97yo woman appeals licence suspension after amassing hundreds of penalty points in driving tests
www.abc.net.au
An elderly woman loses an appeal to get her driver's licence back after failing two driving tests, including one where she amassed 182 penalty points — 160 more than a fail mark.

In the woman’s first driving test, in July 2023, the assessor noted she breached the road rules multiple times including by continuously driving in a bike lane, failing to give way, braking to a near stop in a 70km/h zone and obstructing other vehicles and driving at 38km/h in a 60 km/h zone.

The decision noted the assessor had intervened when the woman started to turn in front of approaching vehicles without sufficient time or distance, and when she failed to give way as she moved off from a kerb.

She still thought she was hard done by and appealed?

  • @[email protected]English
    80•4 days ago

    The only reason driver competence isn’t reassessed with road tests every few years is because the overwhelming majority of drivers are afraid they would fail, so they loudly fight any attempt to rein this in.

    Holy fuck, some guy watched me drive for 20 minutes TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO and that’s considered sufficient for me to drive until I’m 80. Regardless of driving record, collision repairs, and any number of things that scream “look into this guy”, the government thinks everything is fine.

    I think the standards to be allowed to pilot a 1-2 ton fucking missile should be much higher than they are.

    • @affiliateEnglish
      20•4 days ago

      i think a lack of good public transportation might also be a problem here. if the only viable way to get around is with a car, then stakes of failing a driving test are much higher.

      in my opinion, after establishing a very solid public transportation infrastructure, the next step should be to making it harder to get and maintain a driving license. force people to retake the test every 2 years, or every time they get any kind of traffic violation. and make the test harder to pass. the goal would be to make it annoying enough that most people would realize they don’t really need a car. and if people really do need a car, then they’d be much more incentivized to drive responsibly.

      • @Nouveau_BurnswickEnglish
        5•3 days ago

        Online Written test every year, in person written test every 2 years (the laws do change after all).

        Road test every 4-5 years.

        Bingo on the violations. In person written test for any infraction, road test for any infraction involving points.