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Should 4x4 drivers be tested?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
A funny thing happened to my dad the other day. A colleague phoned him to complain the four wheel drive on the hilux (which has replaced the Land Rover) wasnt working. It turned out it was working, he just hadn't locked the frewheeling hubs.
This made me think, how many suburban mums are taking their kids to school in a vehicle they don't know how to drive properly? Nowadays you need to pass a test to tow a trailer over 750kg, you need compulsory basic training to ride a moped, why not introduce compulsory training for four wheel drive users. You never know, it might even discourage some people from buying a vehicle they are never going to take off road.
This made me think, how many suburban mums are taking their kids to school in a vehicle they don't know how to drive properly? Nowadays you need to pass a test to tow a trailer over 750kg, you need compulsory basic training to ride a moped, why not introduce compulsory training for four wheel drive users. You never know, it might even discourage some people from buying a vehicle they are never going to take off road.
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not knowing about the free wheeling hubs in no way effects the qaulity and safety of your driving. most people can't change the alternator or even knows what it looks like ...most drivers know next to nothing about how their motors work ...doesn't make them bad drivers.
Slightly sexist do you not think?
As you said your Dads work colleague phoned him saying the four wheel drive wasnt working when infact it was. It was just HE hadn't locked the freewheeling hubs
so what were you saying
It'd also be a good idea to either teach people how to drive on motorways, or not allow them to until they'd had further tuition.
but that's a whole new topic...
:yes:
Motorway driving tuition should be compulsary because it is so different. I hated using slip roads before I was shown how to do it properly.
I think bull bars were made illegal a few years back because if you run into a person with bull bars they have a much lower chance of survival than without them.
I don't know why people want 4x4s in cities either, it has a point if you're a farmer in the countryside - somehow I can hardly see a Ford Focus lasting long out there!
Still, 4 x 4s are highly undesirable cars for many reasons and there should at least be an extra tax for those city toffs who insist in having one.
Hmmm I remember there was a lot of hooha about them - this was a few years back, in the 90s I think. I remember there was an issue about if you hit a pedestrian (kid or adult) the bull bars would kill them. I thought they'd made them illegal or at least banned them on all new cars.
How can they let those things on the road?! Sound like deathtraps on wheels. Glad your son's okay.
You can't buy a new car with bull bars fitted, but there are still plenty of old ones around and you can get them fitted by an aftermarket supplier if you need them for going on expeditions to Africa or whatever.
The Bedford Rascal/Suzuki Super Carry is no longer in production, but the similarly designed Daihatsu Hijet is still available. As a forward control design, there is nowhere to put a crumple zone such as you would find on a normal car, so if you crash your legs will absorb the force of the impact. Not a nice thought. Could this be the reason why the Nissan Serena has the wheels in front of the driver?
Personally I think all drivers should have basic understanding of how there cars work. Not to the extent of changing alternators, but they should at least know where the dipstick is.
I am not a driver but even I know where the dipstick is. I know where the water is for the windscreen etc etc.
I think all these things including how to change a flat tyre should be made compulsary to pass your test. Its stupidity that people actually drive in a car not knowing what to do if they had a flat tyre, or if they drive without water in the windscreen washer bottle.........ludicrous.
Funny that you should mention it, because as of tomorrow the driving test will include a section on knowing how to check oil levels, tyre pressure, windscreen washer water levels etc etc.
When my instructor told me this I thought "oh great, more stuff that I can fail on" but it's actually easy once you're told and I'd much rather know about it than not. I don't think a lot of people my age who've passed their tests recently would know that much about their cars.
The previous generation of drivers had to know how to carry out basic maintenance, because they all drove Austin 1300s that kept braking down. Because today's cars are far more reliable I think this has made new drivers complacent and they don't bother with basic maintenance. Anything that makes drivers take more care of their cars must surely be a good thing.