Durban - A couple of months ago I started hearing rumours that there was a proposal in the works that the government would require drivers to retake their driving licence tests each time they went to renew their licences.
I remember thinking at the time that the idea was too absurd to be true. However, this week I learnt that this was indeed one of the proposals being put forward by the Department of Transport as part of the effort to curb road carnage in South Africa.
I spoke to a bunch of people about what they thought about getting retested and the reaction was the same from all of them – “that’s bullshit”.
If we thought the opposition to e-tolls was fierce, my guess is that the opposition to something like this would be unlike anything we’ve seen before.
LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE
First of all, from a practical and logistical point of view it’s going to be a nightmare to implement.
The queues at driving licence testing centres are insane already. I know people who have been so long in the Rossburgh queue that they fell in love, married and divorced all before reaching the front.
These testing centre workers are already overwhelmed doing what they do on a normal day-to-day basis, you know, processing those forms, doing eye tests, and being rude. Now imagine what would happen if you added retesting to the mix?
The system would come to a grinding halt.
It’s debatable whether retesting people would do anything to stop people getting killed on the road. The proposal is grounded in the assumption that if we were getting retested every few years we would all be applying K53 (learners’ practice list) on the roads. I don’t think this is true.
DRIVING IN THE REAL WORLD
First of all, the moment the average South African passes their driving licence there is something about that euphoric feeling we feel at the time that magically removes every bit of K53 education, road rules and decency from our brains.
In other words, the moment we drive out that testing yard, we make a silent promise to ourselves to ignore everything we learnt from that driving school instructor.
Let’s be honest here, who actually applies parallel parking techniques or checks their mirrors 15 times before taking off or uses their handbrake at every stop street or incline.
In fact, the only people who actually follow the rules are learner drivers who we happen to think are assholes for driving 60km/h when the rest of us are doing 120km/h in the Makro car park.
WE WOULD FAIL
The truth is, many of us fear the prospect of being retested. I for one probably wouldn’t pass the way I drive now. I’ve picked up way too many bad habits from too many bad drivers over the years. I think the majority of the driving population probably shares similar sentiments.
I read somewhere that the number one fear in the world is public speaking, however from talking to people about this proposal I actually think it’s parallel parking.
Most of the people I know haven’t paralleled parked since their driving test. Sure, most people know how to park next to pavements, but few have any idea how to do that whole proper reversing in thing.
So I assume that should this proposal actually get the go-ahead, thousands will be running off to driving schools to “relearn” how to drive properly for the purpose of passing the test. Once the test its over we will return to our regular habits.
MONEY TO BE MADE
Driving schools of course are going to coin it. I for one will start a whole chain of them as soon as the proposal goes through, why not, there’s money to be made.
I imagine there’s going to be some of sort of retesting fee involved so the government scores. Examiners at testing centres are going to be making a lot more money too, from bribes. Think about it, every couple of years the same bad drivers will be back with a tasty envelope. What’s not to like?
Of course, there’s going to be the problem of people not renewing their licences anymore. Which means the cops who pull them over will also be coining it.
Clearly there is an upside to this for some people.
The fact is we don’t need retesting. What we do need is to ensure that testing is done correctly the first time. Root out corruption and rework the driver education syllabus so that it’s something that people can implement long term, not just during those 30 minutes or so of the driving test.
What we need more, is stricter enforcement of traffic laws. Fines and warnings just don’t cut it anymore. Promising speedsters, reckless drivers and those who don’t wear seatbelts jail time would send a clear message and go a long way to sorting out the problems on our roads. -The Sunday Tribune
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