Learners must respect older drivers before they take the test

Good manners will have to be shown to vulnerable road users, ministers say

LEARNER drivers will be encouraged to show that they are “courteous” to elderly motorists before taking their tests, the Government has announced.

Ministers want all learner drivers to fill in a voluntary logbook online to track their progress. This could include showing that they understand the importance of demonstrating “courtesy towards other, especially vulnerable, road users”.

Changes to the test are also being considered in response to the development of driverless cars.

A Department for Transport strategy says that the Driver and Vehicle Stand- ards Agency will reform the driving test to “ensure it takes account of increasing vehicle automation”.

Ed King, president of the AA, said: “We used to have a national courtesy day on the roads, and you’d put up signs like don’t clog the middle lane or cut up elderly drivers.

“This is going back to that and trying to get young drivers to act with more respect, to try and eradicate road rage and get back to some decent manners on the road.”

The Government is also proposing legislation to allow learner drivers to practise on motorways, for the first time, to try to cut the death toll on the roads. Under the plans, novices would be allowed on motorways only with an approved instructor in a car with dual controls.

Young drivers are four times more likely to be killed than motorists aged 25 and older.

Drivers will also be expected to demonstrate a knowledge of “eco-driving” to improve fuel-efficiency.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Aggressive driving is a factor in at least one in 14 fatal accidents, and that’s probably a large underestimate.

“Encouraging our future motorists to mind their Ps and Qs would sensibly recognise that safe driving is as much a matter of behaviour behind the wheel as it is of technical skill.”

Ministers are also considering making older drivers retake their test.

An official report on the future of the driving test said: “Drivers need to maintain their skills throughout their career behind the wheel, not just to prepare for a test at the start of it.

“Many respondents to the consultation suggested that older drivers, especially, should be retested from time to time.

“Older drivers are, as a group, safer than young, novice drivers.

“Although there is an increase in the casualty rate for older drivers compared with drivers generally, this is because older drivers – and passengers – are generally more vulnerable and so are more likely to die or sustain a severe injury than a younger adult in an accident of the same impact. However, age alone is not a reliable indicator of driving ability.”

The Government has shelved plans to force all learners to pay a deposit before sitting their driving test — refundable if they pass — to encourage people to put off taking the practical exam until they are ready.

‘Safe driving is as much a matter of behaviour as of technical skill’