P Platers: Ford Doesn't Want You In A T

[xrturb]

And like I said there people should take responabity for there own action

most cars can reach 160km plus (my hilux diesel can) and whether you are going 160 or 260 you are going to die if you smash the only difference is whether you are dead in one piece or they mop you up

I would like to know where does kids get the money to finance theres cars when at the same age I was in a datsun stanza

[Mondie]

How about a " Bond" system. to get your P licence pay a $1000. Get it back at the end of your P persiod with interest after no speeding or accident convictions.

It works overseas.....make it worth more than a speeding fine......

It costs thousands to get a light plane licence. It should cost to get a licence as well. After all the T goes as fast a Cessna....

We let em loose on the road with rudimentry skill. We the elders are mad for doing this and we must change it to save them.

l agree Dallas.

A licence is a privelage not a right and sadly money seems to be one of the few tools society has to control peoples behaviour. Young people expect so much more younger in life than what l ever did and seem to be more self confident too. No one takes responsibilty for their actions these days, its always someones elses problem/fault/cause. Losing a grand at 18 because you were a tool is a good deterent and may save lives as well as reinforce self responsibility.

[DallasQLD]

Ii agree. I am teaching my eldest at the moment how to drive. He has a about 30 hours under his belt. He isnt even close in my books. He struggles with consistency , concentration and over confidence occasionally.

I took him out in th wet the other day on a deserted bit of road and showed him about longer braking distances. He was amazed.

I hope to treach him a little bit more about roadcraft than ehat he would get from ABC driving school. He might just get past 21 then.

I have been rallying for 20 years and there isnt much I have not driven on, in or around!

Dallas

[dingah2]

....and the reason Defence trains its 'jet' pilots in a single turbo prop (which, by the way, has equal or better performance than the jet Macchi it replaced) is because it is is a cheaper alternative, nothing whatsoever to do with performance.

Dingah

[Marcos]

Unfortunately I don't think there is an answer that will prevent all these accidents associated with young male drivers. At 31 years of age, I look back to my late teens / early 20's and think it was pure luck that I am alive today. Yes I was a loony revhead full of testosterone and the thrill of driving fast and dangerously was something I had in common with a lot of mates at the time. Limiting the power a P plater can drive may be a good idea for the responsible ones, but for the people that don't give a *beep*, like I once was, it wont stop them. Surely someone reading this will relate to what I am talking about, as quite a few of us were probably guilty at one stage or another of driving in this manner. The stories I've heard the old man tell me about the Illegal drags at Homebush brickworks, and on Parramatta Rd. tell me this problem has been going on for a few generations now. The only differance now is, there are a lot more of these offenders on the road these days.......meaning a lot more incidences.

[XR6ISM]

I was thinking about this whole driver defensive thing guys and another thoery came to mind. Teaching rev heads how to drive, wont we just be adding amunition to the fire. I mean, most P platers will benefit from advanced driver training, it just worries me that there will be a bunch of p plater blokes who are going to think that they can drift, drag, control, corner, brake, and accelerate their cars like Pros. Scarey thought!!

[Turbo6man]

I was thinking about this whole driver defensive thing guys and another thoery came to mind. Teaching rev heads how to drive, wont we just be adding amunition to the fire. I mean, most P platers will benefit from advanced driver training, it just worries me that there will be a bunch of p plater blokes who are going to think that they can drift, drag, control, corner, brake, and accelerate their cars like Pros. Scarey thought!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Too true!! It was one of the biggest issues I had when I was teaching defensive driving and advanced driving courses. The policy of the company I worked for was that the customer was not allowed to do the advanced course until he/she had done the defensive training. Unfortunately some customers just saw this as a way for us to get more money out of them and they would go elsewhere to another company who were omly too willing to take their money.

Every course I conducted included a visit to the local holding yard where I could show them the results of a "fatal". The defensive course emphasised AVOIDING a situation, NOT coping with an out of control car. The advanced driving course taught responses to a situation AFTER all your best efforts at avoidance had failed.

Basically, what we tried to instill in the minds of the drivers was that if they had to utilize their advanced driving skills on the road then this meant they had in fact FAILED in their ability to drive defensively. So it took away, or at least tried to take away, the "look how clever I am, I can control a slide" attitude.

[Lawsy]

Even so, I think it would be beneficial to do it regardless of whether it adds fuel to the fire or not. At least they will know how to drive a car, so if they are going to do something stupid there is a greater chance they will survive it anyway.

Maybe this is how it should be structured.

Get your L's, you take the basic 2 day (seperated by a week) driving control course. This gets you started with enough skill to confidently control a vehicle

Do the log book, yadda yadda, go for your P's, DEFENSIVE driver course.

Now, this should be similar, something 2 or 3 days in length based completely around defensive driving.

Also should require some form of logbook (even though you can't really reference this). Go for your green P's, complete an advanced driving course.

This one should start with a single day defensive course, which is like a reminder course. You then must do a 2 or 3 day advanced driver course. The whole 9 yards. Also some sort of log book, maybe a kilometer checker where they check the odo when you take your license, they check again on going for your opens and cross reference this figure with your log book (yes, easy to get around, but most aren't too bright....)...

In the middle of your greens you have to do a single day reminder course on the advanced traning.

Go for your open licence, another reminder course.....

This would make the expense of getting a licence near 1250 - 1500 by the end of it, assuming the gov't give some form of discount.

With all these courses you must pass... If you turn up, suck, spin out all the time etc, you still "completed" the course, but you didn't pass it, and you dont get the cirtificate. You must pass the course (if you fail, doing it again should be like half price or something).

To me, that seems the more expensive way of getting your license, but would make all the difference.

Imagine how many old asian ladies that would actually know how to drive (hey, remember, they keep going back untill they pass...), rather than the scary "I don't know which lane I want, both look so good" and "I think 20 under the limit is fine" ones that are around now.....

P platers cause more fatalities currently, but they don't cause more general accidents..... So I guess this would kill 2 birds in 1 stone.

[ZAP]

Some VERY good suggestions here.

I had a mate who went for his P's 11 times. He called me up on the 11th time and said I got them.....

I asked if he had passed, jokingly and he said " No" the guy felt sorry for me and passed me.

I think on top of Lawsy and others suggestions, we should also do a mandatory driving/knowladge test every 5 years to ensure that we know the rules and have not had some health problem that could affect our ability to drive.

I would also like a "dob in a dumb driver" hotline, if you are busted 3 times in 12 months by other drivers (min 5 years exp.) , you must redo your driving tests. This might make people think twice about driving without indicators or driving like a moron.

[wicksy]

I agree with dallas that is a good idea, I am a P plater, but that has to be a great idea, and if you get a fine they should take some money out of the kitty