Make Learning To Drive More Affordable |
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Alexander Mason
SubmitYOURArticle.com
July 21, 2010
http://www.dermaroller-planet.com
Can you be too careful? We have seen an incredible rise in the costs, passed onto individuals and companies alike, in funding the state run HSE (health and safety executive) Are we really so scared that we're prepared to pay through the roof for such a service?
Is this right? Whilst there can be no serious argument that living and working in a safe and secure environment is preferential, society as a whole seems to have got it into it's head that no one should ever be injured or killed ever - and damn the cost in making it so.
It is a fact that accidents happen, they always have and always will. The alternative to a state led safety police, is to allow society to take responsibility for it's own affairs and put the accountability onto the individuals themselves.
To that extent, and as an example of how far we've gone in the UK on our paranoia of injury, learning to drive in the UK has evolved from what was a common sense driving test, to a written exam, hazard awareness test, car maintenance as well as a tightly marked practical examination.
Addressing the need to produce safe drivers surely has to be balanced against the cost of producing them. It is already an expensive exercise to learn to drive. Those doing so are also young, often not earning and are most likely the people least likely to be able to afford lessons.
Down under, Australia has a far more typically pragmatic approach to driver safety. Rather than making new learner drivers spend a fortune (it's still expensive mind) on uneeded testing, they are forced to highlight to other road users that they are inexperienced drivers by having to display bright green P plates on their vehicle for two years from passing their test. The costs of which a couple of dollars. The P stands for provisional - only experienced drivers are deemed, quite rightly, as having the privilege of holding a full license.
Now if we had low rates of accidents (the UK is relatively high in the EU) then the added costs of learning all those extra modules in the driving test would have a valid argument for their inclusion. But the fact of the matter is, the added costs of learning to drive are directly attributed to the the needs of the state run HSE (in association with the DVLA) which has license to print money for themselves by forcing drivers to sit (and pay for) all their additional testing. This is blatant stealth taxation masquerading as a way of keeping us safe.
Most drivers will agree that the only way to becoming a better driver is experience. Accidents will always happen and whilst unfortunate, is part of life. We are never going to eradicate this so let's cut out these needless costs.
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