Silas - I quite agree... that is apparently why they aren't intending to make it compulsory.

Ian - I think it's high time we implemented a 'P' plate system (as they have had in Ireland for at least forty years to my knowledge). A new driver displays the 'P' plate for their first year of driving, possibly with some restrictions - such as driving on a motorway only with a qualified driver present.

Someone on the radio this morning was suggesting re-tests for older drivers. Yes, that old chestnut! A more appropriate idea may be similar to those imposed on pilots, where they must fly a certain number of hours per year.

Admittedly it would be more difficult to administer such a system for drivers of cars used by more than one driver, but I do feel that very low mileage drivers are more of a risk to themselves and others than people such as I, who drive in excess of 20,000 miles a year - a lot of it on motorways.

My own father, for example, who now doesn't drive (we took the car away a year ago) drove so little that he was a potential risk. He had a fourteen-year-old car with only 38600 miles on the odometer, and we took the decision after my daughter twice visited the house to find the car on the drive with the engine running, and my father inside watching TV. To be fair, he's pushing 90!

Some 60-year-olds are as good as, if not better than some younger drivers, but others present a real danger because they are over-cautious. A car is a lethal weapon in the wrong hands...