Two Pennies Worth

It's not just the old who need refresher driving tests

Dreadful driving standards on Britain's roads mean it's time to introduce a 'refresher' test every 5 years to improve everyone’s skills, argues Sam Dunn.

Whisper it softly (in case my wife hears) but I can vouch for the fact that I’m a pretty decent driver. What, you are too? As good as me? I don’t believe it.

First, I tend to observe speed limits devoutly (except for one shameful incident two years ago where sub-standard map reading by fellow passengers – obviously it wasn’t my fault - forced my intervention just as a 30mph limit sign flashed by unseen).

Safe hands

Second, I put safety first and take very few risks when behind the wheel and third – and here’s the clincher – most other drivers are rubbish.

Their misdemeanours are legion: boneheads who fail to signal as they leave a roundabout on the second exit; middle-lane motorway hogs; greedy parkers whose misaligned vehicles shrink two spaces into one; speed freaks who weave in and out of traffic. I could go on.

The proof is in my pudding: only three points on my licence in more than 21 years of driving. So if you’ve never picked up any motoring penalties and share my driving ethos then I salute you (having pulled over first, naturally. It’s much safer to always have both hands on the wheel).

I am, of course, deluded. Although I genuinely hand-on-heart stand by my statements, I can attest that any number of family members, friends, colleagues and neighbours would scoff risibly at them.

Testing times

Unfortunately, once the original driving test has been passed, there’s no objective way to test and compare our motoring skills. You could drive like a crazed F1 petrol-head one day and a tootling vicar the next and no one would be the wiser.

And while I tut at other road users’ behaviour every five minutes, no doubt they’re doing just the same about me.

I share the general view of Leslie Hore-Belisha, the transport minister who introduced the driving test in 1935. He also introduced the flashing roadside beacon that bears his name, and the 30mph limit prevalent in UK towns.

Critically, he argued that driving was “an art in which those who are engaged should, in the interest of their own and of the public’s safety, take the greatest pains to make them proficient”.

But art, as we know, is extraordinarily subjective. It can go in and out of style, clash horribly between the generations and spark revulsion and rapture in equal measure.

L-plate loser

The average pass rate, according to the Driving Standards Agency, hovers around 46 per cent.

The problem is once the L-plates are tossed in the bin, so too are many of the tenets of sensible driving.

Dangerous drivers have no place on our roads, and while comically bad drivers might make us snigger from time to time, even the smallest of errors can end in horribly big accidents.

A radical shake-up is long overdue so why not introduce a series of compulsory retests, say every five years, with plenty of incentives from the car insurance industry for doing well such as big discounts on insurance or even money off a new car purchase? 

Instead of a simple pass or fail, the tests could be graded for excellence, or otherwise, with the financial rewards set accordingly.

Incentives

Given the sheer volume of new “retest” business, the cost could be part subsidised by the industry or even by tie-ins with car insurers who would pay for your test as long as you then took out cover with them.

If you fail the test, you can still drive but must emblazon your car with a green L-plate on the back as evidence of having passed once but failed a retest. To soften the blow, you can reapply as many times as you like to pass the retest and get it removed.

This might sound draconian but it’s born from a genuine desire to improve the driving skills of the vast majority of UK motorists – and bring them up to my own high standards.

The MPG Challenge: We want your fuel-saving tips

We can all be fiercely vainglorious about our talents when it takes our fancy. I, for example, like to boast about my ability to get pretentious words like ‘vainglorious’ into blogs about motoring.

Others may talk with pride about the number of ‘celebrity’ friends they’ve managed to amass on Facebook - a friend of mine currently counts TV entertainers Roy Walker, Liza Tarbuck and Dave Benson Phillips among his improbable collection.

Moving on from my *ahem* bizarre foibles, the point I’m eventually trying to get at is that many motorists are keen braggers when it comes to getting the most out of their vehicles. This, of course, is understandable when the price of petrol is so eye-wateringly high.

In particular, after skulking around various sites and forums across the web, I’ve noticed that van drivers are especially passionate about edging up the amount of miles they can get to the gallon. Bikers might have a little more hunger for speed, but that doesn’t mean they’re adverse to saving money either.

Now, as I don’t drive, I’m laying down the gauntlet to you all. Be your weapon a van, car or bike, I want to hear your top tips for saving fuel.

•    First off, let me know the MPG you’ve managed and what motor and model you used. If you want to find a way of measuring it, use this handy tool from Torquecars.com.

•    If you’ve made any big changes to achieve this, let me know the difference from your original MPG and what you did to achieve it - whether it’s through alternative fuels, smart mods or simply changing your driving techniques.

•    I’ll feature your best results and top money-saving tips once we get enough responses, so you’ll get the recognition you deserve for sharing your expertise.

Have you managed to cut your fuel usage? How big were your savings and what did you do to manage it? Let us know by commenting below.

Are you getting all the petrol you pay for?

Petrol retailers are required by law to ensure a relatively small margin of error at the pump, but some drivers may find they get significantly less than they paid for. Confused.com’s Stephen Jones explains all...

When filling up at the pump, you probably assume that the amount of fuel you pay for is exactly the amount you’re getting. In fact, this isn’t always the case.

Petrol stations in the UK are legally required to dispense fuel within a certain margin of that advertised. Each pump should be calibrated and regularly tested to dispense up to 10ml extra per litre and a maximum of 5ml less (amounting to around a teaspoon).

While this margin is perhaps nothing to lose sleep over, it is not unknown for pumps to occasionally deliver outside this tolerance by as much as 10 per cent, and even a small variance can see you losing out big time when filling up a whole tank.

So how do you know if you’re being ripped off at the pumps? This is the hard bit, and don’t they know it.

One thing you could do is measure out exactly 10 litres by pouring it into canisters first. The price should be exactly 10 times that advertised on the pump – if the cost is more than 0.5 per cent (5ml per 1000ml (1 litre) = 0.5 per cent) over that then you’re legally entitled to be compensated.

However, this method is an awful lot of bother, with plenty of scope for human error. So I’m opening it up to you – can you think of a better way of catching the petrol stations out? Call me paranoid, but it bothers me that maybe, just maybe, petrol giants all over the country are getting away with ripping us off without our knowledge.

If you have any ideas, let us know about them - we and lots of others would be interested in your thoughts.

And if you can prove you’re being done at the pumps, then you can take the complaint to the Trading Standards Institute which  is in charge of monitoring petrol calibration. Any queries or complaints can be directed to it via the Consumer Direct hotline on 08454 04 05 06.

Have you ever lost out at the petrol pump? Got any ideas for beating the petrol giants? We want to hear from you. Comment below and share your views.