It's hardly surprising that since the introduction of tougher practical tests for driver licences, the pass rate has dropped dramatically.
It can only be a good thing because it may well mean that for many years, people who perhaps weren't really ready to be let loose on our roads obtained their licences because our standards were lower.
It shouldn't be easy to get your licence. With a driver's licence come responsibilities and ensuring our young people in particular are actually ready to be drivers is a positive step towards trying to curb the number of crashes in which they are involved.
Actually, the results of the new, tougher tests, are a bit scary, as our story on page A3 reveals. Only 78 of more than 250 people who sat their practical test in Rotorua have passed under the new regime and a quarter of those who failed committed a "critical error" requiring the test to be terminated immediately.
These so-called critical errors included the likes of driving too fast, failing to signal and mounting kerbs. Clearly, not the signs of people ready for licences.
