He didn't really mean that, part III

They have introduced a new kind of driving test. The new challenge for would-be qualified drivers is: navigation. At a certain point in their test, candidates will be asked to follow the road signs to a particular destination. Yes, really.

You might think this part of the test had already been covered by some element of the basic literacy education which most of receive. And no, it's not an anti-immigrant language skills thing - reading a road-sign is different to reading a newspaper. The reasons for this new element of the driving test are explained by Mr Trevor Wedge, who holds the unlikely position of Chief Driving Test Examiner. He was interviewed on the wireless this morning.

Mr Wedge said, and I quote him verbatim: 'We want to drive down casualties on our roads, and we know that new drivers, particularly, have difficulty especially in the first few months after their test.'

Drive down casualties on our roads? How reading direction signs helps drivers do that, I can't imagine. We might be better off if we lined up people, at random places on the carriageway, and scored the test candidates on the basis of how many they could 'drive down', like skittles.

And if we can't get Mr Wedge on a communications course very quickly, perhaps we should start with him as the first skittle.