The driving test has been with us in various forms since June 1935 as governments have wrestled with the simple question (to which there isn’t really a simple answer): ‘what makes a good driver?’. A laudable question indeed. For those taking the test, the question is rather more pragmatic: ‘how can I pass the test?’. Logically the two questions should overlap; you pass the test by being a good driver, but when was life ever that simple?
If we take the second question first, we will see that people have been offering advice on how to pass the driving test pretty much since it was being introduced. In 1937 a vicar from Somerset wrote to their local paper to remind candidates that they could stick to first and second gear if they found that easier. Obviously, that bit of advice has not stood the test of time. As for the questions examiners might ask, well, a Bedfordshire man (who passed) reported that one of the questions he was asked was what he would do if he was driving down a steep hill and both foot and hand brakes failed. Unfortunately, he didn’t say what answer he gave.
Such a scenario would be a test of character as much as driving skill and knowledge. The question of what personality types make good drivers has exercised the minds of many psychologists and scientists over the years. In 1966, the Road Research Laboratory in Berkshire devised a personality test which they gave to volunteers. Once they had completed the questionnaire, the volunteers were then observed driving. The idea was to identify good drivers and then see if there were any patterns appearing based on their personality tests. The personality tests didn’t go for the screeching down the hill emergency scenarios. Instead they had corkers like “Would you rather be a clergyman or a wrestler?” and “What would be your attitude to a week in a nudist camp?”. As far as I can tell, these questions have not made it onto the theory test that was introduced in 1996.
One constant among the driving test factors over the last 90 or so years has been the examiner. During the recruitment drive for the very first official examiners, candidates were asked piercing questions such as, ‘give details of any accident you’ve been involved in in the last 10 years’. Makes you think, doesn’t it? From the process emerged the first examiners and ever since we’ve all wondered what is the best way to interact with them when we’re taking our tests. Advice from the Daily Mirror in the mid-30s recommended treating them as if they were police officers watching your every move and therefore “observe some kind of discipline” in their presence; offering them a cigarette was a no-no.
Bribery unsurprisingly has raised its ugly head on occasion, creating problems not just for drivers and examiners. In 1970, Radio 1 DJ Kenny Everett jokingly suggested that a government minister’s wife had passed her advanced test because she’d given the examiner a fiver beforehand. Everett was sacked shortly afterwards.
In many ways, the driving test is yet another way to measure the full, wonderful range of human abilities and temperaments. 1970 again provides two fine examples to prove the point. Firstly, this was the year that Miriam Hargreaves failed her test for the 39th time, but finally succeeded with test Number 40 – a brilliant example of perseverance and determination. Secondly, this was the year that Keith Bainbridge passed on his 17th birthday, having spent the first seven hours after 8 a.m. getting lessons with an instructor before taking the test in the afternoon.
Somewhere, in between Miriam and Keith, stand the rest of us.
SteveTLooksBack 