Make cycle awareness a core part of the driving test

Please take a few minutes to sign the e-petition and get it discussed in parliament and hopefully passed into law.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/44059

Done. Couldn't agree more

Posted this on my facebook also. I think it's important for new drivers to have this awareness of more vulnerable road users and no better way than for it to be in the driving test so it's compulsory.

Done

should also be something about cyclists equally being aware of how to use the road, to reduce this jumping on a bike and riding blind thing that people do, then blame the bloke driving the car for anything that goes wrong.

job done.

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

"Blah blah blah blah, evrerthing is fine as it is, we couldn't possibly make any realistic changes"

Defeatist, buck-passing bollocks. Signed.

I don't get it. cyclists shouldn't be on the roads why are they in the test? Fuckers don't even pay road tax!!!

the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

"Blah blah blah blah, evrerthing is fine as it is, we couldn't possibly make any realistic changes"

Defeatist, buck-passing bollocks. Signed.

?

No, they said they couldn't realistically ensure that a learner would encounter a cyclist on their practical test. Fair enough, isn't it?

I do think that learners need better education, and I have signed the petition, but I don't think its aims are particularly clear or well-worded. We all know that "cycle awareness [should be] a core part of driver training", but what specific guidance should learners be given? And for the sake of comparison, what are the other 'cores' of learning, and how are they taught? Perhaps a car-park exercise in which the instructor places some cones down (representing a cyclist) and the learner is instructed on how to pass them.

Awareness could mean incorporating some degree of cycle training, something along the lines of you within the 2 years of owning a probatory license the new driver must have a certificate showing they have had X amount of cycle training in order to get a full licence after 2 years. On the cycling side of things they should re-introduce the cycling proficiency test at school, it could be easily incorporated into PE of even just a lecture on the highway code etc.

That would be the ideal situation, I suppose. A lot of countries have progressive licensing (for things like driving at night, driving cars over a certain power/weight ratio); we already have it for motorbikes. Perhaps to pass from a probationary licence to a full licence you need to have completed modules (learn the material and go in for a 1-hour practical skills workshop/exam, or something) in things like advanced vehicle control, driving in adverse weather, basic vehicle maintenance, as well as how to cycle/drive around cyclists. I quite like this idea - learning to drive is already extremely expensive, so staggering the cost out over a few years could give a higher level of training without it being prohibitively expensive.

Local authorities already do offer 'bikeability' to schools, but I don't know the mechanics of how it is funded. I would imagine that a lot of local authorities or schools simply can't work it into their budget.

years. On the cycling side of things they should re-introduce the cycling proficiency test at school, it could be easily incorporated into PE of even just a lecture on the highway code etc.

It always surprises me that people who are interested enough to say that cycling proficiency should be brought back are not informed enough to know about Bikeability or that fact that Bikeability, the far superior, and on-road, successor to cycling proficiency is taught in hundreds of schools.
As for being 'easily incorporated' it is generally taught in year 5 and 6 but is very hard to get senior schools to schedule it. Most primary schools cover road safety as a general topic but not in ways specific to cycling and safe cycling can only be taught on road anyway.
I would love to see safe cycling integrated in to schools curricula but for the time being Bikeability is doing a pretty good job.

I'm only speaking in regards to the schools local to my area, It used to be done in year 6 around my area but just before I got there it was cut and most of the surrounding schools did the same. I meant it in a loose sense, any form of cycle training at schools is ideal.

I suppose Will's point was partly that some forms of training at schools are ideallerer than others. :)

Drivers clearly need more awareness of cyclists but how is that going to happen via a driving education in preparation for a driving test.
As soon at 99% of people pass the test all the good practice goes out of the window, why would they maintain just the cyclist awareness part?
I may be a shit driver in regards to how you should drive during a test and I would fail the test if I drove as I do everyday but I am very aware of cyclists and give them room and respect but that is because I am also a cyclist who has to put up with the crap drivers not because it was mentioned in a driving test 25 years ago.

All the good practice goes out the window after the test? Rubbish; go to a country with a poor quality of driver education and you see a poor quality of driving! The UK has a rather well-developed driver education system, and one of the toughest tests, and consequently we have the lowest road deaths (per capita, per vehicle and per mile - doesn't matter how you measure it) of almost anywhere in the world.

I would say that most poor driver-cyclist interactions are down to the driver simply never being informed about how to interact around cyclists.

I'm not convinced that the driving test is where we should be focussing, for two reasons. Firstly, people tend to drop habits learnt in order to pass the test, shortly after taking it. Secondly, it doesn't address all the morons already on the road.

For these reasons, I think a better approach would be an ongoing programme of driver awareness, preferably backed up with a more hard-line approach to banning drivers who come into conflict with cyclists, unless they can prove that the fault lay wholly with the cyclist.

All the good practice goes out the window after the test?

Yep, sure does. I drive on the road every single day and don't see much good practice. And the drivers that have most recently passed their test are more likely to be in an accident which clearly means they are not following the good practice from their lessons and test.
If all drivers drove as if they were on their driving test how many accidents do you think would happen and how would they happen?

How about this? [ame="https://vimeo.com/31545084"]https://vimeo.com/31545084[/ame
]

... The UK has a rather well-developed driver education system, and one of the toughest tests, and consequently we have the lowest road deaths (per capita, per vehicle and per mile - doesn't matter how you measure it) of almost anywhere in the world. ...
The difference between UK and Sweden and Netherlands is that the risk of injury for cyclists is much higher here and the number of serious injuries is increasing.
In the Netherlands kids of about 11 have to do a practical and theory cycling exam in school. If the petition called for Bikeability level 3 as a prerequisite for a UK driving licence then high schools would be queuing up to provide it.

Yep, sure does. I drive on the road every single day and don't see much good practice. And the drivers that have most recently passed their test are more likely to be in an accident which clearly means they are not following the good practice from their lessons and test.
If all drivers drove as if they were on their driving test how many accidents do you think would happen and how would they happen?

Let me be very clear - I don't think, and have never said, that 'everyday' driving is the same as 'driving test driving', and experience is just as important as education; however, there is also a very clear correlation between good education and good driving practice. Your assertion that pro-cyclist training is pointless because 'all practice goes out the window' is demonstrably false; a higher level of driver education leads to a better standard of driving - this has been proven statistically, regardless of your personal anecdotes. To put it another way - if 'all the practice goes out the window' then an untrained driver would be just as safe as a well-trained one!

The difference between UK and Sweden and Netherlands is that the risk of injury for cyclists is much higher here and the number of serious injuries is increasing.
In the Netherlands kids of about 11 have to do a practical and theory cycling exam in school. If the petition called for Bikeability level 3 as a prerequisite for a UK driving licence then high schools would be queuing up to provide it.

Absolutely - although experience is also a factor, this is more evidence that pro-cyclist driver education leads to safer conditions for cyclists.

Let me be very clear - I don't think, and have never said, that 'everyday' driving is the same as 'driving test driving', and experience is just as important as education; however, there is also a very clear correlation between good education and good driving practice. Your assertion that pro-cyclist training is pointless because 'all practice goes out the window' is demonstrably false; a higher level of driver education leads to a better standard of driving - this has been proven statistically, regardless of your personal anecdotes. To put it another way - if 'all the practice goes out the window' then an untrained driver would be just as safe as a well-trained one!

Okay, so you think you can change peoples attitudes via a one off driving test when they are 17. I think you are vastly over estimating the typical driver who will still not give a shit about cyclists and given the choice would not have them on the road.
Cyclists are a nuisance to them, they get in the way and slow them down and anything they were taught leading up to a test will be totally forgotten.

And yes, an untrained driver (via the current driving test method) is just as safe assuming they have common sense, awareness, empathy for other road users etc,. Those that don't are the ones that put you in danger every time you ride (test or no test)

Being a cyclist ,motorcyclist,car driver and pedestrian in central London I think the poor car driver gets a raw deal - Its always his/her fault. I come across too many stupid cyclists every day- you know who you are, and then we have tourists on Boris bikes! Every body needs to be aware of all other road users, so do what I do, treat all other users as idiots and act accordingly. I will not be signing petition, sorry.

And yes, an untrained driver (via the current driving test method) is just as safe assuming they have common sense, awareness, empathy for other road users etc,. Those that don't are the ones that put you in danger every time you ride (test or no test)

So you're saying that because education can't modify behaviour, the poor standard of driving and subsequent high road mortality rate in countries like Chad, Afghanistan, Ethiopia (or all other countries with a 'drive round some cones' test) has nothing to do with a lack of training, and is purely down to some genetic predisposition for bad driving? Britain has some of the safest roads in the world, and you don't think this has anything to do with the fact that we have one of the most complete driver education systems and one of the hardest tests?

All the evidence disagrees with you, if you would care to look it up. Education can and does change the way that people act. Teach people how to drive around cyclists and at least some of them will remember it; surely that's better than not being taught at all?

Teach people how to drive around cyclists and at least some of them will remember it; surely that's better than not being taught at all?

Yes, you can try and teach them. Just as you can try and teach them not to exceed speed limit, not to drive too close behind each other, not to pull out in front of cars etc, etc,.
The drivers that listen and continue to drive as they were taught are in the minority and they are the ones that already treat cyclists as they should be.

You need to get to the impatient, poor drivers who don't give a shit about cyclists and see them as an obstacle to their progress and must pass as quickly as possible at all costs (blind bends, oncoming cars and so on). The test does nothing to stop that.