P Platers and High Performance cars.....

[SpaceYam]

Julie, I agree!

and women in people movers also need to look where they're going too

I PLAINLY had my blinker on, and it's a good thing I predicted she wasn't looking cos if I Hadn't hit the brakes (and my horn) prematurely, she and her kids would probably have only just gotten out of hospital *sigh*

I do agree though, get the low performance drivers either off the road or get them good training.

My friend the other day told me I should take an advanced driving course, reckons I'd do really well... I want to do one just so I can learn more about driving. I do a LOT of driving (probably 40,000 a year or more) and have never had an accident... except ONCE... doing 25km/h up a busy street and someone parked on the side of the road turned into me because they weren't looking.

 

[Bec]

I voted no...but I'm in between that and the don't really care one.
I started paddock bashing when I was 8 and continued till I got my licence at 16. The experience of losing control in most situations and nearly rolling it and falling out so many times opened my eyes at an early age, and I am grateful for it. I started with a VC when I got my P's, and I know I'm a girl, but I had the common sense not to do anything stupid (except on my private gravel road). My brother had the car before me and crashed into a tree 2 weeks after mum paid 2k fixing it up. Wouldn't have made a difference if it was a 120y - he was going 30km/h and all cars are weapons. He is a **** driver, drove about 15,000 kms before getting his opens 3 years later. He rides a pushie now *phew*
I drove 180,000 kms when I was a P plater, and learnt alot about driving, the road, and other drivers' stupidity.

I have had friends killed by DUI and speed and racing. I have seen a WRX go sideways into a pole at 120. That ******** killed himself and his girlfriend, and left sickening memories for me. I know I shouldn't say it, but ****, if all P platers saw a scene like that they would have to be dumb not to keep it in the back of their minds when driving.
4, 6, or 8 cylinder, ALL cars go sideways. Most crashes are not due to high speed, it is going too fast for the conditions and locations that is the problem. A 120y can go around a wet corner at 60km/h just like a V8 commie can (probably be safer in the commodore though).
P platers are adults with brains. They shouldn't need laws like these to keep them alive.

*bell rings* oh...time's up

 

[Bax]

P platers are adults with brains. They shouldn't need laws like these to keep them alive.

Shouldn't But do.

Some good points coming out, especially about P platers driving more often then most other people. However, you don't see Mums in their 4wd's or old grannies in their Corolla's out doing laps until the wee hours of the morning, drag racing the occasional car here and there. Showing off for their mates etc.

We're 18 and we can do all those things, but the majority of us cannot drive a car sensibly. And I'd be more inclined to say its a matter of sensibility over not knowing what to do. Fair enough if you've done defensive driving courses to figure out how to correct oversteer, braking in the wet etc - Fair enough, but alot of the time if you were driving right for the conditions then you wouldn't need to know how to do that anyway, its just an extra safety barrier.

Personally I think the main things drivers should know is to be Alert of what the Traffic is doing- which means staying behind the car in front of you by a fair amount of time, I think its 3 seconds. That lets you see if theres cars braking, someone cutting in, someones crossing the road etc.

Drive for the conditions, if its wet, slow down, your not Peter Brock, your car is not a race car, you have to go slower and smoother.

I think being wary is the main one, if people are sensible enough not to speed and go crazy, they will be able to avoid 99% of daily hassles, its saved me many a time.

 

[2_SeeK_U]

p platers spend more time on the road

l would agree on that, but l think they factor in the severity of the crashes p platers are involved in, l mean have you ever heard about an elderly man wrapping his car around a tree because he was doing 150 km/h??

After reading what vsute posted, l see limitors wouldn't really solve the problem. But l like the idea of a local drag strip with cheap entry, it would get the racers of our roads.

if you've done defensive driving courses

l heard they are bringing in a training stage/driving course for L platers in NSW... thank god l'm on my p's...

 

[AirStrike]

I really am in quite a pickle with something like this. But a few things to remember:
*It's the age old thing that if you denie them something they are just gonna sneak around doing it, so we will see Hi-Po cars simplly going unregistered.

• 
  *Say you limit them to 4 cyl's only then the second they are off there P's they go and get a HI-Po and wrap it around a pole
  *Some of you have suggested un modded cars only, how do you inforce this??
  *The main thing is that since all the idiots on Today Tonight are young they assume all young people are idiots
  *I am putting this back to the Government, would it hurt them to provide a defencive driving/advance driving course for everyone who recieves there P's, and how bout a free night at the local track (ie:calder) to keep it off the roads??
  Just some thoughts
  Cheers

 

[commodore_vy]

It's only a minority of dickheads ruining it for the rest of us. Ban low performance drivers, NOT high performance cars.

I couldn't agree more...

A defencive driving course is not a bad idea, i'd be in that.
I have been on my P's for about a year now and cant afford to pay for petrol to do stupid things, but my younger mates who jst get their P's, drive like idiots, they do stupid things, I think it all comes down to experience, and experience that should be gained by doing a course (or something similar)

 

[DJ Majah]

The main thing is that since all the idiots on Today Tonight are young they assume all young people are idiots

And that is the heart of the problem! So idiots jump into cars, kill themselves. Have they been given no warning? Do they not know the road rules? Of course they do, they seen crashes before, they passed their driving test. The simple fact of the matter is that they are idiots. If they voluntarily remove themselves from our gene pool, the world cant get worse.

Yeah, I know they kill other people too, and I dont like to see that, but all other ages and types of drivers kill people too. We all know what happens when a restriction is placed on something to stop illegal activities - even more illegal activities.

I still have a few months left on a P licence, but that doesnt make me an idiot. I might be a cruel bastard because I have no sympathy for anybody driving at 200ks in a 50 zone, nor for the people who waste time and government money yabbering on about all of their new and inproved ways to make the world a better place through policing. You wait until next week, Today Tonight will have forgotten they ever ran a story on this and will be numbing the minds of the public with a new, amazing diet that will help you lose 10kgs/week. Its always the same with TT, if someone wants to have a whinge about how stupid young people are, theres a camera crew on their doorstep straight away.

Not just TT either, Ive noticed channel 7 in particular will use anybody who likes cars as their little puppet for manipulation. Informing the public, of course. I have seen many stories of 7's abuse of car enthusiasts, but the one that got to me the most was last year. A 7 film crew turned up at Sunnybank(?) Maccas carpark one night (usual hangout for import boys) and told them they were doing a story on their cars and culture, they then asked one of the guys to pull a smokey for them. He was definitely a ******** to have done it, but that doesnt excuse them for misrepresenting him when they ran the story about brazen hoons who wreak havoc all night around Brisbane by making noise, racing, loitering...and of course, doing burnouts, and they had the tape to prove it.

--Back on topic: I have done a defensive driving course, and it was one of the best ways I have ever spent a day, they are fun. Its not all about cruising around then doing skids, theres theory too and car maintenance info. They should definitely be done by all drivers.

There arent many ways of stopping this, and my suggestions are: better licencing and harsher penalties. How about that guy who has been fined many times over the last 15 years for major offenses (eg high speed pursuits), but still continues to drive like a cock? After that record, in 2002 he slammed his Ford GT into a little old mazda and wrapped it around a pole. The woman died, he kept his licence, and was caught speeding twice after. And he's not a P plater

I wouldnt work, and its not fair on the new drivers who do do the right thing on the road. 'Car enthusiasm' isnt a crime...Im sick of typing now.

 

[Bax]

I'd love a free night out at a track/ drags, but its a fairly decent drive to get to the drags, and the nearest circuit around here.. Well, Probably a few hundred K's south.

 

[Wombat]

"Ban low performance drivers" is a good sentiment, but it will never ever happen while my asshole points to the ground.

All you have to do is go thru the abysmal and simple licence test once, and have a look around at some of the people on the roads, and you'll see that the whole system is formulated to push as many people as possible thru and onto the roads...a licence is a right don't you know, not a privelage...

Anyway, imagine the sudden drain on public transport if they suddenly started to make people do a yearly written test and a two-yearly driving test again, and also make it at least as hard to get a car licence as the hoops you have to jump thru to get a motorcycle licence.

 

[Julie]

"Ban low performance drivers" is a good sentiment, but it will never ever happen while my asshole points to the ground. .

Hahaha, maybe the problem could be solved by a simple handstand

"All you have to do is go thru the abysmal and simple licence test once, and have a look around at some of the people on the roads, and you'll see that the whole system is formulated to push as many people as possible thru and onto the roads...a licence is a right don't you know, not a privelage...

Anyway, imagine the sudden drain on public transport if they suddenly started to make people do a yearly written test and a two-yearly driving test again, and also make it at least as hard to get a car licence as the hoops you have to jump thru to get a motorcycle licence.

I kinda agree with you here, but if they are to implement tougher licencing regulations I think it should be right across the board for everyone, because at the present time P platers have had to pass the most difficult and time consuming tests in history, that means that the current p platers were scrutinised much more than other drivers who may have got their licence under very slack conditions 20 years ago. Also they need to take into account the fact that there have been road rule changes and it is actually the p platers NOT the older more experienced drivers who are more likely to know about and obey them, for eg. the reasonably new indicating rules for roundabouts in nsw, the only cars i see that actually follow these rules are L and P platers. I have no problems with a tougher test to get licence, but it should be applied to every driver not just the young ones who are just scapegoats.