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> What's the point of having drivers license lessons and testing Hah, implying that these are actually useful. The Washington state test and generic lesson pla

> What's the point of having drivers license lessons and testing Hah, implying that these are actually useful. The Washington state test and generic lesson plan doesn't even include highway driving. It's a 20 minute test that quite possibly anyone could pass; all I had to do was briefly drive around, and the hardest part was probably parallel parking with a couple of feet of leeway, and controlling your speed down a hill.

Mizza 11y ago
The fact that American licensing isn't very rigorous is not an argument against drivers licenses.
- mikestew 11y ago
  See my parallel comment: my wife could be blind and still hold a WA state driver's license if she were willing to lie when filling out a form. In which case I'll ask: what's the argument for licensing if we don't even bother to check?
  - Mizza 11y ago
    We do bother to check. If you get pulled over for a traffic violation and you don't have a license, you'll go to jail. These are really not convincing arguments. If anything, it seems the conclusion of what you're saying is that we need to be more rigorous in our testing and validation.
    - mynameisvlad 11y ago
      > We do bother to check. If you get pulled over for a traffic violation and you don't have a license, you'll go to jail. If it's ridiculously over-the-top easy to receive and keep a license, even when it shouldn't be, then I argue the use of said license, and the checks around it, are useless. All your check is is checking that the person can do the very bare minimum of what would be considered "driving", and, worse, it's really checking that the person was able to do it X years ago, where X can be as far back as even 50 or so years ago. At that point, what's the use of checking? You are right that we should be more rigorous in testing and validation, but when that's the case, then the whole system is put into question.
mikestew 11y ago
The point of a driver's license is to have something to hold over your head so you'll pay your tickets. Oh, you thought it was about safety and competence? My 50 year old wife got her "time to renew" letter in the mail: "check this box if your eyes are still 20/40". Cataracts so bad you can barely see the dashboard? Been putting off that eye exam because you know you need glasses? No problem, just check a box and you can still drive! I guess the token eye check at the DMV was too onerous for WA drivers. Small wonder why WA drivers suck so much.
- tbomb 11y ago
  I recently moved states and was in person at the DMV. I handed the clerk an existing (out of state) license that had a corrective lenses restriction on it, and I informed the clerk that I was currently wearing contact lenses before taking their eye test. They still didn't put the restriction on it..

Mizza 11y ago

The fact that American licensing isn't very rigorous is not an argument against drivers licenses.

mikestew 11y ago
See my parallel comment: my wife could be blind and still hold a WA state driver's license if she were willing to lie when filling out a form. In which case I'll ask: what's the argument for licensing if we don't even bother to check?
- Mizza 11y ago
  We do bother to check. If you get pulled over for a traffic violation and you don't have a license, you'll go to jail. These are really not convincing arguments. If anything, it seems the conclusion of what you're saying is that we need to be more rigorous in our testing and validation.
  - mynameisvlad 11y ago
    > We do bother to check. If you get pulled over for a traffic violation and you don't have a license, you'll go to jail. If it's ridiculously over-the-top easy to receive and keep a license, even when it shouldn't be, then I argue the use of said license, and the checks around it, are useless. All your check is is checking that the person can do the very bare minimum of what would be considered "driving", and, worse, it's really checking that the person was able to do it X years ago, where X can be as far back as even 50 or so years ago. At that point, what's the use of checking? You are right that we should be more rigorous in testing and validation, but when that's the case, then the whole system is put into question.

mikestew 11y ago

The point of a driver's license is to have something to hold over your head so you'll pay your tickets. Oh, you thought it was about safety and competence? My 50 year old wife got her "time to renew" letter in the mail: "check this box if your eyes are still 20/40". Cataracts so bad you can barely see the dashboard? Been putting off that eye exam because you know you need glasses? No problem, just check a box and you can still drive! I guess the token eye check at the DMV was too onerous for WA drivers. Small wonder why WA drivers suck so much.

tbomb 11y ago
I recently moved states and was in person at the DMV. I handed the clerk an existing (out of state) license that had a corrective lenses restriction on it, and I informed the clerk that I was currently wearing contact lenses before taking their eye test. They still didn't put the restriction on it..