S Plates rejected for older drivers

[Low_VX_Taxi]

Following a similar vein to recent threads, this one made me laugh:

The New South Wales Government says it is not interested in putting 'S' or seniors plates on older drivers' cars.

State Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal says a Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) discussion paper on older drivers has received an enormous community response.

He says the overwhelming majority of people think changes are needed for the licensing of older drivers, but 'S' plates would only be discriminatory.

"The idea has very little support from the 20,000 submissions received by the RTA and clearly is not the one that would benefit older driver to the community," he said.

Discriminatory? wow that would be horrific:

The Government has directly ordered the NSW Police to conduct an enforcement campaign targeting P-plate drivers. So no longer is it a cry to say “P platers are being targeted” this is now completely true, the police are after you!

Another good one:

Of most concern to NRMA has been the government’s proposal to force older drivers to choose between either a restricted licence or a driving test.

the NSW Government has decided against proposals to severely restrict elderly drivers’ freedoms, following persistent objections from NRMA and its Members.

The changes originally proposed by the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) and NSW Government would have unfairly penalised older drivers (that is, those over 85).

The RTA proposed that the driving test was to stay and would only be abolished for those drivers who opted to take up a 10km radius restricted licence. Both options had to be opposed. The NRMA successfully argued against plans to restrict drivers to a 10km radius from their homes.

“We thought that was highly discriminatory,” says Graham Blight, NRMA Director and driving force behind the organisation’s fight against the proposals. “Particularly for country people, where there’s no public transport, 10km was totally inadequate and why restrict anyway?”

Please don't misconstrue, I think the NRMA are actually working towards a viable plan for elderly drivers, but I just find it interesting that haveing restrictions on these drivers is discrimatory yet its not if they are young, p platers....


Current NRMA suggestion:

They will have the option of choosing to do a test with the RTA every two years or a driving assessment with a driving instructor (RTA accredited). They will drive their own car in their own environment and if they have no problems, they maintain their licence. If, however, they have difficulties in certain areas - using a roundabout, for example - they will need to undertake tuition before they are re-assessed.

I am fully licensed and my wife is also soon to be (tommorow) so it doesn't directly concern me, but with the current discussions I thought this may be some interesting points

Some interesting views (note: these are just opinions but still interesting)

(2) a P-plate for senior drivers (the NRMA suggests an S-plate); this will facilitate even more tailgating of older drivers and more road rage directed at them, apart from being blatantly age discriminatory;

AS above just opinions but an interesting article (if you can be bothered to read the whole thing!):

Having crawled towards the machine, the driver stopped dead. An eternity passed. No opening windows, no fiddling about. Nothing. Being late for my flight, I gave a toot. The cars behind began tooting. Finally I jumped out of the car to see what was wrong.

Nothing serious. Just a dazed man of 70-80 sitting behind the wheel, looking bewildered. I explained what he needed to do, but he stared straight ahead. So I pushed the button for him and handed him the ticket, but he remained fixed and staring into the distance. Figuring he was having “a senior moment”, I put the ticket on his dashboard and ran back to my car.

All jokes aside, having seen the quality of this man’s coping mechanisms and reflexes it was scary to think that he’d driven from somewhere. I’d imagine that at least with G-plates (and associated laws) police could monitor unsafe older drivers and send them in for immediate licence testing. After the incident in the car park I noticed the man was ferried from the gate lounge to his plane by a people-mover, so he was clearly infirmed in some significant way.


Given we’re looking at P-plate regulations in the wake of so many youth fatalities, it seems only fair that we examine safety solutions at both ends of the age spectrum. But, of course, don’t expect me to feel the same way about it in 35 years!

[Stressball]

What bollocks. Old drivers are the more dangerous ones. To anybody who tries to argue that statistics prove that younger drivers are mre dangerous; make sure it also factors in the percentage of drivers who are older compared to those who are younger. The population has been increasing steadily, so there are more drivers in the current generation than there were in the one who was born, say, 70 years ago.

Young drivers MAY do stupid shit, but it's not specific to them. I can bet you that most of them have much better reactions and would handle stressfull situations in traffic much better than an 80-90yo driver

[greenfoam]

Yeah but a granny will only hit you at 80km/h max as they are too scared to go any faster a p plater might hit you at 160 that's the killer. Can't say I've ever been almost killed by a granny while driving but have had plenty near misses with speeding punks

[AirStrike]

Yeah but a granny will only hit you at 80km/h max as they are too scared to go any faster a p plater might hit you at 160 that's the killer

Then again a grandpa may hit you at 170km/h

[Stressball]

Can't say I've ever been almost killed by a granny while driving but have had plenty near misses with speeding punks

Dunno about almost killed, but I can definitely say I've been put in many more dangerous situations by older drivers than by younger ones.

[minux]

Yeah but a granny will only hit you at 80km/h max as they are too scared to go any faster a p plater might hit you at 160 that's the killer. Can't say I've ever been almost killed by a granny while driving but have had plenty near misses with speeding punks

Try a drive down the great ocean road over this break. Old farts taking up 2 lanes driving towards you with their caravans. Old farts doing 30 around the road and not using slow vehicle turn outs, old farts almost swerving into oncoming traffic. Old farts driving off embankments in 40 zones and seriously injuring people. Have yet to be held up or almost had a head on with a P plater on that road.

[Stressball]

Have yet to be held up... with a P plater on that road.

Careful, the other crowd will claim it's coz they all hooned past you and are further up the road

There's merit in certain restrictions, or at least education, at both extremes, young and old. It's just a serious shame that the people who they affect most, the younger ones, are stereotyped as deliberately dangerous drivers.

Of course they won't get any credibility when all the gullible media-loving fools lap up everything they have to offer. I would absolutely LOVE to know what percentage of people would watch a Today Tonight segment on hoons and then actually believe it word for word.

Old drivers though? nahhh, can't be dangerous. Theyre experienced. Experience means nothing when you no longer have the mental or physical capacity to operate a motor vehicle safely.

[greenfoam]

oh come on the great ocean road is basically a 6 hour long race track, no sane granny would take that on in a caravan . It hard enough to get around some of those corners on the speed limit in a car alone

[Grennan]

Isnt it wonderful to see that everyone is treated fairly... Its perfectly ok to descriminate against younger drivers but not the old...

[jas98]

Then again a grandpa may hit you at 170km/h

lmao....good call

[jas98]

as a p plater have to say i am not as experienced as allot of other drivers i do have to admit that but i also have to say that i have only ever been nearly hit by another p plater once (which was a bloody near miss)) in the 2 years i have been driveing. Of course i have had bloody heaps of other near misses but there all from (not trying to "discriminate" but its true!) older more"experienced" drivers that think a stop sign or red light means go straight ahead or treat the entire road as there own doing no less the 30 in a 100 zone. I do allot of driving and its a daily occurance for me.

[h0Ld3n`VN]

i agree with jas98..
been driving around alot lately, nearly got hit atleast 2times a day for the past week.. by old people its like they cant see u and merge into your lane? dont give way at all and they stare at me like its my fault wen i have to full on brake to avoid there clumsyness..
the scary part was i wasnt even driving my car it was my old mans car he woulda shot me if he saw hes car smashed =[ and a p plater has never ever nearly came close to hitting me besides a mate haha thats over 2years of driving

[STEALTHY™]

I havn't almost been killed by an older driver lately, benifits of working nights i guess. No traffic on the road!

Out of the 6 P platers i saw on the way home, only 1 was driving erratically, but i suspect he just didn't want his mates to see him driving a green festiva, i wouldn't either!

[Morton]

Well I've had TWO cars written off by older drivers now. One who was so old and incompetent, she refused to admit we had been involved in an accident, fled the scene, I HAD TO CHASE HER DOWN to get her details, and then she stalled her car onto the kerb and bunny-hopped into a street sign when she pulled over. Without a word of a lie. That's my only input to this thread.

>_>

[Julie]

Yeh it stinks, but as if the government is going to upset such a large voting demographic. The sooner all the young p platers pull together and all start voting and making their voices heard that this discrimination is unacceptable the sooner the government will start giving a crap.

[Morton]

But us young folk are all too cynical and short-sighted to believe that we can actually make a difference

[Stressball]

The sooner all the young p platers pull together and all start voting and making their voices heard that this discrimination is unacceptable the sooner the government will start giving a crap.

Maybe so, BUT not all p platers can vote. You can get your P's at 17 years old here now. So anybody on their L's, or possibly early P's, and anybody who has not yet got either of them, has absolutely no say.

And it's not just the older people who would be against the S plates, evidently, it's nearly everybody. You know why? Because that would be an admission that open licence holders can be dangerous too, and that would upset a lot of their logic with P platers. If they brought this is, people in their 30s-70s would have to go onto these licences with restrictions one day!! GOD FORBID! It's one thing to inconvenience younger drivers when it no longer relates to you, but as soon as restrictions that can affect THEM get proposed, they're completely illogical and dsicriminatory

[ProphetVX]

What bollocks. Old drivers are the more dangerous ones. To anybody who tries to argue that statistics prove that younger drivers are mre dangerous; make sure it also factors in the percentage of drivers who are older compared to those who are younger. The population has been increasing steadily, so there are more drivers in the current generation than there were in the one who was born, say, 70 years ago.

Young drivers MAY do stupid shit, but it's not specific to them. I can bet you that most of them have much better reactions and would handle stressfull situations in traffic much better than an 80-90yo driver

Just because our population has been steadily increasing, it does not mean there are more "younger" people in our population. It has been well publicised that our average age is increasing, hence the reasoning behind things like the baby bonus. There is no doubt that the elderly who are no longer able to function on the roads, with a license still pose a major risk. There is still no doubt however that inexperienced drivers, who are over-confident in their abilities, also still pose a major risk. There may be more P platers on our roads due to the fact that many over the age of 60 no longer like driving or have the need to, but it certainly isn't due to the reason you listed.

And you're right P platers may do stupid stuff, you have moron's in every age bracket... But anyone trying to argue that there isn't a higher percentage of the 18-23 age bracket willing to be irresponsible on our roads, or trying to impress their mates than anyone other age bracket is deluding themselves. I know, because I was once in this age bracket, and I'm a completely different driver to the one I was back then. And yep, there are some that ruin it for the rest... But that is the reality of the situation, there are alot more immature drivers with P plates on willing to take risks than the rest of the driving population, they are not the only culprits, but they are the easiest to identify.

[Stressball]

Just because our population has been steadily increasing... isn't due to the reason you listed.

Fair enough, makes sense.

And you're right P platers may do stupid stuff, you have moron's in every age bracket... But anyone trying to argue that there isn't a higher percentage of the 18-23 age bracket willing to be irresponsible on our roads, or trying to impress their mates than anyone other age bracket is deluding themselves. I know, because I was once in this age bracket, and I'm a completely different driver to the one I was back then. And yep, there are some that ruin it for the rest... But that is the reality of the situation, there are alot more immature drivers with P plates on willing to take risks than the rest of the driving population, they are not the only culprits, but they are the easiest to identify.

Also arguably true, those new to driving enjoy their newfound freedom and 'abilities'. But what makes a dangerous P plater any different from a dangerous elderly driver? Why should younger drivers have P's and elderly drivers not have S'? If someone says it's because not all elderly drivers are bad and it's a blanket measure, yes, you're right. Exactly the same as P's are a blanket measure for younger drivers.

Not all of them are idiots, not all of them are particularly dangerous. But from 16 through til 20 years old at least (if you get your licene as soon as you legally can), in QLD you MUST have L plates then P plates to signify your age and 'inexperience'. A blanket measure for the young makes as much sense as a blanket measure for the old; pick one, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Although I guess you can, the voters have spoken.

[Pub247]

I dont have an issue with how fast old people drive. What my issue is is with how they drive, almost all old people seem to be driving in their own world where they only exist on the road. This includes looking straight ahead and no where else. Another major grief i have is they are very Indecisive, you see at all the time they hesitate you think they're going then they dont. These are things that cause accidents.
With younger drivers its more they drive too fast and too reckless, they think their skills are better than they are.
But the thing that everyone does that is the worst and across all age spectrums is not looking/concertrating enough.
I have done stupid things in cars in the past and the only times ive been in accidents that are my fault is not from speeding, is not from hooning, it's from not concentrating took my eyes off the road for too long and caused an accident.


Also polititions are mostly around the 50+ age bracket i'm sure this wouldnt have anything to do with the way they vote, i mean they'd almost be voting the restrictions onto themselves no wonder why they'd think it's discriminatory.

[Pub247]

Fair enough, makes sense.



Also arguably true, those new to driving enjoy their newfound freedom and 'abilities'. But what makes a dangerous P plater any different from a dangerous elderly driver? Why should younger drivers have P's and elderly drivers not have S'? If someone says it's because not all elderly drivers are bad and it's a blanket measure, yes, you're right. Exactly the same as P's are a blanket measure for younger drivers.

Not all of them are idiots, not all of them are particularly dangerous. But from 16 through til 20 years old at least (if you get your licene as soon as you legally can), in QLD you MUST have L plates then P plates to signify your age and 'inexperience'. A blanket measure for the young makes as much sense as a blanket measure for the old; pick one, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Although I guess you can, the voters have spoken.

Ahh wasnt always true used to love good old QLD. I did all my l and p-plates up there never once displayed signs. Funny that maybe its why i never got pulled over for no reason

[Stressball]

Ahh wasnt always true used to love good old QLD. I did all my l and p-plates up there never once displayed signs. Funny that maybe its why i never got pulled over for no reason

Yeah, it's a bugger that they followed the other states. The plates don't bother me, what bothers me is the inconvenience of the 'high-powered vehicle' restrictions. There's a 1978 Trans Am across the street for sale that I would be in like a shot if I could drive an 8

[TVR-190]

Yeah, it's a bugger that they followed the other states. The plates don't bother me, what bothers me is the inconvenience of the 'high-powered vehicle' restrictions. There's a 1978 Trans Am across the street for sale that I would be in like a shot if I could drive an 8

just buy it and do it up until ur off ur p's, car like that isnt going to depreciate if its taken care of.

imagine if we had a giant uproar about p plates, do you think theyd get changed? no. maybe we can sue the government for discrimination

[ProphetVX]

Also arguably true, those new to driving enjoy their newfound freedom and 'abilities'. But what makes a dangerous P plater any different from a dangerous elderly driver? Why should younger drivers have P's and elderly drivers not have S'? If someone says it's because not all elderly drivers are bad and it's a blanket measure, yes, you're right. Exactly the same as P's are a blanket measure for younger drivers.

I'm not disagreeing with the validity of an "S" plate. But I would argue their effectiveness. Cops wouldn't target the elderly like they would P platers, it would require a complete change in mindset which is not likely to happen. All it would do would serve to segregate the older driving community with no real benefit to the safety of our roads. For the record, I don't even really agree with the whole P plate laws, yep give P1 and P2 drivers less points, but don't make them wear plates so they cannot be targeted.

Not all of them are idiots, not all of them are particularly dangerous. But from 16 through til 20 years old at least (if you get your licene as soon as you legally can), in QLD you MUST have L plates then P plates to signify your age and 'inexperience'. A blanket measure for the young makes as much sense as a blanket measure for the old; pick one, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Although I guess you can, the voters have spoken.

I never said all of them are idiots. There are many responsible and mature P platers on our roads.

[Stressball]

just buy it and do it up until ur off ur p's, car like that isnt going to depreciate if its taken care of.

Already got a car loan to pay off, plus insurance excess among other things If it stays there too long though then maybe I will hehe.

imagine if we had a giant uproar about p plates, do you think theyd get changed? no. maybe we can sue the government for discrimination

Zactly. The simple fact is, there are substantially less people affected by the P plate laws than there are those supporting it without any more reason than the government told them it's a good idea.

S plates would affect everybody who already thinks that P platers are evil and want to murder everybody on the road. To have S plates would imply that they are ONLY HUMAN AND AREN'T PERFECT DRIVERS :O And that just can't be right now, can it? Of course they won't support them.