The best way to make the road transport of goods safer is to ask drivers to take a driving test each year. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Reported on IELTS June 20th’2023

Road accidents are frequent. Many measures are suggested to tackle this situation, and some feel that road travel can be made safe by ensuring drivers pass driving tests annually. I do not concur with this statement, for the incidents do not chiefly happen due to lack of driving skills but other reasons. I shall explain the basis behind my thought process in the following paragraphs.

First, the data suggest that most mishaps happen on the road due to negligence on the part of drivers or passers-by. Nowadays, many accidents occur when people are attending calls or browsing the internet on their mobile phones, or listening to music. The other causes are overspeeding, drunken driving, red light jumping, and poor condition roads. The accidents become all the more severe if the passengers or drivers do not use safety gear like seat belts and helmets. Conducting repeated driving tests can not improve this situation.

Furthermore, once a person has cleared the driving test, there is no need to conduct the same test after a short duration, for the person is not going to forget driving skills in a year. Such tests should be encouraged if there are any significant updates in the traffic rules. However, in the absence of any such situation, it is meaningless to have frequent driving skills tests.

To sum up, given the high number of road accidents around the world, it is necessary to come up with ways to reduce their number. However, spending manual effort and funds on conducting annual driving tests will not help the situation as a lack of driving skills is the reason for meager misfortunes on road.