Magic Bullet

I want to suggest a Road Toll magic bullet to follow on from Seatbelts and Random Breath Testing, which have both proven to be substantial decrements to the road toll.  I have alluded to this in recent posts, but want to go into a bit more detail today.

As you're probably aware the technique is regular driving tests for all motorists.  However if this is going to be too hard to administer, what I suggest is a series of tests that work a little bit like the defective vehicle notices already in place.

If police see a vehicle in their travels that is unsafe or dangerous due to mechanical problems, or indeed at the annual inspections for registration renewal, the vehicle can have a "defective vehicle" sticker applied.  These come in various degrees: the vehicle might be so defective it is dangerous to drive, and therefore a tow-truck is needed immediately, or alternatively the defect might not be so bad, and you're allowed to drive the vehicle for a couple of days in connection with its repair (the one I got a few years ago gave me four hours to drive the vehicle connected with its repair, which meant I could drive it from the RTA depot to the mechanic's workshop (about 750m away), but couldn't really make it home and back in time given that I would have taken quite a few hours to effect repairs).

Once you have a defect notice applied to your windscreen, it is necessary to have repairs effected, and the vehicle is then taken to an authorised inspector who can examine the vehicle and clear the defect notice.

I reckon a smilar process should be applied to drivers.  They don't necessarily have to be booked with traffic offences, but I reckon if a police officer (or other appropriately authorised official) sees a driver driving in a manner that is dangerous to the public, or simply indicates the driver's grasp of the road rules is astray, they should be issued with a "defect notice" which requires them to pass a driving test.

The test need not necessarily be immediate: it might be in the next (say) three months.  You don't impose any monetary fine on the driver, and you allow them to drive in the meantime.  You just require them to pass a driving test within a certain timeframe.  Of course this could be graded so that very dangerous drivers have to sit their test within a fortnight (say), while a driver whose ability is a little bit suspect might be given three months.

There would be no appeal from the requirement to sit the driving test: you'd simply have to be spotted doing something stupid that didn't necessarily amount to a traffic infringement.  (If you commit enough traffic infringements you'll be sitting a driving test anyway when you re-apply for a cancelled or suspended licence).  The reason for no appeal is that the test imposes nothing more on a driver than is required now: you know the road rules, can drive a vehicle safely and have all the necessary skills with which to carry out this task.  Every time you hop into a vehicle and drive, this is the implication of you having a licence.  It's just that you'll need to prove this ability to someone else.

Quite possibly the testing could be contracted out to suitable testers, given that the RTA might not employ enough testing officers already (eg Driving School Instructers themselves).  It will probably lead to increased employment in the driver training and testing industry, and it will no doubt save lives, as it'll force people to think about their driving actions, something that is just not happening enough these days.

I write this after hearing on the news tonight of an horrific accident on the Princes Highway (South Coast) where a vehicle slowed down substantially, was about to be overtaken, and actually did a U-turn fair in front of the vehicle overtaking it.  Why it is necessary to do a U-turn from the middle of the Princes Highway is completely beyond me.  I'd suggest pulling to the left, waiting for clearance and then doing a hook turn might be a more appropriate choice, or better still, pulling into a side-street and doing the U-turn there instead.

I heard Barry O'Farrell calling for more funding for the Princes Highway today, but really!  If a moron is going to chuck a u-bolt in the middle of a major highway, then why is the accident the government's fault?  This is the sort of driver who would be my candidate for the driving test within three months.  Justify your licence mate, and stop killing the rest of us.