Require uk driving tests for all public and private hire driving licences
Require uk driving tests for all public and private hire driving licences
The Issue
🛑 Urgent Action Required: Demand Safer UK Roads Now!
Decision Maker: UK Parliament
The Core Issue: Public Safety is Being Compromised by Lax Licensing Standards for Passenger Transport Drivers.
Why You Must Sign: The Evidence for Change
For decades, the public has relied on professional drivers to uphold the highest safety standards. Today, that fundamental trust is being eroded, putting your safety, your family's safety, and the lives of every UK road user at risk.
As a professional driver with over 20 years of experience, I have witnessed a terrifying decline, particularly within the private hire and bus industries. This isn't anecdotal—it's a critical, widespread safety crisis:
Near-Miss Epidemic: I have repeatedly been forced to take emergency evasive action to prevent collisions with private hire vehicles, many licensed by councils outside their operating areas (like Wolverhampton).
Reckless Bus Incidents: Even our bus services are suffering. In one local area alone, we've recorded over 10 entirely avoidable incidents in the last 18 months, including buses colliding with the Interchange and double-deckers ignoring low bridge warnings.
The Critical Flaw in the System: Untested Drivers on UK Roads
The current system allows drivers from specific overseas countries to exchange their licenses for a UK equivalent without ever passing a UK driving test. This poses a significant, demonstrable risk:
Fundamental Road Differences: Many exchange countries, including most of Europe, the UAE, South Korea, Macedonia, and Taiwan, drive on the opposite side of the road. They also use vastly different road signs and languages. Issuing a passenger transport license to someone who has never been tested on UK road specifics is fundamentally irresponsible.
Alarming Safety Records: Many exchange list countries have notoriously poor driving safety. South Africa and Zimbabwe, in particular, rank among the highest for road traffic accident (RTA) deaths per capita. Are these the standards we want for the drivers carrying our loved ones?
Black Market Fraud: There is a grave and acknowledged concern regarding the availability of foreign driving licenses—particularly South African ones—on the black market, purchasable for as little as £500. This suggests that some drivers carrying passengers may not have even legitimately earned their original license.
Since 2021, over 500,000 individuals have benefited from this exchange scheme, many of whom have immediately gone on to drive Ubers, buses, taxis, and minibuses. How safe is it to entrust our transport to half a million untested drivers?
The Economic and Safety Vicious Cycle
The excessive influx of readily licensed drivers creates an enormous oversupply of labour, primarily in the private hire sector. This drives down wages to an exploitative level, resulting in:
Poverty Wages: Drivers are often forced to accept less than minimum wage after expenses, sometimes earning under £1 per mile.
Dangerous Fatigue: To compensate for low earnings, drivers are working excessively long hours, leading to dangerous driver fatigue. Tired drivers are unsafe drivers, compounding the threat to public safety.
The Solution: A Mandate for Safety
To safeguard the public, prevent further accidents, and re-establish professional driving standards, we must implement a single, mandatory rule:
We demand that all drivers seeking a licence to transport passengers—including private hire, taxi, bus, coach, and minibus drivers—must first pass a comprehensive, standard UK driving test.
This reform is not about inconvenience; it is about establishing a minimum, non-negotiable standard that prioritizes public welfare over administrative convenience. It ensures that every professional driver fully understands and can safely navigate the specific complexities of UK roads.
📢 Sign Now: Your Voice is Critical
By signing this petition, you are directly challenging a broken system. You are demanding that the UK Parliament take immediate action to protect every road user.
Don't wait for the next avoidable tragedy. Join me in calling for this critical, essential change to make our public transport system truly safe.
➡️ Click here to sign the petition and demand UK Driving Tests for all Passenger Transport Licences!
Please share this petition widely—on social media, WhatsApp groups, and with your local council—to amplify the pressure on Parliament.
1,372
The Issue
🛑 Urgent Action Required: Demand Safer UK Roads Now!
Decision Maker: UK Parliament
The Core Issue: Public Safety is Being Compromised by Lax Licensing Standards for Passenger Transport Drivers.
Why You Must Sign: The Evidence for Change
For decades, the public has relied on professional drivers to uphold the highest safety standards. Today, that fundamental trust is being eroded, putting your safety, your family's safety, and the lives of every UK road user at risk.
As a professional driver with over 20 years of experience, I have witnessed a terrifying decline, particularly within the private hire and bus industries. This isn't anecdotal—it's a critical, widespread safety crisis:
Near-Miss Epidemic: I have repeatedly been forced to take emergency evasive action to prevent collisions with private hire vehicles, many licensed by councils outside their operating areas (like Wolverhampton).
Reckless Bus Incidents: Even our bus services are suffering. In one local area alone, we've recorded over 10 entirely avoidable incidents in the last 18 months, including buses colliding with the Interchange and double-deckers ignoring low bridge warnings.
The Critical Flaw in the System: Untested Drivers on UK Roads
The current system allows drivers from specific overseas countries to exchange their licenses for a UK equivalent without ever passing a UK driving test. This poses a significant, demonstrable risk:
Fundamental Road Differences: Many exchange countries, including most of Europe, the UAE, South Korea, Macedonia, and Taiwan, drive on the opposite side of the road. They also use vastly different road signs and languages. Issuing a passenger transport license to someone who has never been tested on UK road specifics is fundamentally irresponsible.
Alarming Safety Records: Many exchange list countries have notoriously poor driving safety. South Africa and Zimbabwe, in particular, rank among the highest for road traffic accident (RTA) deaths per capita. Are these the standards we want for the drivers carrying our loved ones?
Black Market Fraud: There is a grave and acknowledged concern regarding the availability of foreign driving licenses—particularly South African ones—on the black market, purchasable for as little as £500. This suggests that some drivers carrying passengers may not have even legitimately earned their original license.
Since 2021, over 500,000 individuals have benefited from this exchange scheme, many of whom have immediately gone on to drive Ubers, buses, taxis, and minibuses. How safe is it to entrust our transport to half a million untested drivers?
The Economic and Safety Vicious Cycle
The excessive influx of readily licensed drivers creates an enormous oversupply of labour, primarily in the private hire sector. This drives down wages to an exploitative level, resulting in:
Poverty Wages: Drivers are often forced to accept less than minimum wage after expenses, sometimes earning under £1 per mile.
Dangerous Fatigue: To compensate for low earnings, drivers are working excessively long hours, leading to dangerous driver fatigue. Tired drivers are unsafe drivers, compounding the threat to public safety.
The Solution: A Mandate for Safety
To safeguard the public, prevent further accidents, and re-establish professional driving standards, we must implement a single, mandatory rule:
We demand that all drivers seeking a licence to transport passengers—including private hire, taxi, bus, coach, and minibus drivers—must first pass a comprehensive, standard UK driving test.
This reform is not about inconvenience; it is about establishing a minimum, non-negotiable standard that prioritizes public welfare over administrative convenience. It ensures that every professional driver fully understands and can safely navigate the specific complexities of UK roads.
📢 Sign Now: Your Voice is Critical
By signing this petition, you are directly challenging a broken system. You are demanding that the UK Parliament take immediate action to protect every road user.
Don't wait for the next avoidable tragedy. Join me in calling for this critical, essential change to make our public transport system truly safe.
➡️ Click here to sign the petition and demand UK Driving Tests for all Passenger Transport Licences!
Please share this petition widely—on social media, WhatsApp groups, and with your local council—to amplify the pressure on Parliament.
1,372
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Petition created on 9 November 2025