It will not be compulsory, but it is being seen as an effort to reduce the apppaling standard of Motorway driving.
I assume if it is going to be available for cars, then motorcyclists should be allowed on as well.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8941211/Learner-drivers-to-be-allowed-on-motorways.html
Best idea I’ve heard all year, if that’s the case…
Good idea, my first motorway experience, aged 17, involved me hydroplaning up the sliproad in the pissing rain. A bit of instruction beforehand would probably have helped me avoid a near disaster.
why not not allow learners on to motorways until they do pass-plus which IMO should be mandatory once you have done your test
motorway should be part of your normal learning… it’s a normal road, once you get past the whole: “I’m doing 70” it’s actually a straight line… I actually found it a lot safer and quite easy to do…
In fact in Greece they take you out on the motorway first lesson… but then again greece does have a **** safety record. I think their idea is: “it’s a straight line, what could go wrong?” 
Motorways are pretty dangerous places for the inexperienced. Even I hate the things on a bike despite “a bit” of experience.
Against that it is pretty stupid that you can get a full license having just bimbled around a small town and a few bits of quiet A roads yet be allowed to venture on to a motorway, even at night and in foul weather, perhaps without having had experience of any of that.
Now I’m not the over protective father type. Both my kids got sent on outdoor survival courses and canoe and sailing courses in winter for example, but I found the new driver/first time on motorway thing a tad worrying.
My son is a congenital headbanger so anything after he was about 16 was a waste of my effort but my more sensible, if stroppier, daughter I took out on to the M25 at night immediately after she had passed her (car) test.
Reckoned that was a couple of hours well spent.
Hang on, driving schools don’t take learners out on motorways during lessons? Know about the L-plate stuff, but come on, not even with the driving school / instructor?!
Explains a lot though…
They might just hopefully learn a bit about lane discipline too…
The article says
“According to figures compiled by the Department for Transport 82 drivers under 21 were involved in fatal motorway crashes between 2006 and 2010.”
If that’s one of the reasons as to why to bring this in, when will those responsible start doing more to enforce (or actually teach) using indicators, mirrors, shoulder view?! I bet there are many more fatalities than above’s quote/statistic due to inconsiderate retards behind the steering wheel, yet what has been done / will be done against those?!
Thumbs up: They need all the help they can get!
In the Kingdom of The Netherlands, motorway driving is a compulsory part of your lessons for car and motorcycle. It is also part of the test in both cases. As a result the standard of motorway driving is much higher. In my opinion it is a completely different discipline from town driving and should be learned as such. I’m not saying it’s more difficult, just different, and in The Netherlands at least there are not as many cyclists on the motorways to run over and no bloody trams.
Also in the car you are also not allowed to go and practice without dual controls or an instructor. Until you pass your test you can only drive with a driving school.
One other thing. If you pull into the fast lane and hinder someone who is blatantly speeding or if you do not move over to let someone past who is blatantly speeding you get marked down.
The motorway is no place for the inexperienced… It’s not at all like a normal road. Motorways should be approached with the utmost respect and caution. Especially with the volume of traffic we have here.
When you join the M25 from one of the outer motorways, you’ll notice the standard of driving drop considerably.
I’d feel a lot more comfortable knowing that all new drivers have had some motorway tuition and experience…
I’ve never driven on a motorway. My first car was tiny and it seemed pretty daunting so I didn’t do it. Would be nice to have the option on my bike but I still don’t think I’d be too happy about it!
I think you’ve misread my comment… I’m all for lessons to take place on the motorway. By normal road, I meant that it’s part of normal life to eventually venture onto one (well for most anyway)
Abnormal roads would be the ones the Jets sometimes take us on or byways… 
why not not allow learners on to motorways until they do pass-plus which IMO should be mandatory once you have done your test
That’s what I did almost 20 years ago, when I had to option to take the Pass Plus course, and am jolly blimming well thankful for.
Can’t see how getting on the motorway could be a good idea for nervous drivers who still need to be acquainted with the clutch, as well as the brake pedal, beside mirrors and indicators. And perhaps also their eyes and how they process information. Unless of course there is something Darwinian involved…
pretty much the same in Germany.
which is also why we know our lane discipline.
Though Dutch people also tend to misbehave a bit on the Autobahn, especially lorry drivers…
I think every non German misbehaves a little on the autobahn the first time… OMG NO SPEED LIMIT, pushes pedal into the engine/twists grip 180 degrees. Then after about 20 minutes we look at our fuel gauges :o
the first time, yeah, maybe, Dutch are consistent however, they have a certain reputation.
Which overall adds to the German vs. Dutch thing we have going on there ^^
An instructor wouldn’t take someone on the motorway when at the stage you’re talking about, not if they were a good instructor anyway. I have had no emails from the DSA regarding this story.
I have just heard that they have put their plan to withdraw all published theory test questions though, even other companies who print the stuff are to be withdrawn from what my information says.
It will be up to us as instructors to teach all the facts, we cannot do this as we are not allowed on motorways, in my test areas we do not have trams and about a million other things we cannot be expected to teach :-/
If anyone was thinking about doing it, they should get on it now, and buy a disc before they get the bright idea to change the format/questions or whole test structure and make more money from failed attempts.
Thats the whole problem right there, its feck all to do with teaching people how to drive safely/respectfully with regards to safety, its all about getting more test fees. The current driving test is a sham and doesn’t teach people to drive, it teaches them how to pass the test.
I don’t see what there is to learn by riding on a motorway that can’t be learned on any of the A-roads that are motorway in all but name, personally.
