@ NZDave - the ironic thing is that the only people who understand your "Logan's Run" comment are already over the age where they would have been regenerated...
I found myself on a Speed Awareness course last summer (got caught doing 38mph in a 30 zone in my diesel Citroen - oh the irony!!) and it was a very interesting safety-oriented refresher: it was all about just minimising the risk in everyday driving situations. There was no test, just made you think more about the benefits of just taking that extra bit of care and attention which can make all the difference. I'd happily re-take the course every 5 or 10 years, and if everyone did I'm sure general driving standards would be much better... Well worth the £90 or so in fact...
If there was an incentive to becoming a better driver/rider, more people would try. Giving big insurance discounts to advanced drivers, and hitting convicted drivers or at-fault accident claimants harder, would be a bigger incentive to behaving yourself on the road than just having to re-sit the same old test every few years. Of course this would mean motor insurance being government regulated, but I don't think you'll find many people against that idea.
