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Thursday 15th September 2011

Transport Committee calls for tougher driving test to help ease congestion

A more rigorous driving test is one of the measures proposed by the Transport Committee to reduce road congestion.

A new Transport Committee report, ‘Out of the jam: reducing congestion on our roads’ which was published earlier today (15/09/11), examines options for reducing congestion without road building or road pricing. Greater use of real-time information systems and better co-ordination between road management authorities are also put forward as affordable solutions.

Louise Ellman, Transport Committee chair, said: “Congestion costs the economy billions of pounds each year. Improving the way we manage road space so that the network runs more smoothly is vital to the prosperity of the nation. Pursuing this challenge should form a key plank of central Government transport policy.

"The DfT cannot simply devolve all responsibility for managing the road network to individual Highway Authorities. These organisations have a key role and duty for managing their local networks, but the DfT should actively support them in working together closely to fulfil that duty.

"More must be done to improve driver behaviour and road safety through better understanding of and adherence to the Highway Code.

"Ministers must also clarify who is responsible for warning road users about impending congestion and work with the transport industry and authorities to increase the availability of such information to drivers through greater use of existing, successful 'intelligent traffic management' systems across local authority boundaries.”

Click here to access the full report.

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Comment Road pricing is the way forward, do away with current Road Tax and charge instead by the mile and by the road; more congested roads should cost more. Also times out with a peak period should cost less. Make people think about their reason to travel by making them pay per mile.
Jim M

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Comment I can say with many years experience that there are many rural counties with minimal congestion, apart from in the major towns. There are also many counties where congestion is recognised to be a problem but it is not throughout the whole of the county. So why are our government considering penalising our young people by restricting them from getting a licence for reasons of congestion. What is fair in stopping a young person from having personal transport when they are not living or working in areas of “congestion”. It’s the wrong reason to make the test harder.
Pat, Wales

Agree | Disagree

Comment Surely the simplest option would be to make drivers take regular retraining by giving credit points for taking re-training courses which would reduce insurance costs and penalty points for driving offences which would increase insurance costs.

The other simple way to get bad drivers off the road..... more traffic police.
Jim Angus, Tenbury Wells, Worcs

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Transport Committee calls for tougher driving test to help ease congestion

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Thursday 15th September 2011 Transport Committee calls for tougher driving test to help ease congestion 3 readers have commented on this story A more rigorous driving test is one of the measures proposed by the Transport Committee to reduce road congestion. A new Transport Committee report, ‘Out of the jam: reducing congestion on our roads’ which was published earlier today (15/09/11), examines options for reducing congestion without road building or road pricing. Greater use of real-time information systems and better co-ordination between road management authorities are also put forward as affordable solutions. Louise Ellman, Transport Committee chair, said: “Congestion costs the economy billions of pounds each year. Improving the way we manage road space so that the network runs more smoothly is vital to the prosperity of the nation. Pursuing this challenge should form a key plank of central Government transport policy. "The DfT cannot simply devolve all responsibility for managing the road network to individual Highway Authorities. These organisations have a key role and duty for managing their local networks, but the DfT should actively support them in working together closely to fulfil that duty. "More must be done to improve driver behaviour and road safety through better understanding of and adherence to the Highway Code. "Ministers must also clarify who is responsible for warning road users about impending congestion and work with the transport industry and authorities to increase the availability of such information to drivers through greater use of existing, successful 'intelligent traffic management' systems across local authority boundaries.” Click here to access the full report. Comments: Report a reader comment Click here to report a comment you consider to be offensive or inappropriate. Road pricing is the way forward, do away with current Road Tax and charge instead by the mile and by the road; more congested roads should cost more. Also times out with a peak period should cost less. Make people think about their reason to travel by making them pay per mile. Jim M Agree \| Disagree I can say with many years experience that there are many rural counties with minimal congestion, apart from in the major towns. There are also many counties where congestion is recognised to be a problem but it is not throughout the whole of the county. So why are our government considering penalising our young people by restricting them from getting a licence for reasons of congestion. What is fair in stopping a young person from having personal transport when they are not living or working in areas of “congestion”. It’s the wrong reason to make the test harder. Pat, Wales Agree \| Disagree Surely the simplest option would be to make drivers take regular retraining by giving credit points for taking re-training courses which would reduce insurance costs and penalty points for driving offences which would increase insurance costs. The other simple way to get bad drivers off the road..... more traffic police. Jim Angus, Tenbury Wells, Worcs Agree \| Disagree What's your view - comment on this story: I confirm that I have read and agree to abide by the house rules relating to comments posted on this website. Your comment: Your name and location: Your email: Captcha [What is this?]	Wednesday 10th April 2013 - Members' area - Road Safety: a guide for local councillors in England Wednesday 13th March 2013 - Members' area - SCP Diamond Jubilee artwork added. Wednesday 13th March 2013 - Footprints: a national photography competition to help make pedestrians safer Monday 11th February 2013 - Vacancies - new job added Thursday 7th February 2013 - Directory - Fresco Interactives added. Thursday 7th February 2013 - Members' area - National Road safety Committee meeting minutes added. Click here to submit a new story or call Sally Bartrum on 01379 650112. Click here to register for our weekly news update service.