Jim Hardie Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Didn't there used to be plenty of old people that had been driving for so long that they'd never had to pass a test, they'd just applied for a license and got one? Probably all dead now since this was likely in the 1930s or earlier. My dad never took a driving test. He was given a license whilst serving in the Home Guard during the war. Still with us at 89 but no longer driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 40 years of motoring, let's compare... Legal = 40 * (road tax + insurance + mots). Illegal = £1000 + driving ban for a period of time. Hmm... But the offender might well have had and paid for all those, lacking only the licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 But the offender might well have had and paid for all those, lacking only the licence. I think he'd have been stopped before this if he didn't. He probably did have a provisional license, tax, mot & insurance (which would probably be invalid if he was driving illegally). The article says he was uninsured, but maybe he would've been insured if he was driving legally (L plates, passenger who can drive, etc). There's no mention of no MOT & no tax in the article, I think it would've been in there if it happened. So he just saved the cost of lessons & testing, he will probably be fined more than that & banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Shaw Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I think they'd have been stopped before this if they didn't. He probably did have a provisional license, tax, mot & insurance (which would probably be invalid if he was driving illegally). So he just saved the cost of lessons & testing, then got fined more than that. Maybe; but neither of us knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Sorry, I should've typed the full post at once. I think if there was no MOT & tax it'd have been mentioned in the article. Don't the police have access to a database of untaxed cars? I'd have thought it'd show that up the first time they checked his number plate. Maybe he didn't even have a provisional or any insurance at all, but I think somebody would need to insure the car or it'd get stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uptowngirl Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Err what? Let me quote, erm you. That is rather the point. The police wouldn't have known if he hadn't told them. So why did he tell them? He could have said he had only driven on that day. Perhaps he has driven for 50 years without a license. The point is telling the cops that he had been doing it for 40 years rather suggests Wormwood Scrubs rather that a £100 fine. Perhaps its all a bluff so he can sell his story to the papers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Squirrel Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 The entire licensing system is a mockery. People can pass their test first time through pure luck and are never evaluated again - ever! Its high time that periodical re-testing (with a different system to the standard 'L' test) was introduced. That way, the roads would be safer still and people who have been driving for years and who may have lost some of their knowledge and skills, could be re-educated and re-trained to be safer, more competent drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnailyBoy Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 The entire licensing system is a mockery. People can pass their test first time through pure luck and are never evaluated again - ever! Its high time that periodical re-testing (with a different system to the standard 'L' test) was introduced. That way, the roads would be safer still and people who have been driving for years and who may have lost some of their knowledge and skills, could be re-educated and re-trained to be safer, more competent drivers. Pure luck? How does that work then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanerothyme Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 It all depended on your examiner. My driving test was about 11 minutes long. After an examination that consisted of driving around at 25-35 miles an hour for a few minutes on a Tuesday mid-morning, doing one emergency stop, one roundabout,reversing round a corner and answering 2 or 3 questions about road signs, I was licenced to drive a high performance car on the motorway. I got a Ghanaian driving licence as a 7 year old. You had to get into the car, start it and drive it forwards, and stop. I sat in my dad's lap and did the steering. Both tests were about as rigorous and useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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