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Mike Waters' blog: 5 December - It's not what you know, but where you live
Date: 05 December 2014
Many of us have a view on which countries have the best and worst drivers. Normally a generalisation based on the occasional holiday abroad or a taxi ride to the airport we have an opinion based on what we've seen or heard and often not based on enough evidence to be accurate.
However, it was really interesting to read an article recently which assessed the difficulty of the driving test in different countries and it did show quite a range. RED Driving School had the UK as one of the toughest places to pass the test compared to Mexico at the other end of the spectrum which sounded a breeze.
Such inconsistency is a bit frustrating but I suppose we should be grateful to live in a country where the minimum standard of driving it quite high, at least at the point of the driver taking their test. It did get me thinking though that even domestically there must be inconsistencies.
It's very difficult to compare a test completed in a rural area to one in a big, congested city. The distance travelled, challenges faced and therefore the difficulty are different. Of course the other big inconsistency is time since the test.
For some drivers it could be 50 years or more since passing their test in which time the roads will have changed considerably, driving styles will have evolved and the law will have been updated.
This is where driver training can play an important role to refocus the mind and act as a refresher. Many people never go through any level of training after passing their test, but in my experience, those that do often see great benefit.
Mike Waters is senior insight & consultancy manager at Arval, the leading vehicle leasing and fleet management company.
