Re: Tougher licensing = Safety Fast?

["Arun Rao" <rao@quattro>]

On Feb 10,  3:33pm, Dale McCormack wrote:
> Subject: Re: Tougher licensing = Safety Fast?
> Peter Henriksen wrote:
>  OK, so maybe I missed something, but how come "better tests don't make
> > for better drivers"? If there are better (==stricter and more
> > comprehensive) tests, the education needed will have to be better.
> > >>

> My favorite idea (dream?) has always been a graded driver test in which
> higher demonstrated skills in a closed course  ...

	As I see it, the problem is even more fundamental. In most places
	in the U.S., driving is a basic necessity, because public transport
	is marginal and usually *more* expensive than driving. So lots of
	people who shouldn't be driving - either because they are physically
	unable to do so, or because they cannot afford to keep their cars
	in roadworthy condition - are forced into their cars. For that reason,
	it is impossible to legislate higher competence on the roads by
	immediate fiat -- what are the elderly and the poor supposed to do?

	Speaking only partly from experience, I suspect that the European
	transportation model is closer to what enthusiast drivers would
	want -- public transportation is inexpensive and extensive, so
	the folks who want to drive, pay extra to do so (in one form or
	another). In return, they potentially get (a) better roads with
	less traffic, and (b) higher average driver competence.

	In summary, then (at the risk of oversimplification), the reason
	we have incompetent drivers on the roads in the U.S. is because
	we have cheap cars and gas ...


	-Arun

--
Arun Rao
Pixar Animation Studios
Pt. Richmond, CA 94804
(510) 215-3526