Banning young people from driving at night?

[Arcath]

restrict them to driving 2 cylinder, 500cc Diesel Aixam Microcars, with a max attainable speed of 60 on a good day, in faded girlie pink with pink fuzzy seatcovers. Job

jobbed.

 

but then when they can get better cars they will and then take friends out saying "look how much faster my old persons car can go!!!!!!!!"

 

bieng 20 i know alot of people who have passed their tests in the last 2/3 years, there are those who drive like idiots and have written off cars (someone from my school year is upto 6 cars now) but there are more of us who have nicer cars, drive sensibly and don't cause chaos on the roads.

 

I personally get quite annoyed by the view that all young drivers speed and cause problems, some young drivers do, just like some old drivers cause accidents.

 

Pass Plus needs to become non-optional, i found the motorway driving lessons a great help and being able to talk through night and bad weather driving answered alot of the questions i had floating at the back of my mind.

 

Another thing that gets me is the "passing on your second or third try makes you a better driver" thing, its not the extra lessons and tests that makes you better its the huge ego deflation from failure that makes you more cautious.

[powdarrmonkey]

some young drivers do, just like some old drivers cause accidents.

<>

Another thing that gets me is the "passing on your second or third try makes you a better driver" thing, its not the extra lessons and tests that makes you better its the huge ego deflation from failure that makes you more cautious.

 

+1 on both counts.

[CHR1S]

I personally get quite annoyed by the view that all young drivers speed and cause problems, some young drivers do, just like some old drivers cause accidents.

 

This....

 

I was trying to say this all along, but people and their "facts" won the argument

[Andrew_C]

and their "facts" won the argument

The FACT is that young drivers are statistically more likely to cause accidents. There is no avoiding this. You may be one of the exceptions, but you are certainly exceptional if you are as competent as someone who has been driving for 5 or more years.

[CHR1S]

didn't the smiley face give away the fact that I was "having a joke"??

[Rydra]

Admittedly they've been driving for twice as long as I have, but my parents have both had more accidents than me, my mother especially

 

And I have to say, out of the friends i have of my age (26), not one of us has got a speeding ticket, I'm the only one to have written off a car (tyre blew out on a dual carriageway at 60mph, hit a bump, and spun it into the central reservation. I walked away, only limping slightly from swearing and kicking the car!) and we drive all sorts of cars, from the first couple of cars being saxo's and 1L Polo's, up to 1.6 Astra's, up to 2.0L Honda Civic's and Focus's.

And those who bought new(er) cars worth more than a few hundred are more likely to take things easy than someone driving a £500 bangar.

 

My wife did the pass plus course, myself I decided not to (didn't work out cheaper for me), but I am by far a better driver than my wife, who learned 3-4 years after I did.

[Arcath]

This puts across another point quite well (just imagive that instead of math its driving and instead of girsl its young people)

 

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/how_it_works.png

(from XKCD)

[CHR1S]

FACT: Geeks make better younger drivers!

[Andrew_C]

FACT: Geeks make better younger drivers!

 

It's always possible. We may think more about what we are doing compared with a knuckle dragger, or liberal arts graduate!

[creese]

BBC News - Witness appeal after Bath man in cyclist collision dies

 

It does happen.

[kernewek-sam]

Just lower the drink-drive limit to 0 and ban people from driving for life when caught.

 

Absolutely agree the drink-drive limit should be zero. Back to the original subject, my first drive at night wasn't fun. I thought at the time, night time driving should be included in learning to drive even if it wasn't tested.

[MK-2]

I started learning to drive very late (just over 2 years ago to be precise, and I'm 29 now). My lessons consisted of night and day lessons, which I do feel helped me a bit more than the standard lesson at 10AM when roads are quieter and it's light.

I also think to a certain extent the instructor has a part to play. A lot of these big driving companies will try to churn out as many passes as possible. I had a local driving instructor who was recommended by my wife. He went through things that having talked to people who learnt with the bigger companies just wasn't mentioned. The small things like priority and awareness that some others may only have experience from the hazard perception test, not an actual lesson.

I'm not saying this adds to the facts, but it does appear to be the same as the big supermarket vs small shop argument; small shops give more attention per customer than the big shops which have more overheads to cover and need more shoppers through.

 

Aside from all that, I still think that night driving is something completely different to master. I remember my very first time driving on my own was my wife directing me down a country lane with a 60 limit and having to quickly get used to full beams on and off, etc and driving at a reasonable speed but keeping tight control (same as daytime driving of course, but a lot scarier when its your first time driving!)

If the stats are all concerned with young people driving at night, yes, give them extra night lessons. Make a certain amount of their lessons compulsory by night. If they take 30 lessons to get to a driving test, at least 10 must have been at night or dusk. Have some extra practical manoeuvres that test you in low light conditions.

 

And FFS teach people how to use indicators!!!!!!!!

[Sirbendy]

I both love and hate night driving...it's relaxing, but it hurts my eyes.

 

I think skid control/adverse weater/reduced grip control should be educated as well...I did 2 lots of Skidpan training (and jolly good fun it was), and I've added to that every chance I've had since (such as going out after a "do not drive" has been issued in snow..).

 

However, last time it snowed, SO many idiots came steaming past me, or were sideways, or sliding around revving their nuts off, or losing it on roundabouts and causing issue it was the scariest drive home I've had. I had full faith in MY ability to hold the Astra going the right way, but by gods some of it was timing!

 

In my old Astra I ended up going diagonally down a long, steep hill when people had reached the "abandon cars" point after the school had remained open too long - lots of steering, no braking, gentle use of power to pull the nose in, and just let it slide as I made my peace with the car. Got to the bottom of the hill, give it lock, power on, pull out of the slide and off we went..I got home and I hugged the damn car.

 

If I hadn't done the skidpan and "closed road" practise, I'd have been stuffed. Admittedly, the closed road playing often results in me being bumper deep in snow muttering curses, but..heh. Me and a friend used to do "car ballet"..his Montego, my Maestro, one empty icy carpark, and lots of fun.

 

I used to live down a road that is badly subsided, and almost 45 degrees switching camber all the way down with a sharp hairpin on a hill halfway down. It's a suspension killer, but when icy it's..horrific. The one side is a sheer drop into trees then the severn. I made it round in the snow using large amounts of throttle to stop the car sliding off the road, but the Merc estate behind me was far too heavy and slid gently off the road and ended up sat in the trees/on the cast-iron above ground water/sewage main.

 

Last time it snowed, my Brother phoned me to check how I was coping in my Astra, as his SLK wouldn't go forwards, only sideways. I said "turn on the traction control"..it stopped the sliding, but virtually cut the throttle off and he could only crawl. I'm afraid I called him a wetter and told him to be thankful it wasn't say..a Capri or Sierra. He's getting shot of the SLK now..

[Guest Guest]

^ Totally agree. I learned to drive in the winter in sun, rain and snow, both at day and at night. It certainly helped having had practice in the snow especially when i jumped into my 2nd car, an mr2, and had to deal with the worst winter in a long time!