Driving must be raised to 18

[ScoobyChris]

An interesting article on the BBC this morning that was from July 2007...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6904821.stm

I wonder if it has been dug up for the latest election campaigns?

Chris

[ROG]

As the age for driving LGVs has been lower to 18 from 21 then that does not make sense !!

[7db]

Alternative:- drop the age and make sure people are good drivers.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

That would never catch on!

[martine]

I think some of this makes sense.

What's particularly shocking to me is:

"...In 1992, there were 12.6 deaths on the road for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 20. By 2005, the figure had risen to 19.2..."

That's a more than 50% increase. What's going on? Why has it changed for the worse?

[fungus]

"...In 1992, there were 12.6 deaths on the road for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 20. By 2005, the figure had risen to 19.2..." [/i]

That's a more than 50% increase. What's going on? Why has it changed for the worse?

Too much nanny state, that's a lot of the problem. It's not only driving, but in other walks of life as well. Tell a 17 year old not to do something, and the chances are they will.

[Angus]

I think some of this makes sense.

What's particularly shocking to me is:

"...In 1992, there were 12.6 deaths on the road for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 20. By 2005, the figure had risen to 19.2..."

That's a more than 50% increase. What's going on? Why has it changed for the worse?

Car are faster
Trees are bigger
Roads are busier
Video games have restart option
Children are mollicoddled and don't understand risk
Young drivers have older cars with fewer safety features
Instructors teach to pass test

[Gareth]

Trees are bigger

Hmm, I can see your suggestions aren't going to be completely serious

Young drivers have older cars with fewer safety features

Completely disagree - young drivers have always driven relatively cheaper and hence relatively older cars, but the many of the cars with the fewest safety features will have become unavailable, making the cars that young drivers have today generally safer than the cars young drivers had 20 years ago.

FWIW my first car was a 1972 HC Viva estate (free, given to me in 1982, with a well shagged 1599 cc OHC), my second was a 1971 HC Viva saloon (1159 cc OHV, bought with £115 borrowed from a credit card). It's hard to imagine they had fewer safety features than cars owned by young drivers today.

Instructors teach to pass test

Was always the same with, as now, honourable exceptions.

[ROG]

Instructors teach to pass test

Is that the fault of the instructor or the trainee who will not pay more for extra lessons ?

[GJD]

I think some of this makes sense.

What's particularly shocking to me is:

"...In 1992, there were 12.6 deaths on the road for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 20. By 2005, the figure had risen to 19.2..."

That's a more than 50% increase. What's going on? Why has it changed for the worse?

There's an important fact missing. How many miles are those young drivers driving? I've no idea if the number has actually changed, but suppose (hypothetically) that they were driving 60% more miles in 2005 than in 1992. If everything else were equal then you'd expect 12.6 deaths per 100,000 motorists to rise to over 20. 19.2 would therefore indicate that something had changed for the better since 1992.

Of course everything else isn't equal. What matters is how the number of deaths has changed relative to exposure to the risk of death. Counting per 100,000 miles is still a crude approximation of that, but it's far more meaningful than counting per 100,000 individuals.

[TripleS]

"...In 1992, there were 12.6 deaths on the road for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 20. By 2005, the figure had risen to 19.2..." [/i]

That's a more than 50% increase. What's going on? Why has it changed for the worse?

Too much nanny state, that's a lot of the problem. It's not only driving, but in other walks of life as well. Tell a 17 year old not to do something, and the chances are they will.

I think that may explain some of it; and a rebellious attitude can be provoked in people much older than 17 - look no further, etc.

Maybe there is an increasing tendency to seek to escape from officialdom, laws, rules, and general constraints etc., and maybe this is reflected in a greater readiness to resort to alcohol, drugs, reckless use of motor vehicles etc. - especially by younger people.

Of course I may be quite wrong about this, but I certainly feel the authorities are doing more harm than good with their current approach. You have to try to understand people and their aspirations, and come to some understanding with them and accommodate them within reason, otherwise you drive them away and it simply becomes a damaging battle which does very little good for anybody.

Officialdom has certainly alienated me, and I was not brought up to be defiant and rebellious; but I am now.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[jont]

There's an important fact missing. How many miles are those young drivers driving?

I was having that very same thought earlier this morning. Also, how many more actually have their own cars, rather than being limited to their parents? Anecdotally I know the numbers of students with cars has increased significantly since I was a student ~10 years ago.

[Angus]

Trees are bigger

Hmm, I can see your suggestions aren't going to be completely serious

Perhaps a degree of frivolity, but in most cases of an "argument" between a car and a mature tree, the tree wins.

[jbsportstech]

It comes down to lack of experience and skill but the biggest problem is MINDSET.

Young people today don't have the right mindset to driving. Its a game same as you get on a playstation the fact it could kill you and others doesn't cross most 17-25's mind. It didn't when I was 17-19.

They stop thinking about driving!

Girl in my road passed her end of last year and drove in and beautifully shamed some older more experienced drivers in my close. Now she flys in and out like there is no tomorrow I worry every time someone walks into the she doesnt come flying in. She puts her music on full and foot down now doesnt ever think that someone else may occur that the one cars width may be occupied by anyone else. Her car is now riddled with damaged from collisions and scraps.

What can you do? Hopefully she matures without killing anyone.

[fungus]

It comes down to lack of experience and skill but the biggest problem is MINDSET.

Young people today don't have the right mindset to driving. Its a game same as you get on a playstation the fact it could kill you and others doesn't cross most 17-25's mind. It didn't when I was 17-19.

They stop thinking about driving!

Girl in my road passed her end of last year and drove in and beautifully shamed some older more experienced drivers in my close. Now she flys in and out like there is no tomorrow I worry every time someone walks into the she doesnt come flying in. She puts her music on full and foot down now doesnt ever think that someone else may occur that the one cars width may be occupied by anyone else. Her car is now riddled with damaged from collisions and scraps.

What can you do? Hopefully she matures without killing anyone.

I think much of the problem is that they are not taught to do basic things like cross the road etc. How many times do you see pedestrians, especialy teenagers, walk up to a light controlled crossing and press the button without even looking to see if it is safe to cross without using the lights.

There is also a arrogance amongst certain sections of the teenage comunity where they think that they are untouchable. I had a boy ride down the road tonight completely on the wrong side of the road. He made no attempt to cross to the correct side of the road. I slowed almost to a stop and he cycled around me glaring at me as he passed. What sort of atitude is he going to have when he is given a driving licence?