“And here, we have another myth about the driving test. This is from Emannuel. Hello Emmanuel. Emmanuel has said “the driving test is way harder now than from my parents in the day.” Well, we need a history lesson now.
When I took my driving test, it was I think two weeks after my 17th birthday and I’d had five hour lessons and that cost my parents six pounds. My own kids took their driving tests in the 1980’s or so and that took them about 30 or so hours with a driving instructor. They were sharing the roads with about 25 to 30 million other road users. When I did mine, there was only about a million other road users on the roads. Nowadays, if you’re a learner nowadays, you’re sharing the roads with about 35 million users and it’s going to be taking you 40-45 hours with an instructor and possibly more.
Part of the reason alongside that is that the roads are much more complicated. When I started driving, a one-way street was a new fangled idea. There were very few pedestrian crossings with lights. No pelican lights or anything like that. Cars too. Cars when I learned to drive, a heater was extra. A radio was extra. Seat belts weren’t in the cars at all.
So, as time has gone n, cars have got more complicated, the roads have got more complicated, the layouts of the road have got more complicated, and the number of vehicles on the road has got massively massive.
So, it goes without saying that you’re going to need a lot more lessons than your parents. That doesn’t mean to say they were better, quicker, or safer drivers than you. It just means the situation is completely different. So, yes, you can expect to take. lot longer to get through your test than your parents.”
