I passed my driving test (in the UK) in 1963, and as far as I can tell it was an almost identical test to the ones they have these days - stop and start both on the flat and on hills, 3-point turn, reverse park, emergency stop, obey road signs, give clear signals (I had to use hand signals - you get fined for doing that these days!).
The point I want to make is that the road conditions are very different these days to what they were in 1963, coupled with the fact that very few 17 year olds could afford a car that went more than 80-90kph flat out, and I think that the way we are assessed as to our ability to drive on the road without being a menace to ourselves and everyone else should change (become more restrictive) to match the changes in traffic. Too many people seem to think that obtaining a driving licence is a right rather than a privilege.
I've been driving all around the world for 47 years and I am still capable of scaring myself sh*tl*ss on occasions by a momentary lapse of concentration, so when I see young (and not so young) drivers weaving in and out of traffic, accelerating and braking hard, sqealing their tyres and generally behaving as though their car was a toy rather than a ton and a half of lethal metal, I am astonished at the relatively low fatality statistics. Let's make a driving licence harder to get and easier to lose - then maybe the accident rate will come down.