http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38464776

Seems a bit mad to me.
Will they be able to join the motorway and get up to speed? Dual control is good for stopping, but how do you get up to speed?
It's bad enough when you meet some oap going at 45, let alone some leaner going slow.

Why not have compulsory lessons once they have passed their test, before they can use the motorway?

Some people have driving savvy after just passing their test, others have none even having passed many years ago.
I am a good motorway driver and was a good driver the moment I first got into the drivers seat. I have seen some horrors, young, old, new drivers and people that passed years ago makes no odds good and bad drivers are all ages and stages of driving

They should instead make the Pass Plus compulsory for motorway instruction.

I do agree though that it seems incongruous that after passing the driving test which is just a basic test of competency (on the day!) in town centre driving, all of a sudden you are entitled to zoom down motorways.

I drove last week from Midlands to Glasgow up the A1(M) to Scotch Corner then across to Penrith and then the A74(M). This was my first long distance journey. Strangely it was less stressful than I thought. I was mostly doing about 70, overtaking at about 80 in places, but still being overtaken by cars doing about 90. But a lot less hazards than country roads with sharp twists and ditches on either side of a narrow road, avoiding cyclists and parked car obstructions etc.

Oh and no bus lanes fines

Use of the motorway is an integral part of being competent to drive and use of the full road network. It seems mad to me that it isn't part of tuition and testing.

And what if you don't live near enough to a motorway?

I don't drive on motorways even so many years after my test I don't feel qualified to do so, we need to encourage people not confident to keep off them tbh I'd feel I was a danger to others if I did go on one. So this idea of learners on there seems madness to me, leave those roads to people who are able to use them safely !

Perhaps some training in how to use one would have instilled the confidence and competence for you to use the motorway?

I think it is such a defeatist attitude to suggest that people should be discouraged etc

I never found any problem of driving on the motorway for the first time because I had plenty of practice on dual carriageways in my lessons. This at least gives you the confidence of driving at high speeds and entering down slip roads correctly. The problem with compulsory lessons on motorways is that believe or not there are still places that are miles away from the nearest motorway. I suspect that is why the government don't plan on making it compulsory?

Seems sensible to me. Far better to have that first experience of motorway driving with an instructor next to you, then on your own.

Motorways are about the easiest (and safest) driving you can do. It's driving on the same road at a fairly constant speed for mile after mile and about the only things you need to think about are changing lanes and coming off at the right junction.

Exactly. Nearest motorway to a friend of mine is 310 miles - and takes about 15 hours to get there - by ferry for the first 200 miles!

Another friend is 200 miles from a motorway, again needs a ferry and takes 7 hours to get there!

I agree, but once you have got to the required standard. I quite like the pass plus mentioned above as a requirement to use motorways.
If in East Anglia, you will be doing your pass plus in one day in order to experience all the different driving conditions required!

There are a few things missing in your list.

Well, yes, but for the sake of brevity... The point stands however. Motorway driving is far easier than trying to negotiate, say, an inner city one way system at rush hour and we don't ban learners from using those.

After I passed my test I did something called Pass Plus. This involved motorways. The Pass Plus was optional but maybe make it compulsory; that way new drivers get tuition on motorways after they have proven some competence by passing the standard test.

Not a bad idea.

Currently, anyone who passes their test is still 'new' to motorways, so giving a little instruction and experience can't be a bad thing. Speed judgement and lane discipline are useful things to experience.

After I passed my test (80's), I was lucky enough to have a one hour motorway lesson 'thrown in' and I certainly learned a few things that hadn't come up during the regular lessons.

Clearly, such lessons need to be set at less busy times of the day and there will be some who live quite a distance from a motorway, but driving a car should be taken seriously and not just a 'right'.

If I had my way, the standard driving test would be the advanced driving test and it would have to be refreshed every 7 years.

It's not easier (or if it s, you are doing it wrong), it's just different

Indeed.

I live at least a two hour round tip from the motorway. At least I live on the mainland, unlike those people who live on one of the UK's many islands.

So how would people like me ever get their licence? I'd spend a lesson driving to and from the end of the motorway!

I have plenty of dual carriageway experience, though - and arguably that's the more difficult road to drive on (especially if it's not a modern stretch of road with slip roads and whatnot)

Why don't you learn how to use one rather than suggest others who are nervous about them should not use them?

Motorway driving is about as easy as it gets. I will avoid motorways for one reason, I find them boring and far from driver error I find this "variable speed" thing something that just f*cks up the flow of motorways.

One thing I will advise anyone to do rather than drive down the motorway slip road right away, is to drive round the roundabout ( or whatever else there is ) first to make sure its not bumper to bumper down there. Nothing for your heart dropping to your boots when you are driving down the slip way and see its all stopped and you have nowhere to go.. So now if I have to drive on one I will take a few minutes driving past to make sure its clear,


Getting onto the motorway from the slip road is pretty easy if you use your mirrors rather than just looking ahead.. you can easy size the traffic and match or adjust your speed accordingly . When coming up to a exits (if you are not leaving) move over so people can get on or HGVs have room to move over if needed. Its easier for you to move than them . Dont sit in the one lane not moving, think ahead. Never just watch the car in front look over or through that car to see what those ahead are doing. if the car ahead brakes suddenly and you are close you are to late to stop. but if you look at the cars in front of them, you will see it in plenty of time.

Yes I think you are right to be honest I don't feel a burning need to use them I guess if I did I would have sought help but my driving tends to be on local roads as my husband prefers to do the longer journeys.

But I stand by my idea some should be discouraged sat in the passenger seat I've gasped in horror at some peoples driving, better to say get off the road than allow them to cause others to lose their lives in the ensuing crashes.

It's not going to be a compulsory part of the training or test, just making it legal for a learner driver (with instructor) to use motorways. Hopefully there will be some restrictions on requiring a minimum number of hours and a registered instructor so you won't be able to go out on the M25 with your dad on your 17th birthday.

I don't have much of a problem with this myself. I was crapping myself the first time I drove on a motorway after I passed my test. I learned to drive in a fairly rural area so we had to go quite a distance even to find a dual carriageway.

When you get the confidence and experience of using motorways they are actually the safest roads to drive on. I would think that a large number of the crashes which do occur are caused by nervous or inexperienced drivers crawling along the slow lane at 40 mph which is very dangerous when there are HGVs coming up behind you.

They could probably do it with a simulator ( I think that is what they are called)

If a learner can drive proficiently on a duel carriage way they have 85% of the skills needed in theory to drive on a motorway.

However in my experience, it's the remaining 15% that isn't taught . For example, instructors will not explain to a learner that the vast majority of motorway drivers will drive between 70-80 Mph with no issue.

Not forgetting...

All round thorough mirror checking when changing lanes on motorway.
Correct use of the outside lane.
Correct use of the inside lane
Understanding the middle lane and when to be in it.
Using filter lanes

I would say that motorway driving is easier in the sense of being less stressful than driving around a busy city centre that you aren't familiar with.