I get to meet all sorts of interesting people in my line of work, and some of them are astonishingly talented drivers who make me feel like a complete novice behind the wheel. I recently met one such chap while I was doing a photoshoot for a classic car magazine.
This bloke took his car round the test track with mind-bending smoothness and when we were out on the public road, his observation, anticipation and planning were leagues ahead of anything I’ve experienced recently. Still, I shouldn’t have been surprised at his abilities; he’s a Class 1 police driver who has to get places in a hurry as part of his job.
What did surprise me was the fact that this time last year, he had 11 points on his licence – despite never having had a crash in his life. You could argue that his observational skills were clearly lacking, but it’s not that simple; I’ll spare you the detail but suffice to say those points were incapable of making him safer behind the wheel, because he’s already such an accomplished driver.
I’m not suggesting he should have been treated any differently from the rest of us – what I am saying is that stacks of artificially low limits plus hard-line enforcement do not necessarily make our roads any safer. It seems that those who receive the points are not necessarily the ones who are a danger to others. And if that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that those who are genuinely a danger on our roads are frequently continuing to get away with it?
I agree. Having just spent a day driving around London and seeing all the terrible driving habits of motorists and the number of offences being committed the number of points handed out would have been in the 1000’s. Oh, I just remembered, it’s a Sunday and that’s when all the worst drivers in the UK are unleased to test us every day motorists!
John Morris | 29 Jan 07 - 0:39