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Drivers Not Confident in their Testing Abilities

Posted: Friday, 17 February 2017

If you had to retake your driving test tomorrow to keep your licence, do you think you would pass? What about your fleet drivers? If they are like the majority of drivers in the UK, they probably don't have confidence in their own abilities either. It makes you wonder what we're all doing behind the wheel on any given day.

As you already know, getting a full driving licence requires passing a rigorous test designed to gauge a driver's knowledge and skill. Fail the test, and you don't get a licence. On the other hand, passing the test affords driving privileges for life – unless a person does something serious enough to result in a ban. Perhaps it's time for us to think about remedial driving tests.

Drivers Lack Confidence

It turns out that new research released earlier this month by Voucher Codes Pro shows that most UK licence holders lack confidence in their own driving skills. When asked whether they could pass a driving test, the majority said no. Nearly all the survey respondents admitted to picking up bad habits that could result in failure if they had to retake the driving test the next day.

Voucher Codes Pro surveyed just under 2,500 drivers over the age of 18 with a full licence and a minimum of 12 months driving experience. Roughly 74% said they probably could not pass a driving test while 92% admitted to those bad habits we previously mentioned. The bad habits include everything from distracted driving to having only one hand on the wheel.

According to Fleet News UK, the most often-mentioned bad habits were:

  • Driving with one hand on the wheel
  • Driving while using mobile phones, sat navs, etc
  • Driving while eating or drinking
  • Running traffic lights
  • Not fully paying attention

Fleet Operator Concerns

As a fleet operator or a small business with company vehicles, this information should be alarming to you. Why? Let's do the maths. The survey revealed that 74% of the drivers believed they could not pass a driving test tomorrow. The 92% of those drivers who admitted to picking up bad habits account for just over 68% of the total number of survey respondents. That means more than two-thirds of the drivers on the road acknowledge doing things they shouldn't be doing behind the wheel.

We encourage regular licence checks among fleet operators for this very reason. Any one of the bad habits listed above could result in fines, penalty points, and even a driving ban. Fleet operators need to know this. They need to know if any of their drivers have run afoul of the law so that they can take remedial action.

Surveys like these serve as a stark reminder of the responsibility of driving. Perhaps we all need to brush up on our skills from time to time. Maybe we should be retaking the driving test on a regular basis, too.

Source: Fleet News UK