Do you think we should take regular driving tests?

I'm a truck driver. I sit higher up than most of you and have a totally different vantage point.

To answer your question, YES!! It is appaling the bad behavoir I see out there. People driving while reading, watching tv, talking on the phone is very common. I even see people having sex, either with a partner or by themselves while driving.

Turn signals are rarely used when changing lanes, if they are, just about every other driver around you ignores them and won't let that person over. people drive in the rain with no headlights. Common couretesy is gone.

My biggest problem is people don't know how to act around my truck. People dive in front of me and slam on the breaks to get off at the exit ramp I'm approaching but not intending to get off at.

When getting on the highway people don't know how to merge. Why is it so many people drive 35 mph all the way to the end of a 3/4 mile long ACCELERATION ramp then think they are going to get onto the highway with the brake pedal?

I absolutely think testing should be regular. My employer road tests all of us once a year regardless of how long we've been driving.

I think this would be a great idea. I can see insurance companies incorporating a policy like this in the near future, as a way of sneaking in a rate hike (banking on the fact that some people will flat-out refuse to take another road test).

The problem with this is that some people can fake it just to pass a test. Most of us know what we should and shouldn't do when driving, but we fall into bad routines because "everyone/no one else is doing it." I normally drive with a heavy foot, but I guarantee that would disappear quick if there was an instructor riding shotgun, grading me on everything I do.

(Remember, before you start the car, you always fasten your seatbelts and check all of your mirrors! Bonus points!)

yanno, i think it would be a good idea. i've had my license for 24 years car wise, over a year on the bike. both vehicles require certain skills, especially in an emergency situation. these skills are 'perishable' tho; either u use em or u lose em. why do u think combat pilots are constantly training when they might never face air to air combat?

we'd most likely have fewer accidents in the winter if every so often, u'd need to get a refresher course on how to drive on snowy roads and/or wintery weather. out of all the seasons, winter weather is the least forgiving to mistakes.

it would be nice if u were to take the refresher training, the insurance would drop some like it would for bikers taking the beginner or advanced skill course. u'd soon find out if u do have bad habits, and be able to correct them. if the course is good enough, i'd pay a fee to make sure i still had my 'a' game.

Absolutely! I think it would improve a lot of things. I'm sure I would pass as long as they didn't take me out when the roads were very busy. I don't drive very often, only when i really have to, but I have been licensed for 20 years never having had to retake the test. I think that's just a bad idea. Laws change and so do people. We should HAVE to retest EVERY time our license is renewed. Sure it will mean the states havgin to hire extra testers but if it lowers accident rates or even has the potential to do so, isn't it worth it?

Some motorcyclists take the Experienced Riders Course every 2-3 years. Its a fun way of seeing what skills need sharpening and nets a discount on insurance.

I think that might be a better approach for auto drivers.

I am a driver/instructor. I think it would be a great idea to get tested every year. The reason is this. How can you improve without being tested. Professonals in any job practice and get tested all the time. Oh yes, how about saving lives?

I don't think it would change a single thing. The reasons why there is too many accidents happening arund it all due to the habits of the driver/motorist themselves.

i think it is a damn good idea. i dunno how i would go seeing ive had my license for over 10 years and the rules always seem to change. but i do think it would be a good idea