4 ms·

As a side note - I think humans should require retaking their test on a regular basis. Maybe every 5 years, and just a short 'refresher' test on the way home f

by dm319 6y ago

As a side note - I think humans should require retaking their test on a regular basis. Maybe every 5 years, and just a short 'refresher' test on the way home from work. It would help find those who simply can't drive safely anymore, and may dissuade others who don't think it's worth going through that process. It would also take a lot of stress and anxiety from the problem of families who know mildly-demented grandad really shouldn't be on the road because he can hardly see at night, but find it hard/impossible to actually do something about it.

leetcrew 6y ago
there's a deeper problem here in the US. a large portion of the workforce needs to drive to work. a lot of these people are not very safe drivers, through some combination of incapability, unwillingness, or ignorance. it's hard to strike a good balance between keeping unsafe drivers off the road and not upending people's livelihoods.
- kmonsen 6y ago
  Also the driving test is a joke in the first place so there are a ton of unsafe drivers.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    I'm sure this varies state-to-state. I wouldn't say my driving test was a joke (in the sense of easy), but the hard parts had very little to do with driving safely. the whole thing took place in a parking lot at 5 mph. I failed the test my first two times because it was really difficult to perfectly parallel park my dad's massive truck. I think it would be okay to make the initial test a little harder, and ideally more focused on real world driving safety. the real problem is if you let someone have a license, they plan their life around it, and then you yank the rug out from under them because they couldn't back up 100 feet in a straight line ten years later.
    - j1dopeman 6y ago
      In my state, the test never touches the highway or any busy roads so you don't have to learn how to merge, stay in your lane, drive at speed, etc. Actually most highways around explicitly prohibit permit holders. I personally know more than one person who had their first experience on the highway after they had a license and it was an absolute disaster. They were white knuckled, driving 20-30mph under the limit and every merge was a close call. I think the only thing they actually test is whether you can parallel park or not.
      - brianwawok 6y ago
        In Indiana we went on the highway in drivers Ed, which had a speed limit of 55. Then we crossed for a day into Michigan because their state limit was 65. Indiana has since raised the state limit...
- fuzzer37 6y ago
  Maybe getting to work should be an incentive for practicing safe driving. You cant get to work if you crash your car either.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    sure, that's not unreasonable. but with the current situation in the US, you would need to drastically expand welfare, public transit, or both if you really want to lean into the "driving is a privilege" idea.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    Yeah I don’t think “drive safe or lose your job” makes for a good billboard.

by dm319 6y ago

leetcrew 6y ago

there's a deeper problem here in the US. a large portion of the workforce needs to drive to work. a lot of these people are not very safe drivers, through some combination of incapability, unwillingness, or ignorance. it's hard to strike a good balance between keeping unsafe drivers off the road and not upending people's livelihoods.

kmonsen 6y ago
Also the driving test is a joke in the first place so there are a ton of unsafe drivers.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  I'm sure this varies state-to-state. I wouldn't say my driving test was a joke (in the sense of easy), but the hard parts had very little to do with driving safely. the whole thing took place in a parking lot at 5 mph. I failed the test my first two times because it was really difficult to perfectly parallel park my dad's massive truck. I think it would be okay to make the initial test a little harder, and ideally more focused on real world driving safety. the real problem is if you let someone have a license, they plan their life around it, and then you yank the rug out from under them because they couldn't back up 100 feet in a straight line ten years later.
  - j1dopeman 6y ago
    In my state, the test never touches the highway or any busy roads so you don't have to learn how to merge, stay in your lane, drive at speed, etc. Actually most highways around explicitly prohibit permit holders. I personally know more than one person who had their first experience on the highway after they had a license and it was an absolute disaster. They were white knuckled, driving 20-30mph under the limit and every merge was a close call. I think the only thing they actually test is whether you can parallel park or not.
    - brianwawok 6y ago
      In Indiana we went on the highway in drivers Ed, which had a speed limit of 55. Then we crossed for a day into Michigan because their state limit was 65. Indiana has since raised the state limit...
fuzzer37 6y ago
Maybe getting to work should be an incentive for practicing safe driving. You cant get to work if you crash your car either.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  sure, that's not unreasonable. but with the current situation in the US, you would need to drastically expand welfare, public transit, or both if you really want to lean into the "driving is a privilege" idea.
- Spivak 6y ago
  Yeah I don’t think “drive safe or lose your job” makes for a good billboard.