If James Bond sat his driving test in the UK, would he pass?

It’s Christmas television season but, it wouldn’t be the festive holidays without a re-run of Daniel Craig’s 2012 blockbuster James Bond, Skyfall.  

As the UK settles down to watch the hit movie, we decided to have a little fun and see if 007 would have passed his driving test based on his motoring in the film. If Daniel Craig fails the road rules, he will do it in Aston Martin style!

We have teamed up with an independent driving instructor to analyse how 007 handles the film’s incredible cars on the streets of London. We decided to count how many ‘majors’ and ‘minors’ the secret agent collects as he drives in the film. 

In the UK there are three types of “faults” on driving tests. They are called driving, serious, or dangerous.  Driving faults are often nicknamed “minors”, and serious or dangerous are often nicknamed “majors”.  A major fault means the test will result in a failure.   

During your test, drivers can have a certain number of minors, but too many minors in one category can become a serious.  A serious is where there is a high risk of danger, or a legal requirement has been breached.  A dangerous fault is where there is actual danger to a person or property.    

Analysing 007’s driving on screen in Skyfall, it would appear James Bond is not even the equivalent of quarter of the way through his UK driving test before he fails with a dangerous!  

Here is the score sheet:  

1. PASS: James Bond’s first appearance behind the wheel saw the agent pretend to be a chauffeur, and his driving truly lived up to the role.  Smooth acceleration, good use of signals, decent following distance. If he’d maintained this technique, it would have been a clear pass and a clean sheet. (Run time: 43min)  

1. TWO MINORS: In his eagerness to take “M” to safety after the shootout ambush at a court hearing, James Bond pulls away in his Jaguar without using a signal.  Now this could usually be fine if there was no one around, but on this occasion, he was surrounded by others. It didn’t pose any risk, and so on this occasion it would likely just be a minor fault. Bond quickly then does a right turn at a T-junction without signalling, which again would be another minor for the same reason.  (Run time: 1:42:47)  

1. MAJOR: Following the court escape Bond displays a shocking display of steering, he hits the kerb at speed, fully mounting it, and driving on it for a short duration.  This would be an instant failure, likely under dangerous due to the high risk it could pose to others. (Run time: 1:42:50)  

1. MINOR AND MAJOR: 007 forgets which side of the road to go on in the UK when he takes a right turn from a major road into a minor. Once again without signalling, but also cutting the corner excessively.  The lack of signal would calculate a minor fault, but the degree of the corner cut, and the speed at which he did it, would be a serious fault. (Run time: 1:42:54)  

1. TWO MINORS TO MAJOR: Bond switches from his Jaguar to a beautiful Aston Martin DB5. He seems to take a bit more care with this luxury car but again makes two immediate turns without signals. This final minor incurred rack up the result of a serious fault due to repeated error. (Run time:1:44:32)  

In conclusion Bond would have failed the 40-minute test with three majors: One dangerous for mounting the kerb, one serious for signal use and one serious for corner cutting, and around five minors for repeated lack of signal use.  Our expert believes 007 needs to work on his steering and perhaps take up some refresher lessons. 

A little about our expert partner Z Drive, based in Marple Bridge, Stockport Z-Drive is owned by Zeki Al-Khishali, he is also A former Trustee of Manchester RoSPA’s Advanced Drivers and Riders.