- Since a Mr J Beene
took the first ever driving test in 1935, over 94 million
tests have been conducted in Great Britain. (August 2010)
- In the 1930s, there were only 1.5 million cars in the UK,
but over 7,000 people a year were being killed on the roads;
more than twice the present level - when traffic levels are 20
times higher.
- In the early days of motoring, there were few rules or
regulations. In 1893, France was the first country in the
world to introduce a driving test, along with the first
vehicle registration plates and parking restrictions.
- The first car and driver licences were introduced in Britain
in 1903, but testing was unknown here for another 30 years.
- Miss Vera Hedges Butler was the first British woman to pass
a driving test: as it was 1900,and drivers were not yet being
tested in Britain, the intrepid Miss Hedges Butler decided to
go all the way to Paris to take the French test.
- By the early 1930s, motoring had become more popular and
more affordable. However, rules and regulations were scant and
drivers received only basic instructions before being allowed
on the roads.
Consequently, accidents and fatalities began
to reach worrying proportions.
In 1934, 7,343 people were killed
on Britain’s roads, despite there being just 2.4 million
vehicles on the road
(1.5 million of which were cars) compared to more than 30
million vehicles in 2003.
Public concern was growing and
drastic action was needed. Transport Minister, Oliver Stanley,
pushed for the introduction of various road safety measures,
including formal testing for drivers.
- In 1935, when Leslie Hore-Belisha, became the new Transport
Minister, he introduced the driving test – first in March as a
voluntary test. During the 1930s safety glass became mandatory
for windscreens after terrible injuries had been caused by
accidents in cars with ordinary glass.
- Seat belts did not appear until the 1950s but were not made
compulsory in front seats until 1983.
- Arm signals out of the window were withdrawn from the test
in 1975 and more modern additions to the test have included a
theory test in 1966,
the hazard perception section
of the theory test in 2002 and questions about vehicle safety
and maintenance in September 2003.
Early efforts to improve road
safety in Britain included:
- The London ‘Safety First’ Council, formed in 1916, which
introduced a range of road safety initiatives (in 1941the
Council became RoSPA - The Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents).
- A test for disabled drivers, introduced in 1930.
- The first vehicle examiners, appointed in 1930.
- The minimum driving age of 17 and an urban speed limit of 30
mph, both set in 1930.
- The first edition of the Highway Code, published in 1931.
- Passenger Service Vehicle testing, brought in at traffic
commissioners’ discretion in 1931 (prompted by the bus races
of the 1920's)
- Cats’ eyes, invented by Percy Shaw in 1934.
Extract from Highway Code 1966
