Commuter Diaries – exercising the dog

Councillor Ed Hill demonstrates perfectly how inexperienced and badly trained are Reform and ex-Reform councillors. Anybody informed on the subject would have ensured that their diatribe contained at least one example of 'I'm a cyclist myself, but......'

You're allowed to look at the cycle lane before and as you turn. Which is what this driver did, except he then also stopped and waited for a cyclist to appear in order to make this 'point'. PS if you have to stop, then turning your head to look is another option. You can also lean forwards in your seat AND turn your head. Take this person's driving licence away please.

Um - I think you missed the 'andor' at the start of mitsky's post. Prevention is better than cure, but prevention *and* cure is better than either.

@mitsky Prevention is better than cure. i wouldnt want wait until they kill someone before action is taken. And many people driving never even had to sit a theory test. So are we to take a driving test taken decades ago as enough to assume they understand many new rules that have been brought in in the mean time? When I was in the army , I had to sit a theory test once a year to keep my ability to drive military vehicles in date. I see why this shouldnt be replicated for all drivers. Standards have dropped sharply in recent years. And if it helps make roads safer and also educate many about things like priorities for vulnerable road users there is only positives to take away. any push back is , i assume, more to do with ego. Why should I have to resit a test periodically if Ive never had an incident? Personally Id rather not wait to find out. I would rather know if youre behind the wheel of a car you know exactly that the rules are cos you're up to date via a theory test. I would also suggest that if anyone fails their theory so badly or repeatedly they should have their license reviewed and a possible loss of license until a full test is passed. I know many will say, they will continue to drive without a license. I believe in the cases where this is true, they would do so even if banned after an incident anyway. At least this way we are attempting to educate and raise standards of all road users not just the very worst.

@Smoggysteve Andor if there is evidence of a driver using the vehicle in a way that would fail a test (ie dangerous fault) then they should lose their licence rather than just recieve points and a fine. If a dangerous fault on a test is enough to prevent someone gaining a full licence, Shirley that same fault should be enough to lose it.

Better still, make SUV drivers register an abnormal load every time they want to move the vehicle. 😁

As someone who lived in Exeter many years ago, its deeply disappointing to find that a part of the city elected this moron of a councillor.

Since so many people fail to understand the basic but vital changes made over the years to the HWC, I propose ALL drivers licenses are suspended until they sit and pass a theory test every 2 years to ensure they are kept informed with all the different rules that have been brought in over the years. Its clear that many drivers who think they know the rules are, in many cases, very wrong. If I was trained in using a very dangerous piece of machinery, I would expect to have to be retrained on it to satisfy the safety case to know I was still competent to operate that machine if it changed in any way from its previous standard operating procedure. Why should cars or lorries be any different?

Ed Hill: "I Could Have Killed a Cyclist Today… But Whose Fault Would It Have Been?’ Tell us that you shouldn't have a driving licence, without telling us. Should there be a new law in place that if someone puts a statement in writing (ie online) that indicates their dangerous mis-understanding of road rules that they should recieve points and a fine, or loss of licence depending on severity?

Cyclists ride as if they own the roads; actually, they do own the roads; they are public roads.