MOTOR DRIVING TESTS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1935, Page 10

MOTOR DRIVING TESTS

SAFETY FACTOR EMPHASISED. NEW REGULATIONS IN BRITAIN. \ - (By air mail—Special Correspondent.) London, April 25. It will come as a relief to many of those motorists • who • find themselves liable to a driving test to hear that while a candidate must naturally know hoW to drive his car, any lack of polish on his part will not weigh heavily against him/ Thus, if he should not happen to be at his best on the day. of the teat, and: grinds his gears instead of • making clean changes, provided he handles ,hia- car. in a safe way—does not pull across.the path of another vehicle or park some distance from the kerb, he will hot ruin; his chances of passing. • '. . ■ The idea behind the. institution of these driving tests is first and foremost, safety; and obviously a man may be a perfectly safe driver and just lack that little extra polish which comes with long practice. So long as the driver who goes up for his test is able to reverse correctly, interpret all signals quickly and accurately, and pay attention to what might be’ called’ the finer points of driving, such as ascertaining if a car is coming up from behind before‘pulling, away from the kerb, he need have no fear. EFFICIENT EXAMINERS. No fears heed be entertained- by motorists applying for- a test, concerning the knowledge and judgment of the examiners. The regular staff is some 250 in number, and these have been chosen; out of over 2000 selected candidates, the degree of efficiency among them being high. A large number of applications: was made for this job, and, although the applicants' considered themselves- suitable: for testing prospective drivers, a preliminary examination showed that in many cases their standard knowledge was extremely low. Some did .not even know what-the Highway Code Wai, and an extraordinarily low percentage achieved full marks on questions con--cerning traffic lights and signals. A practical examination in driving had also to be passed by the candidates, and this eliminated a number who might otherwise have been successful. There need thus be no fear that the examiners are not competent.

Of course it is realised by the Minister of Transport, as well as everybody else, that the results of these tests will not be felt for a long period. Even though A driver, who t is convicted of dangerous; or careless driving, my .be required toundergo a test, whether he has been in; possession of a licence for some years- or; not, the standard of driving will probably; not be appreciably: raised for a. considerable time. In the end, however. it .should have a cumulative, effect, especially if. the percentage of failures is< as high asit is in other countries where driving' tests are in force. In some cases it is as' high as 20 per cent, or more. ; It was a : welcome, move bn the part of; the Minister of Transport to .postpone the date on which compulsory driving tests are to- come into- force. As there are already some 418,000 motorists waiting to undergo their tests, and more and; morb becoming liable to pass them every month, serious inconvenience, would have, been caused tb many people if they had; all had to obtain their • certificates of driving proficiency before April 1. As it is, the extra period of grace will enable large numbers to undergo their tests at dates convenient to themselves/and without fuss or bother. EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. Another suggestion (of the Minister of; -.Transport that deserves the ’wholer' hearted support of everybody interested; in the promotion of road safety, is that of the education’ of children. This is. striking at the very root of the problem, and although' the results may- be even; longer than those from the driving tests in making themselves felt, it is,,in my. opinion, one of ..the surest ways. of deal- : ing with the problem of road accidents/ If children, from 'their earliest school, days, were • made to; realise the dangers - of carelessness in the road, and actually had lessons on road sense as part of their school curriculum, the problem would automatically solve itself in a generation. The matter is to be examined by two committees, and although no representatives of the various motor organisations are to be included, evidence from such bodies is to be taken into consideration. An Interesting innovation is to be found on the latest Wolseley cars, namely, seating equipment that, is designed anatomically. It has been found that the amount of support received by the human body greatly affects the digestion, which in turn may slow down nerve reaction to a considerable extent. Thus, a driver of a car with anatomically bad seating, may find himself growing tired towards the end of a long journey, and experience undue delay in his nervous and muscular responses. With the mew Wolseley seating, however, it is claimed that the correct amount of support is given, with greater freshness at the end of lengthy journeys as a result’.