Comments on: 950 goes to get a licence

By: jabba

jabba — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:28:14 +0000

if I had to sit a test now, i would fail big time .. 38 years or so driving and sod all “incidents/issues” and they would take my 3 licences off me .. I still have my life time licence, my 1st non life time licence and my present licence that runs out in a few years.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:46:58 +0000

Why should I have to sit another test? I have been driving for more years than I care to think about. I am as competent as anyone else and safer than a lot. I haven’t forgotten how to turn right or left or who to give way to. If you ask me what distance I should have in front of me before passing I might not be able to tell you but I damn well know when in that situation.

The only thing that concerns me are very old people who might be sliding into alzheimers or senility. A test might then be in order especially if the families want them to give up their licences.

By: RRM

RRM — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:49:11 +0000

Sounds like you’re feeling your inner socialist today DPF. All these rules!

Just make the test harder, or the pass mark higher.

And yes there should probably be more renewal tests.

By: Cadmus

Cadmus — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:54:57 +0000

John Boy …I was told by a National Party insider the main reason Pansey Wong was given a cabinet position was Public Safety !! After seeing Wongs driving ability they believed a chauffeur driven car was the only option, well I suppose who could blame them.

By: Cadmus

Cadmus — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:03:17 +0000

Johnboy you are correct, Asain drivers just like the ACT Party are a blight on society.

By: Sonny Blount

Sonny Blount — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:00:14 +0000

The people who would fail are probably the ones who ding your car in the supermarket carpark but I doubt they are killing anyone. The road deaths are caused by people who could drive perfectly well if forced to sit a test but choose not to drive that way the rest of the time.

Road deaths aren’t the only issue. Carpark dings and road efficiency matter alot.

By: Nigel Kearney

Nigel Kearney — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:16:49 +0000

>If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should
>force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years.

I agree with Patrick’s post and really don’t like this idea. The people who would fail are probably the ones who ding your car in the supermarket carpark but I doubt they are killing anyone. The road deaths are caused by people who could drive perfectly well if forced to sit a test but choose not to drive that way the rest of the time.

By: Brian Smaller

Brian Smaller — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:23:13 +0000

I should have added that when I was a teenager (17 odd) I did drive too fast at times. We used to race around Mt Maunganui streets at night like it was a race track. When one of my mates drove off a bank (luckily only a few bruises to the occupants) it slowed me down completely.

By: James

James — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:04:09 +0000

I don’t disagree with drivers needing a refresher course now and then….hell I can’t remember half of the road rules I had to know to sit my written many moons ago.But compulsion David…? For bad drivers with demerits etc sure…fair enough…do the crime do the time.But for everyone else it should be incentivised…like insurance discounts for attending refreshers etc….

The best piece of driving advice I every heard was from one Homer J Simpson who,in answer to the suggestion he should practice defensive driving said “The best defence is a good offence!”

By: DeepScience

DeepScience — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:32:05 +0000

Your parents gave you a retest every year to make sure you still knew how to ride a bike didn’t they?

By: Ozy Mandias

Ozy Mandias — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:07:27 +0000

Just imagine the revenue for the Governement. 950 tests at lets say $50 a pop. The Governement is making money hand over fist while that is one expensive licence.

By: Patrick Starr

Patrick Starr — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:09:51 +0000

“If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years”

I dont agree with you on that, unless you can demonstrate most accidents are due to lack of knowledge of the law – as opposed the intentional breaking of it

By: jabba

jabba — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:46:00 +0000

steve .. both long gone .. great cars. 1 had the e type head lights and the other the altered ones. The wind out windscreens were fantastic. the hook on the radiator wasn’t too flash .. a mate, Kevin tunnell, poor bastard, was sitting on the bonnet as we hooned around the sports stadium in Springvale (Wanganui) when the pass door clicked opened to the safety catch .. I slammed on the breaks and saw his arse disappear .. he ended up with 3-5 stitches next to his brown eye .. funny as a fart.
Had a slipping clutch as well, had 5 of us in it going u the back road of St Johns Hill .. all the boys had to bale and push to keep moving and jump back in only to bale again. What a great car .. sigh

By: Harpoon

Harpoon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:37:19 +0000

Crumbs … did you really say that, David? It sounds like the sort of thing that might come from the keyboard of a raving big-gummint commie Labour supporter! i’m serious; if the Clark Labour government had brought in a measure such as the one you’re suggesting, would you and your commenters not have been squealing from the rooftops about a crazy nanny state gone mad?

By: Buggerlugs

Buggerlugs — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:28:03 +0000

It’s simple – anyone over 80 can catch the fucking bus. Anyone under 18 can catch the fucking bus. Road toll halved.

By: Johnboy

Johnboy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:13:01 +0000

Uh I think I just went over your head there V2. I must have been going fast enough to fly?

By: Viking2

Viking2 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:50:56 +0000

Johnboy; people like that get to vote as well, which of course is why the greenies and Lairbour are still around. No one should be allowed to vote until they have passed the driving test with the test car.

More to the point though, kiwi’s who can’t pass the test just go and drive anyway. Thousands of them if the last lot of figures I saw is anything to go on.
Think about it. When was the last time you were stopped and asked for your DL?
Last time for me was when I got rumbled for going too fast. $60 fine so not too fast. Hadn’t been going too fast would still not have been stopped. Now that would be about 40 years of driving and I do a fair number of miles each week in the course of my work.
As for regular testing, well it sure has some merit given what I see on a daily basis but only if done in a simulator where the girls can’t flash a bit of leg at some horny useless instructor and get a pass. A 10 year test interval wouldn’t bother me and I would say that since i did my road test I have never ever locked at a road code. I drive by commonsense, logic and awareness and so far it has served me well. I ensure that I avoid distraction inside the vehicle and must say that since phones have been banned the round town driving has much improved with the drivers actually concentrating on what they are doing instead of havind a flaming row on their cellphones whilst the have a stearing wheel in the hands. Bloody good move and anybody caught should get double demerits.

By: pidge

pidge — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:48:49 +0000

Quick question – Is driving on a public road a privilege you earn, or a right?

By: PaulD

PaulD — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:47:17 +0000

Nanny State dropped the older driver licence tests in 2006.
“Why did the government decide to change the older driver licence renewal system?
New Zealand is one of the very few countries that requires drivers aged 80 and over to undertake a mandatory on-road driving test. The UK, Western European countries, and most Australian and US states have no mandatory age-based on-road testing of older drivers. Overall, their crash statistics for older drivers are no better or worse than the general population.”

On the other hand people can fall asleep and drive off the road at any age.

By: side show bob

side show bob — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:05:32 +0000

Why should you resit your test every five to ten years if you have not sinned and have managed to stay on the hard top. Perhaps if one is unfortunate enough to build up demerits the case could be made for resiting the test. Other then that this sounds like an idea dreamed up by the parasites in central government looking to boost the coffers. No doubt some of these tossers will be reading this and think it a brilliant idea, thanks David.