...and statistics
'There is growing concern that the standards of some driving instructors and schools, along with the present system of driving tests, are a major contribution to Britain's alarming road accident statistics.
'Instructors' groups believe the Gov- ernment is preventing the improvement of driving instruction in Britain. A measure of the poor quality of some instructors is also revealed through driv- ing test pass rates . . . It is believed that only one in five passes first time.
"More than 90 per cent of people learning to drive involve themselves at some time with driving schools. The fact that we cannot manage much better than a 22 per cent first-time pass rate is a tremendous indictment of the profes- sion, which in turn is a tremendous Indictment of the DoT," said Mr Caza- ly; (Observer, 17 April) We are not told who Mr Cazaly is, so cannot judge whether his tremendous indictments derive from any official authority. But in any case on 14 April the Department of Transport published figures showing that British road deaths are at their lowest in 33 years and that Britain has the safest roads of any European Community country. Bri- tain's driving instructors and its test system (not to mention the DoT) are therefore surely to be congratulated. Given Britain's relatively low casual- ty figures, the cause of one driver in five passing his test first time (a speculative figure anyway) is more probably the test's gratifying stringency than the in- adequacy of driving instructors. Moreover common sense suggests that the expense of driving lessons is prob- ably a significant incitement to learners to attempt the test prematurely, hence the putatively low pass-rate first time round.
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