[QUOTE=Berzerker;7580710]Ok I'm going to play devils advocate here.
From what I've read so far, the ability to pass a current drivers test without taking a "course" on exactly how to pass the test given the "rules" the administrator will grade you on is slim to none. I got my license 20 years ago. I took 1 try and I took the test the earliest I possibly could after getting my Learners. Not an L but previous to that just a learners. Now if you were to make me retest, by the sounds of things I would fail based on a million little technicalities that I wouldn't know about in the current system. Does that make me a bad driver?
If one of the things you didn't do as one of the "million little technicalities" involved something like maybe blind spot checking on every turn or when pulling over or out from the curb...or actually looking out the back window when backing up instead of just glancing in the mirrors) as almost every one of the "evaluation" drivers I instruct (who are all drivers with at least as much experience as you say) then that is important.
Ok So I go take "lessons" which are more like instructions on how to get by the "system" (do this because if you don't you'll fail) which end up costing me money, time off work, etc. Then I go take the test and I pass. Great. Do you think I'm going to drive daily like I did on the test? Fuck no. I'm driving the way I have driven for 20 years and just because I get retested or forced to retest is NOT going to change that. All it's going to do is cost people money and time.
A good instructor will convince you to change the way you drive and the reasons for doing it that are far more important than just passing a test. It's called real life and people get killed and injured daily because they don't use these skills. I just retrained a 74 year old driver so that he could not only pass his first test, but be a safe driver. He and his wife both realized that he needed help.
The ONLY people I think mandatory retesting should be done on is people over 60 years old.
As a 63 year old, I'm personally offended by that. 
I personally think they should be tested at 60, 65, and every year after 70. The tests should be free but mandatory. And that is because your ability to drive actually becomes a physical problem for many people as they advance into their elder years. I've seen the rapid degradation of people of age happen in 1 year. From mobility, to sight and hearing as people advance in age they may not physically be competent enough to be behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
Agree fully and the percentage of crashes for over 65's is about the same as under 19's, for different reasons. The new drivers because they are not trained, skilled and have undeveloped risk perception and acceptance levels...and the old farts like me because they are doing what you stated. 
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Oh, hang on...I just looked at MY drivers license...I'm not far behind 
