Do we have the right to drive?

I've read an awful lot of opinion about the right to drive over the past few months, road safety experts seem to think not, yet this is surely their trade. To enable safe driving as a natural progression of social behaviour and shared space.

I asked this question on Facebook too and the general response was that people had the right to follow the process, so why does it feel as if driving is become elitist. I have been helping a young lady with learning difficulties to practise for the theory test, her inability to take on information means she is unlikely to ever be given the opportunity to drive, the few I have discussed this with firmly believe if she is unable to pass a theory test then she gives up any right. I fail to see that as a move forwards, more like a dozen steps back.

A relative of mine has Aspergers syndrome, she understands responsibility and driving, an automatic, has provided unquestionable freedom and an improved life, enabling her to work and visit her family, she lives in the village where she grew up with little or no public transport. Not driving would lead to a solitary and depressing life, however she took her driving test in the early 1990's prior to the theory test. Now she would be isolated because the test wouldn't be representative of her ability as a road user.

The EU have a broader interpretation, the theory test to understand road user law is a consideration along with a hazard perception test, but is not compulsory, they view the road as shared space with everyone having the right to drive, and the right to use the roads freely without fear of intimidation from other road users, to be safe. So surely the theory test for those with a proven learning difficulty that makes the theory test an impossibility and therefore licence acquisition an impossibility contravenes that directive?

I've studied the EURSC data in detail, and although some of it is contradictory there are allowances and exceptions that are obviously too time consuming or expensive to implement, as road user requirements tighten up and the availability of driving tuition becomes an academic path. Elitism.

Road signs are meant to be self explanatory, so since signage first began to make an appearance in the 1880's they appear to have been fit for purpose. I'm not trying to over simplify here but if you are polite and courteous and know the rules then you can surely begin the process. If you are unsafe then the process will not be completed.

Traffic volumes have risen and then for some years fell, engineering has improved so much that the path you drive is dictated by white paint and traffic islands, so although the driving test has been slow in terms of evolution the general environment is self explanatory, and lets face it, those who flout the law will do so regardless of the entry process.