You're own definition of the required standard does not even meet this requirement, simply being "I believe the requirements should be a demonstrated knowledge of the law and general driving practices. That's it.", it could therefore be asked, to what criteria would be gauge knowledge had been demonstrated? A basic passing knowledge of the subject or an in-depth knowledge of all factors involved. These are both 'knowledge' but the standard is still not detailed.
The standard of knowledge is knowledge of the law. You have to demostrate that you know the law regarding vehicle use. This includes anything that could be determined to reckless driving, so it can include general safety guidelines as well as hard-and-fast legal violations. Once you've demonstrated knowledge of the law, it's up to you to manage to comply with it.
While I agree that this is not a complete answer on the subject of what I believe should be covered and to what degree, I think it is a very substantive - easily quantified and implemented.
Scaff
I think it is however safe to say (and correct me if I am wrong) that my requirements would be higher than your own. If that is the case, from my corner, I believe we would have to agree to disagree on this particular one.
I think that's probably right.
Scaff
I would however like to ask what you believe the benefits are to your approach and beliefs on this particular subject?
- It makes principled sense from a "proper role of government" perspective.
- It avoids arbitrary limits that can easily be changed in the future and lead to "slippery slopes" that end up getting out of hand in the long term.
- It keeps the government imposed cost to a minimum.
- It keeps the government from assuming any responsibility for training. If citizens aren't told that they've been trained, they won't assume that they've been trained. Many will use that opportunity to seek training that may be substantially better than government training.
- It limits growth of government surrounding the training and regulation, thereby minimizing beuarocratic losses.
- It refuses to compromise basic freedom for security, again this is a principled approach.
- It ensures that the drivers can be easily held accountable for thier actions.
Scaff
What kind of effect do you think it would have on road safety and driver ability as a whole
It would probably result in slightly worse driving overall.
Scaff
and on the area of accountability for the driver, to what level do you believe it should managed to? Are current levels of accountability to high or to low (or just right) and what degree of punishment should be used (again in comparison to current levels).
Accountability needs to be tailored to the particular damage done and the consistency with which laws/rights are violated. Penalties for misconduct can be increased to help deter illegal/reckless behavior.