than a car. You don't get
away with many mistakes and the test enviroment is a lot more varied. Kev and

Trace might scrape through driving their corsa a bit erratically on a car
test
but they'd be failed in minutes on an HGV or bus test.

My cousin did his HGV test using all that was available... A tank
transported loaded with a tank.

Apparently he mounted the kerb several times and bent a few bollards but
still passed.

I'm guessing that was a while back, he wouldn't get away with that today.

Only about 10 years ago.

It depends exactly where and why that happened!


The military have different rules don’t they? ICBW but aren’t the age
limits lower to obtain a licence for large vehicles for personnel serving
in the forces. And at various times since motorised vehicles replaced
horses
The age is lower in the forces but only for driving military vehicles
and you are only given a military driving permit which cannot be used
with a private vehicle.

I'm not sure what the arrangements for getting a civil licence these
days. They were conducted by the military but that may have changed.
These "incidents" occurred during this conversion.

when the need demanded it a military test was basically not much more than
can you make it move ,can you steer it ,can you stop it. Pass any two
,well done lad you are now a driver. Though during WW2 driving tests were
suspended for civilians as well and many people took advantage that a
driving permit or provisional licence issued could for a short time
afterwards be converted to a full licence without any further test.
Explains a lot of the dire driving standards encountered from that
generation over the following decades especially when they became elderly
know it alls ,at least those reaching those years now will normally have
passed a test at some time.

GH

In article , martin.coffee@round-
midnight.org.uk writes
I'm not sure what the arrangements for getting a civil licence these
days. They were conducted by the military but that may have changed.

When I was learning to drive a car and was in the TA, I was told that I
could get a test done by an army examiner and thus jump the queue for
tests. In the end I didn't, though.

--
Clive D.W. Feather

In article , Marland
writes
The military have different rules don’t they? ICBW but aren’t the age
limits lower to obtain a licence for large vehicles for personnel serving
in the forces.

Last time I checked the minimum age limits on driving types of vehicles
didn't apply to those in the forces driving military/naval/air force
vehicles.

--
Clive D.W. Feather