NIP arrived. 1006

I agree that we need to encourage a culture of driver responsibility and self-improvement. If we could devise standard tests that really do measure a driver's ability, that would be good. But we also need a culture where drivers are genuinely intersted in improving the standard of their driving.

As someone who does quite a lot of driving, I am very aware that a mistake of mine could kill me and-or some other innocent person, so I constantly think about how I can improve my driving. I think i am a much better driver now than I was say 10 years ago, when i was much better than 10 years before that. But that is due to consciously working to analyse my mistakes and try to avoid repeating them. I am proud of the fact that I bought my new car in March, and still do not know if the ABS works. I have never had to brake hard enough to find out.

I am not convinced that other drivers always do this. If they did, I'm sure it would lead to a real improvment in road safety.

A real means of measuring driver ability would be really worthwhile IMO, but if all it meaured was ability to stick to speed limits it would be a waste of time. The challenge is to find a way of measuring real driving ability in terms of safety in real road situations. To give each driver a numerical score. If we could do that, periodic retests would indicate how much a driver was improving, and how he-she compared with other drivers. It might also identify individual drivers weak points and point at areas they need to improve. I for one would welcome it.

Martin

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