Driving Test. Age Level 18. This Is Why!

[ringway]

Interesting statistics and the reason for the driving test age being increased to 18.

Young male drivers are the biggest cause of death of young women in Britain. Almost one in two drivers killed at night is under 25.

I had no idea of this of this horror statistic.

Full article via the link below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573777/Driving-test-age-'will-be-raised-to-18'.html

 

[SLKFORTWO]

This may well be the case, but a lot of young drivers don't pass their test until they are around 18 anyway, so I can't see it making much difference purely on age. Much more important is the increased training and time behind the wheel. The downside of course is that for many youngsters it will mean up to an extra year on two wheels. I have two sons who thankfully went from their motorbikes/scooters into cars as soon as they could at 17, with no small amount of encouragement from mum & dad! What a relief when that happened.
Luckily my daughter never had the 2 wheeled bug so she went straight into driving, also at 17, so not so many worries with her.
I know which age I favour youngsters to take up driving.

 

[Mudster]

Interesting statistics and the reason for the driving test age being increased to 18.

Young male drivers are the biggest cause of death of young women in Britain. Almost one in two drivers killed at night is under 25.

I had no idea of this of this horror statistic.

Full article via the link below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1573777/Driving-test-age-'will-be-raised-to-18'.html

Reading the above, then logic states that MORE than 50% of drivers killed at night are over 25.........

I've never been overkeen on statistics being used as headlines, as they are on the whole completely meaningless without a thorough breakdown of how and when they were compiled.

 

[yachtman]

hope they dont

it is quite an old article.


i sincerely hope this doesnt happen, tests should be passed on ability, not expired time!

 

[ringway]

Reading the above, then logic states that MORE than 50% of drivers killed at night are over 25......... You're correct!

Half full or half empty You're Right.

 

[Dryce]

I had no idea of this of this horror statistic.

This is one of the reasons that insurers were playing with the idea of curfews for young drivers a while back.

 

[cjab98]

it is quite an old article.


i sincerely hope this doesnt happen, tests should be passed on ability, not expired time!

17 year olds may have the ability to pass the test, but once they are left to drive on their own they don't all drive in a responsible manner. I suspect most of the fatalities are due to the ones driving stupidly because they are not mature enough to behave as they should. Inexperience may come into it too, but I suspect most of it is kids racing and driving wrecklesly because they are just that - kids rather than responsible adults.
Unfortunately not all mature at the same age, but the law has to draw the line somewhere as we don't have a system to determine how a kid will behave when left on his own or with his mates.

 

[crammy69]

Unfortunately I have to agree that young drivers need to be controlled somehow. Last Night on new years eve, we were leaving a friends house around 1.30 and as I was warming the car I heard a monumental bang , turned round and saw car debris flying down the road. I ran to the scene to find a hatchback in an unrecognisable state with two scared and dazed young men ( 19/20 maybe ) climbing out of the rear window aperture of the car. Luckily, whilst dazed and a bit bloody, they were walking wounded. I asked the young men if there was anyone else in the car and one said his girlfriend, but there was no sign of her in the rear, (the front was all but crushed), by this time a police car turned up (it had just attended another accident in which a number of people died) and the police removed the rear seats and confirmed no-one else was in the car. It was shortly after that we took a look through the broken garden fence (the car had destroyed a bus shelter and part of a garden fence) and amidst the debris we saw a leg poking out. The girlfriend had obviously been thrown out of the rear of the car.

I have spoken to the police this afternoon, and the young girl (17) is in intensive care, in a very serious condition. I cant stop thinking about the poor girls parents and how terribly their 2009 has begun.

My wife thinks that in the playstation generation, the kids dont have the respect for cars and how dangerous they can be, and my father in law comments that if youngsters had to ride motorbikes for a year before they were allowed into cars they might have greater understanding of road conditions.

Personally I am just sad that such young lifes can be ruined needlessly, maybe the electronic control of speed limits for the young is required.

 

[ringway]

Unfortunately I have to agree that young drivers need to be controlled somehow. Last Night on new years eve, we were leaving a friends house around 1.30 and as I was warming the car I heard a monumental bang , turned round and saw car debris flying down the road. I ran to the scene to find a hatchback in an unrecognisable state with two scared and dazed young men ( 19/20 maybe ) climbing out of the rear window aperture of the car. Luckily, whilst dazed and a bit bloody, they were walking wounded. I asked the young men if there was anyone else in the car and one said his girlfriend, but there was no sign of her in the rear, (the front was all but crushed), by this time a police car turned up (it had just attended another accident in which a number of people died) and the police removed the rear seats and confirmed no-one else was in the car. It was shortly after that we took a look through the broken garden fence (the car had destroyed a bus shelter and part of a garden fence) and amidst the debris we saw a leg poking out. The girlfriend had obviously been thrown out of the rear of the car.

I have spoken to the police this afternoon, and the young girl (17) is in intensive care, in a very serious condition. I cant stop thinking about the poor girls parents and how terribly their 2009 has begun.

My wife thinks that in the playstation generation, the kids dont have the respect for cars and how dangerous they can be, and my father in law comments that if youngsters had to ride motorbikes for a year before they were allowed into cars they might have greater understanding of road conditions.

Personally I am just sad that such young lifes can be ruined needlessly, maybe the electronic control of speed limits for the young is required.

Correct. I think there is a place for the limiters/trackers for young drivers.

Probably quite difficult to implement and police, but worthwhile I'm sure, if lives can be saved.

There is it seems pressure on the young to drive in a "Cool Way" otherwise by labled a wally.
Also, young people, especially males are by nature very competetive which is a dangerous thing, especially when so inexperienced.

 

[Ade B]

Unfortunately I have to agree that young drivers need to be controlled somehow. Last Night on new years eve, we were leaving a friends house around 1.30 and as I was warming the car I heard a monumental bang , turned round and saw car debris flying down the road. I ran to the scene to find a hatchback in an unrecognisable state with two scared and dazed young men ( 19/20 maybe ) climbing out of the rear window aperture of the car. Luckily, whilst dazed and a bit bloody, they were walking wounded. I asked the young men if there was anyone else in the car and one said his girlfriend, but there was no sign of her in the rear, (the front was all but crushed), by this time a police car turned up (it had just attended another accident in which a number of people died) and the police removed the rear seats and confirmed no-one else was in the car. It was shortly after that we took a look through the broken garden fence (the car had destroyed a bus shelter and part of a garden fence) and amidst the debris we saw a leg poking out. The girlfriend had obviously been thrown out of the rear of the car.

I have spoken to the police this afternoon, and the young girl (17) is in intensive care, in a very serious condition. I cant stop thinking about the poor girls parents and how terribly their 2009 has begun.

My wife thinks that in the playstation generation, the kids dont have the respect for cars and how dangerous they can be, and my father in law comments that if youngsters had to ride motorbikes for a year before they were allowed into cars they might have greater understanding of road conditions.

Personally I am just sad that such young lifes can be ruined needlessly, maybe the electronic control of speed limits for the young is required.

Not a great way into 2009...

The trend around me is for young guys to drive slumped to one side with a phone stuck to their ear whilst speeding everywhere and making sudden direction changes without indicating, which makes life interesting on a motorbike.

We were all young once, I remember having a few hairy moments but they were limited by my £5 a week fuel allowance whilst a sixth former and remould tyres on a 1978 Granada which would let go at the slightest provocation..

I'm not sure what the solution is but it does seem such a tragic and commonplace scenario.

Ade

 

[crammy69]

Not a great way into 2009...

The trend around me is for young guys to drive slumped to one side with a phone stuck to their ear whilst speeding everywhere and making sudden direction changes without indicating, which makes life interesting on a motorbike.

We were all young once, I remember having a few hairy moments but they were limited by my £5 a week fuel allowance whilst a sixth former and remould tyres on a 1978 Granada which would let go at the slightest provocation..

I'm not sure what the solution is but it does seem such a tragic and commonplace scenario.

Ade

Exactly right, I remember driving like a prat on one occassion (aged 18)and getting the back end out of shape and it really scared me and it was a real wake-up call and I have driven sensibly ever since ( well except one occasion I was being followed by a car-load of saudi's who were waving a gun out of their window & trying to run me off the road).

 

[Dieselman]

( well except one occasion I was being followed by a car-load of saudi's who were waving a gun out of their window & trying to run me off the road).

I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time...but......

 

[Dieselman]

Reading the above, then logic states that MORE than 50% of drivers killed at night are over 25......... You're correct!

Half full or half empty You're Right.

He's not in real terms.

25 less 17 gives a maximum of seven years. If the average driver drives until they are say 75 then that's 50 years.

So if 50% of those killed are under 25 that means that they are seven times more likely to be killed than those over 25.

I'd say that's pretty significant.

 

[oorjim2]

It’s the same thing here as well with young drivers changing direction without using indicators, that I blame on the way they are trained. I am training for the part 2 test to become a driving instructor and I have been driving for 30 years and was taught to indicate every time you changed direction now I’m being told that you don’t have to indicate if you think nobody is going to benefit from it which I think is wrong, or maybe it’s me that’s just used to driving the old way.

Jim.

 

[CE230]

The trend around me is for young guys to drive slumped to one side with a phone stuck to their ear whilst speeding everywhere and making sudden direction changes without indicating, which makes life interesting on a motorbike.Ade

Absolutely, fortunately I am able to lean over from my bike and open the car door.

 

[ringway]

He's not in real terms.

25 less 17 gives a maximum of seven years. If the average driver drives until they are say 75 then that's 50 years.

So if 50% of those killed are under 25 that means that they are seven times more likely to be killed than those over 25.

I'd say that's pretty significant.

Your right you know!

 

[butty871]

im a 19 year old female driver and yes their are alot of young idiot drivers out there but what i can not understand is why they let 16 year olds have 50cc motor bikes they are the real danger.

 

[Ade B]

im a 19 year old female driver and yes their are alot of young idiot drivers out there but what i can not understand is why they let 16 year olds have 50cc motor bikes they are the real danger.

They only tend to kill a maximum of 2 at a time..

Ade

 

[Uberwagon]

They are young, they no doubt get into more bar fights, more drunken nuisance and more general trouble than most age groups.

Raising the driving age 1 year is a pointless waste of money.

Dave!

 

[st4]

He's not in real terms.

25 less 17 gives a maximum of seven years. If the average driver drives until they are say 75 then that's 50 years.

So if 50% of those killed are under 25 that means that they are seven times more likely to be killed than those over 25.

I'd say that's pretty significant.

It is, but raising the age won't make much of a difference IMHO. I heard a counter argument which basically said that driving is seen as a "status" for young people, and once they get it they wish to show off.

To counter this it was suggested to lower the driving age, maybe to 14, maybe younger, where puperity hadn't kicked in. Driving would be tought like a subject at schools as kids would get to drive cars (albiet in a very controlled environment) from a very early age. This would deglamourise driving so when the day came that the young were unleashed on the roads it wouldn't be so exciting for them. Road Theory and car maintance would also be tought, and cars/driving would be such a run of the mill thing....

The Finnish model is also worth looking at, as the skills they are tought would be welcome over here. Certainly their young are driving cars from a very early age.