New Demerit Point Laws. Unfair?

[Tatiana]

im saying why does a p plater get looked down at

I can almost guarantee when you are older you too will shake your fist at young people and curse them. It's the way of the world. A P platers lot in life is to suffer the tag of being a hoon, irresponsible driver, being unable to control a car etc. Of course not all young drivers fall into that category, there are many teenagers who get their licence and move through to a full licence without ever getting a traffic infringement or being involved in an accident. Some by sheer fluke, others because they are cautious drivers who obey the rules and gradually gain confidence.

Then there are those who think they are invincible, their car is the fastest and they are a Forumla one driver. Usually these ones end in horrific accidents with fatalities. The media picks it up and once again all P Platers are hoons and wreckless.

 

[Pickle']

Fair response. Just don't go around saying "in saying this, I'll probably get something stupid back from calaber". I'm entitled to my views just the same as you are to yours, so leave the derogatory comments out and you won't get me biting back.

Let's just consider something for a sec. In 1970, the number of licensed drivers in NSW was about one quarter to one third what it is today. Last year, the RTA published figures that showed there were over 200,000 Provisional licenses issued in 2009. When I got my P's, we were much fewer in number and I grew up in a generation where respect for the law and the cops was much greater than it is today. We were genuinely worried about gettting pinged for all sorts of things that don't raise a sweat today. Small diameter steering wheels, lowered suspension (nothing like the super-lowered you can go these days), rims wider than 6 inches (150 mm), noisy exhausts.....some things HAVE changed over the years and as I mentioned at the top of this thread, you lost your license for three months for the first offence - no points for P platers.

The really big difference, apart from the amount of traffic, was the cars we drove. Generally, they were gutless compared to the cars that P platers drive these days. It was a bit harder to get into trouble because they didn't go as hard (didn't bloody well stop, either) and we weren't as "try-hard" as so many younger drivers today.

And....my generation didn't think they owned the world like so many do today.


Oh, one other thing. I tried for the top speed just once. The car was so unstable at 80mph that I gave up and never tried again. Had to change the grundies when I got home.

yeah nah fair call.. apologies for "in saying this, I'll probably get something stupid back from calaber" but you just seemed to be jumping on everything i said.. all im trying to get across is that i do agree with you that there are alot of moron p platers... a hell of alot... but not all p platers are like that.. i believe they should bring back that law of no points for p platers but they wont and its stupid maybe if the ones that do stupid **** lost their license for longer periods of time or maybe had there car impounded or even crush after a second or 3rd offense people would stop driving like idiots.. i dont disagree the point of most of them are more just not all of them.. as you already said

and in saying that you've probably looked at both of my cars and think im one of them... but im really not i just like my car looking nice.. dont care if its as you drive past me :spot on:

as for this generation having an issue with the law.. i really dont understand it.. but i do agree with you.. the way i see it is if i aint doing nothing wrong they wont touch me.. but they pull me over and im a smartass obviously there gunna go over my car and look for any defect they can.

sorry for being a smartass in some of my earlier comments. :whistling

I can almost guarantee when you are older you too will shake your fist at young people and curse them. It's the way of the world. A P platers lot in life is to suffer the tag of being a hoon, irresponsible driver, being unable to control a car etc. Of course not all young drivers fall into that category, there are many teenagers who get their licence and move through to a full licence without ever getting a traffic infringement or being involved in an accident. Some by sheer fluke, others because they are cautious drivers who obey the rules and gradually gain confidence.

Then there are those who think they are invincible, their car is the fastest and they are a Forumla one driver. Usually these ones end in horrific accidents with fatalities. The media picks it up and once again all P Platers are hoons and wreckless.

yeah thats fair.. and yeah i probably will be one of those people.. but ill have the right seeings i was never a hoon on my p's .. and i know plenty that have got through without any issues even after doing all the stupid **** they do.

 

[Calaber]

yeah nah fair call.. apologies for "in saying this, I'll probably get something stupid back from calaber" but you just seemed to be jumping on everything i said.. all im trying to get across is that i do agree with you that there are alot of moron p platers... a hell of alot... but not all p platers are like that.. i believe they should bring back that law of no points for p platers but they wont and its stupid maybe if the ones that do stupid **** lost their license for longer periods of time or maybe had there car impounded or even crush after a second or 3rd offense people would stop driving like idiots.. i dont disagree the point of most of them are more just not all of them.. as you already said

and in saying that you've probably looked at both of my cars and think im one of them... but im really not i just like my car looking nice.. dont care if its as you drive past me :spot on:

as for this generation having an issue with the law.. i really dont understand it.. but i do agree with you.. the way i see it is if i aint doing nothing wrong they wont touch me.. but they pull me over and im a smartass obviously there gunna go over my car and look for any defect they can.

sorry for being a smartass in some of my earlier comments. :whistling



yeah thats fair.. and yeah i probably will be one of those people.. but ill have the right seeings i was never a hoon on my p's .. and i know plenty that have got through without any issues even after doing all the stupid **** they do.

Apology accepted gratefully. And I extend mine to you.

 

[elemeNtz]

In SA I think I am right in saying that currently you only have four demerit points for your whole time on your provisional license. I'd have loved to have the security of an extra four (total 8) for the second half of my P's.

Life is inherently unfair, deal with it

 

[soop]

The law shouldn't make it unfair though, Totally contradicts the point of having laws.

Someone mentioned how people would harras them whilst having their P's up and didn't when they didn't.
Gotta say, I drove for 12months in an SS with no P plates. NO issues what so ever. Hell even got pinged answering my phone and they didn't care that I didnt have them up.
Put the back on and I have people driving up my arse, cutting me off. Police officers doing "random" inspections".

There's no need to be targeted when you're doing nothing wrong. Everyone uses the arguement that it keeps P platers in line. Its utter bullshit. It doesn't help anything. I drove exactly the same ON my P plates as I do OFF.
All thats change is I'm not constantly paranoid about being harrased or persicuted for the smallest infraction.

 

[torch]

There's no need to be targeted when you're doing nothing wrong. Everyone uses the arguement that it keeps P platers in line. Its utter bullshit. It doesn't help anything. I drove exactly the same ON my P plates as I do OFF.

One possible thing you have overlooked is the drink/driving problem. P platers are meant to be 0.00, Im sure that there would be a good % of them more inclined to try and have a few drinks if they didnt have to put up P plates and be "targetted for doing nothing wrong".

Personally, I find most P platers do seem to be on their best behaviour, as though they are sitting for a driving test, as it should be. Its also true that the majority of them proceed to a full licence without incident or the loss of any points.

.I find the plates useful in knowing that the driver near me could have just got their license yesterday, might not react well to a traffic situation, be nervous etc and allow them plenty of leeway.

Are we training them for all road skills, probably not, does that mean we should be lenient with how many points they can lose? I say not, how many are losing points for not knowing how to recover a car from when it skids out from them on a corner?, not many I suspect?

But how many accidents(which they could lose points for careless driving) do they get into because they have basically just disobeyed road rules/speed limits either deliberately or through distraction
Im sure they wouldnt/ shouldnt have passed their driving test driving constantly up the bum of the vehicle in front while texting to a friend or with 2 of their buddies sitting in the car carrying on.

I do agree that perhaps losing points for the plates being on at the wrong angle is maybe pedantic, but then again, if its too demanding to put them on properly then maybe they should consider public transport.

 

[soop]

Its not so much it being a problem to put them on properly. But driving down the highway they do tend to move in the wind. As its mandatory to put them on the outside of the vehicle in NSW.

It's as if they've designed the law to basically guarantee revenue.

 

[Drawnnite]

if the p plate is visible it should be fine. if its upside down inside out or whatever, then that would be a problem. your on P's not d's although the d could stand for soemthing else. (... head)
its the mentality of how people perceive a P-plater in what they are believe they will do, being speed, "hoon", text etc.

one thing that confused me is the NSW system. with the imposed speed limits. wouldnt that be more dangerous?

 

[soop]

You would think.

You must do 80kmh on your L's, Even if everyone else is doing 100-110kmh.


HERP!!!

 

[Stressball]

You would think.

You must do 80kmh on your L's, Even if everyone else is doing 100-110kmh.


HERP!!!

Smart system, isn't it? I'm pretty sure that technically you have to abide by the licence restrictions of your state regardless of which state you are currently driving in, too. A year or two ago a chick on the gold coast got fined and lost a point for having p plates up, but having them inside the cabin instead of outside. She was a gold coast dweller, who crossed into NSW at tweed heads and got pinged. The fine and point was retracted on the basis that she should not have to abide by NSW p plate laws when she was not an NSW p plater.

By the same token, I regularly see NSW-plated cars with L's doing 80kmh/ P's doing 90kmh on the 110kmh stretch of the pacific motorway in QLD. That motorway is **** at the best of times, let alone when there's someone doing under the limit on it. They choose whether to either follow the law of their state of licence and annoy QLD drivers, or ignore the state licence laws and follow the QLD ones; technically, incorrect action to take.

National licencing ftw, I say. Ideally with not-**** rules, of course