Should Drivers Be Required to Undergo a Biennial test

[spacesailor]

Traffic kalming. 

What bluey bullsheet .

Driver Anoying Schemes.  

Only the hoons like them,  stop with front wheels against DAS ,floor it then drop the clutch. 

Seems a lot doing it around here !.

spacesailor

 

[spacesailor]

I suppose IF we had started with biannual testing  !,

We wouldn't  think about getting rid of it, as wasteful & Anoying. 

NSW has a wasteful annual mechanical ' safely ' check .

But a car could still be " unsafe " , the moment it's driven out of the checking station .

Example: my daughters mini was tested & found , the handbrake not working .  When rechecked the mechanic was driving with the rear wheels locked ,(  front wheel drive ).

Then as my daughter approached the car infront her brake pedal fell to the floor , with a sheared clevis pin, that the mechanic had stamped on so hard .

spacesailor

 

[Bruce Tuncks]

In South Australia, we have had an especially smart person way up there who has refused to allow annual inspections for cars in.

Interstate, they pay big money for little gain, as the inspector gains as many cars to "repair" as he loses to angry motorists.

Most people with defective cars are only too well aware of their car's shortcomings, and they drive accordingly.

I personally never owned a sound car till later in life, and I never had a crash in a "defective" car.

[Marty_d]

We don't have annual inspections here either.  I think driver education has a lot more to do with safety than the condition of the vehicle.

[spacesailor]

Agreed.

As an example. 

My daughters mini was driven in a ' gravel carport ' with the rear wheels locked .

That mechanic didn't want to pass the WOF as he couldn't stop the ' front wheel drive vehicle ' by the hand-brake . He also broke the ' clevis pin ' on the brake pedal.  Which my daughter found out when stopping Behind another car . After picking up her car with a one hour old WOF that I had just Paid for & witnessed  the 'handbrake' stupidity. 

spacesailor

Edited September 13 by spacesailor
AI changed my word

[red750]

The question is not about vehicle inspections, although that is a valid concern, it's about senior age drivers, and whether they are still capable of handling a vehicle, and today's traffic.

 

It seems almost daily that you see on the news, "A vehicle driven by a senior man/woman was involved in an accident". Hitting the accelerator instead of the brake, or suffering a medical incident are common reasons. Also, many are not familiar with newer changes to road rules.

 

Victoria has no testing for senior drivers (or vekicle checks for that matter), just pay the renewal fee over the internet (don't even have to go to VicRoads or the police station).  My doctor asks if I still drive, and has not indicated I am not fit to drive. I drive on average 4 days a week (not far, weekly trips about 100km) and I do everything in my power to stay abreast of rule changes, and to ensure I concentrate on the road. I don't even have a radio or music on in trhe car.

[spacesailor]

Example two.

My brother,had the police visit him ,as accused of reducing the- speedometre ' mileage. 

The WOF  centre xwas 7 kilometres  away and he had posted a years mileage of only 14 kilometres. 

( in thosedays the mileage was recorded on the car

" logbook ")

spacesailor

 

[old man emu]

In NSW the odometer reading is recorded at the time of the annual inspection and that data is reported to the registering mob. THe alleged idea is that the record can be accessed by a purchaser to see if what shows on the odometer is consistent with previous records.

 

It is a serious offence to alter the reading on an odometer. The speedo on my bike broke, so I had to replace it with its included odometer. I applied to do that and an inspector visited me and inspected the old speedometer. I explained that it was not possible to roll the bevel holding the glass back after it had been removed. He agreed and approved the change of speedo.

 

I wonder what they think when they see that over the past couple of years, the odometer reading has only gone up by about 30 miles, since it has been out of service.. Not that they would twig to the fact that the odometer measures miles not kilometres

[spacesailor]

As an aside.  I beat my brothers record of' Low annual mileage. 

As my inspection station is only a couple of kicks away. 

So my total was under ten kilometres for the whole year .

Just  more stupid bureaucracy .

when in " lock down " we weren't allowed to go for a drive "

but the Law says,  otherwise. 

spacesailor