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I passed my driving test when I was 18, but didn’t actually drive again until I was 23 when I bought my first car – a £500, slightly battered Vauxhall Corsa that wouldn’t go into first gear a lot of the time. So now I’ve been driving for over 12 years and in that time I have formed rather a lot of (strong) opinions about driving and, in particular, other drivers!
I am quite an angry driver, and that coupled with the fact I am a very good driver (whatever anyone tells you…), means that I get very, very frustrated very, very often when I’m driving!
I have strong opinions on people’s apparent inability to use their indicator’s, about driving too close to my car boot, about cyclists who come out too far into the road, about men in particular thinking they have to drive faster than me, as a woman (and heaven forbid if I pull away faster than them at the lights), and, well, anything you can think of really.
Dayinsure wanted to find out more about people’s driving opinions in the UK and so they asked the British public their opinions on subjects like learner drivers, cyclists, driverless cars, and electric cars, with some interesting results. The survey was conducted over a sample of 400 people from all areas of the UK and across a range of age brackets.
Something that I found quite interesting, is that 90% of those surveyed think that older people should be required to take another driving test. I think that’s such a tough one. On the one hand, we should be making sure that everyone is as safe as possible on the roads, but on the other, I think that if old people had to take their driving test again then the vast majority of them would fail, which would greatly decrease their independence, which would be a shame.
That’s not to say that their independence is more important that other driver’s or pedestrians, or even their own, safety. I do so often see a little old person behind the wheel who is driving so slowly, or just generally badly and I feel so sure that they (sadly) shouldn’t be driving anymore, and it’s quite scary. But I do think it’s a tough one.
I think it’s very important that we are made to have an eye test every so many years, especially as we get older, to make sure that we can see well enough to drive as that is clearly very important, but it does make me sad that a lot of old people probably just wouldn’t bother taking another driving test if that was required, therefore losing some of their independence.
Then again, there are too many cars on the road so maybe it would be better for them to get the bus or a taxi if they could especially if they are not likely to be a safe driver anymore. It’s such a hard one! As it stands at the moment when all drivers turn 70, they must renew their driving license with the DVLA and declare themselves still fit enough to drive and then do the same every three years thereafter. But I would think that most people would say or maybe even think that they are fit enough to drive even if they are perhaps not.
Other findings that I found interesting were on the age that you should be able to get a driving license in this country. Currently, you need to be 17 years old or over to take your driving test but over one-third of survey respondents believed that this should be higher.
I think again it is a difficult one! Now that I’m older 17 does seem so young to me for people to be on the roads and I find it quite scary — some are so irresponsible and drive so dangerously to impress their friends. But at the same time plenty of 17-year-olds are very responsible and drive perfectly safely and some, I’m sure, will be much better drivers than older people!
Being able to drive at that age also really helps you to become more independent and gives you more freedom at an age when you may be going out into the big wide world and getting a job and perhaps moving out of your parents’ house.
54.5% of people thought that the age that you can learn to drive in the UK should be kept at 17 and I think I agree with them. Only 9% of Brits think that the current driving test age should be lowered.
42% of people believe hands-free kits should be illegal, but I would bet that a lot of them currently use them anyway, and 17% of those surveyed think that cyclists should be banned from our roads, which doesn’t surprise me because they can be really annoying! I don’t agree that they should be banned though; it’s great that they are doing physical exercise and it also means fewer cars on the road. More cycle paths would really be great and help everybody.
Dayinsure have a competition to win a travel coffee maker at the end of their survey findings if you fancy entering!
Do any of these findings surprise you or do you have particularly strong opinions on any of them? I’d love to know.
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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