Driving test pass rate drops

[jgurney]

The pass rate for the driving theory test has fallen from a highest point of 70% to 49% now. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29160052

Seems good to me - anything which either increases the standard of driving or decreases the numbers of drivers makes us safer.

[661-Pete]

I often wonder how well I'd fare in the Theory test - seeing as I never took one! The nearest we got to it back in the 1970s, were a few questions taken from the Highway Code, plus having to identify a handful of road signs. Easy! Though I knew one guy, back then, who failed his Test on 'knowledge of the HC' - he was a recent immigrant from India and thought he could get through without any swotting up at all. He thought wrong!

But now! Surely 49% is an appalling indictment of the road sense of the public at large. Or is it? Are we keeping more morons away from the wheel?

[[XAP]Bob]

Just means people are taking two attempts on average... They'll still get through

[cjchambers]

Could mean all manner of things . . . Given that the majority of learners are young, and that youth unemployment/underemployment is at an all time high, is it the case that more learners are just 'giving it a go' without paying for one-on-one tuition, books or practice DVDs? Just a thought.

Anything which either increases the standard of driving or decreases the numbers of drivers makes us safer.

Nothing wrong with more drivers, it's fewer journeys that will make the roads a more pleasant place.