Everyone opinion Please

[Cant Get Right]

I know we have all been a young driver passing tests at 17 year old, but my view on passing ur test has strongly changed now for some reason, Heres how it is, a 17yr old died last night on a back road that i travel every day to work, lost control and hit a tree, passenger lived with minor injuries. Poor wee lad he was just a kid, how can the goverment put a killing machine n the hands o a child and tell them to get on with it, Thegoverment should raise the test to 20 or restrict cars for young drivers. Sorry for the rant but everyones view on this would be good to hear. I know we have ll been there being a boy racer and all that, young and daft, dont even realise the dangers in front o u, poor wee Lad, all it probably was, was a bit harmless fun to him. God Rest the Wee Mans Soul

[Cant Get Right]

Just heard, Passenger is actually seriously hurt, still in hOSPITAL

[JUDWAK]

a dude i knew
got a 911 for his birthday (18th birthday)
died that day?
what were they thinking
i did not take any driving lessons untill i was 26
for that very reason

[Cant Get Right]

I passed at 17, was 21/22 when i lernt to calm down. Killed 4 cars in the process, 1 accident was head on into a women, i broke my collar bone. all i could think about was if i had injured the women, thats the accident that sorted me out.

[blackpoolsparks]

Governments cant regulate for stupidity.
So youre saying when one turns 20, he/she is then a better driver? more sensible?
please, i know 40 year olds that are idiots behind the wheel. Whats raising the age to drving to 20 gonna do?
It all boils down to family again (whatever the definition of that is these days)
who bought him a 911?
I try and teach my son whos 13 about responsability and consiquences to his actions, etc. now.
and i certainly wont be buying him a 911 when hes 18. Thats not to say he cant kill hiself in a Punto.
Yes it is tradgic, but the government isint to blame............

my 2 pence worth....

[J_D]

As a young driver I'm probably *slightly* biased! Whilst age is a factor in road safety it seems to be mostly because younger drivers have less experience, raising the age that you can drive at would just mean older people with less experience having the same problems. As Blackpoolsparks says, there are older drivers that are idiots and there are younger drivers that aren't, it all comes down to the individual behind the wheel. Improving education/training seems like a better idea than raising the driving age.

[Cant Get Right]

Governments cant regulate for stupidity.
So youre saying when one turns 20, he/she is then a better driver? more sensible?
please, i know 40 year olds that are idiots behind the wheel. Whats raising the age to drving to 20 gonna do?
It all boils down to family again (whatever the definition of that is these days)
who bought him a 911?
I try and teach my son whos 13 about responsability and consiquences to his actions, etc. now.
and i certainly wont be buying him a 911 when hes 18. Thats not to say he cant kill hiself in a Punto.
Yes it is tradgic, but the government isint to blame............

my 2 pence worth....

Had to be u eh, am not saying being 20 makes u a better driver, not once did i say that, what i am sayin is most kids i.e 17yr olds are less immaturer than 20yr olds, the older you get the wiser u suppposedly are, the boy was driving a VW Golf not a 911. all im saying is at 17 you a lot less wiser about the big bad world, having just left school if even that

[Cant Get Right]

As a young driver I'm probably *slightly* biased! Whilst age is a factor in road safety it seems to be mostly because younger drivers have less experience, raising the age that you can drive at would just mean older people with less experience having the same problems. As Blackpoolsparks says, there are older drivers that are idiots and there are younger drivers that aren't, it all comes down to the individual behind the wheel. Improving education/training seems like a better idea than raising the driving age.

Well why not raise the standard of the actual practical part off the test rather than the theory part? all im wanting is everyone views and how u all think this could change for the better, Whatever way we all look at this everyone has there own view.

[darkdezigns]

i think yr wrong,common sense is common sense,i know where yr comin from,but when i was that age i would have done anything to pass my test,and although a bit looney on the road i never went to far beyond my limits,we see just as many accidents with oaps tbh

[MudSurfer]

I'm in favour of limiting the engine sizes of the cars new drivers can have - and banding based on age - and maybe making insurance even more ridiculous price wise (although I suspect this will just stop them insuring their cars) until you get to a certain age. However, like has been said, you can't regulate levels of stupidity, give someone a 1.0 Fiat Uno, and they will go around a blind right hander, while an equally stupid person comes the other way, on the other side of the road - just one of the times my old mate Phil nearly killed me as a passenger in his car.

Young lads usually want to show off, and not pay attention, it won't matter what they are driving, and even if they are 20, and they have just passed, it's still the same - it's too exciting for a while, and you are still showing off - so you'll mostly make mistakes - some just silly curb clipping, a mirror here and there, but hopefully, and as the case is with most people on the road, no trees, people or other cars are involved.

It's sad and unfortunate, but it will happen if they are 17 or 20, 900cc or 5.0L - people are dumb

[blackpoolsparks]

Had to be u eh, am not saying being 20 makes u a better driver, not once did i say that, what i am sayin is most kids i.e 17yr olds are less immaturer than 20yr olds, the older you get the wiser u suppposedly are, the boy was driving a VW Golf not a 911. all im saying is at 17 you a lot less wiser about the big bad world, having just left school if even that

Yes agreed, however I have a 40 year old chap that works for me, wise? yes, very.
I however wouldnt let him drive my car, he dosent have a liscence LOL

In the states the age is 16.

[Cant Get Right]

Its Just very frustrating, knowing that whatever any us suggest, it wont improve anything. Whatever it is, summit needs to be done!

[J_D]

I'm with you on raising the standard of the test, just been reading an IAM paper on young people and accidents talking about most of them happening on rural roads in bad conditions. More training on a mix of roads and in a mix of conditions should be encouraged and I'm sure the test can be made more effective. Also I like the idea of IAM's drivecheck scheme (thinking of doing it myself to try to reduce insurance but also can't hurt to have my flaws pointed out to me!) Having compulsory checks on driving might help reduce the bad habits that people after passing the test. None of that requires an older test age (though fitting in extra training would make people older by the time they reach an acceptable level I guess).

Just my opinion...

[JUDWAK]

to be honset there is a death like that here every week
boy racers mainly (the chav ones)
yorkshire well this part has a boy racers problem
i have never crashed once
but i have had to dump myself in a few hegdes and grass backs
to avoid boy racers if i was not willing to lob my car out the way hitting stuff
many boy racer would be dead
i drive down a lot of lanes
the times i have been met by boy racers going well over 70-80 mph
on roads like that
like i say its a every week thing here
and not all are that young realy

its down to the driver realy
i do kill my cars all of them
but iam well known for driving like a grandad on the roads
i dont mind killing my self for fun
but no need to risk any one else is there

[RodLeach]

my 2 pence worth....

Completly agree with all of that..

we see just as many accidents with oaps tbh

Thats the point i was going to bring up. It wasn't untill i was taking lessons that i noticed most people i got in the car with didn't have a clue on what they were doing!

I'm in favour of limiting the engine sizes of the cars new drivers can have - and banding based on age - and maybe making insurance even more ridiculous price wise (although I suspect this will just stop them insuring their cars) until you get to a certain age.

That won't change anything.. my cousin is 17. Has a 1.5 N/A diesel 106 pug.. This thing is weak like you wouldn't believe. But.. It still clocks the speed up.. He can still do 70 down a country lane if he chooses.

I was looking at a new 911 on Thursday.. Gave it a bit of gas an the car is ready to rip your head off.. I know people who have been driving for years an years who would still be unable to control that thing!

Its Just very frustrating, knowing that whatever any us suggest, it wont improve anything. Whatever it is, summit needs to be done!

There is sweet f.a that can be done! People will throw there cars into corners hoping they dont come unstuck. They will do excessive speeds down country roads where its not safe. They'll push the limits of the car on any motorway -duel carriage way... But ONLY IF THEY WANT TO!

An frankly at any age you get behind the wheel of a car its great fun! Your going to have a bit of a shot at what it can do.

Im sorry to hear the lad died but he was in control of the car... Unless he got his mate over to help him fit some new brakes an they messed it up.. hes only got himself to blame.

I passed at 17 an other then treating my sisters car like a bumper car... ive not pushed the limits at all. Especially considering ive been driving surfs most of my driving years!