refnation
Should all drivers have to retake a driving assessment every few years?
TransportEnds 12 Oct 21h 9m left

Should all drivers have to retake a driving assessment every few years?

UK driving licences are valid until age 70 with renewal every 10 years and no mandatory retesting for any drivers. From age 70, renewal is required every 3 years via self-declaration of health and eyesight standards, with no practical driving test required. The government has consulted on mandatory eyesight tests for over-70s but has confirmed no plans for driving retests for any age group.

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6 Opinions

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BenL· 449
THE NANNY-STATE ALLERGIC
Voted noC. Left lean

Learners already wait half a year just to book a driving test. Where are we magically finding an army of examiners to retest 35 million drivers every few years? The DVSA would collapse overnight. I think we need mandatory eyesight tests for the over 70s and retests should there be X amount of at-fault incidents in a 5 year time scale but blanket retests just punish even the safest of drivers with a blemish free record for 20+ years etc.

Spargrass· 405
The Modest Fiscal Hawk
Voted noC. Right lean

There should be a mandatory health check, covering eyesight, physical ability and reaction times etc

The Civic Libertarian
Voted noC. Right lean

Expensive, impractical and ultimately pointless it wouldn't catch anything or improve standards

Slawomir· 909
The Accountable Capitalist
Voted noRight lean

No, not possible to execute. Some could for example if exceeding average of participation in collisions. Or receiving too many fines.

JohnKelly· 240
The Taxpayer’s Commandant
Voted noRight lean

Maybe make the test harder or add a second harder test after the first, to raise the initial quality. But mandatory regular retests would be costly and aren’t really needed.

The Polymath
Voted noC. Left lean

Not everyone should have to retake, just those over 70 or recently diagnosed with conditions that impair driving.