Raise minimum driving age?

[Mr E]

I guess this is one of the last throes of the current parliament - transport committee output on young drivers.

Five main points put forward:

1. Learn to drive from 17, but no test until 18
2. Minimum number of lessions within a structured training syllabus
3. Extended hazard perception training
4. Zero alcohol level for first 12 months of driving
5. No passengers aged 10-20 between hours 2300-0500 for first 12 months of driving

The bald statistic is that 33% of road deaths involve a car driver aged 17-25, yet they make up just 12.5% of the driving population.

 

[wemorgan]

Thanks for the link, it'll be an interesting debate. As ever accessing and interpreting the data for most individuals is difficult so having an informed opinion is rare.

edit: just seen that the BBC link is from 2007. Is there any new news on this issue?

 

[flango]

I actually had some input into this as a driver trainer but as usual they have come out with half ****d ideas that wont work.

Learn to drive at 17 but no test till 18 Why??? I pased within 6 weeks of my 17th birthday and had been driving in motorsport since 14 so was well trained.

Minimum number of lessons with structured syllabus, no real problems with this as long as the syllabus is in line with modern conditions and vehicles.

Extended hazard perception training, great idea no issue at all.

Zero alcohol limit - you can never have a zero alcohol limit have a steak in red wine sauce and you are over the limit madness and not workable.

No passengers aged 10 -20 in the car between 11pm and 5am again a half ****d attempt at copying the American system.

The problem is they have missed the biggy, toughen up the driving test include motorway tuition and test maybe a 2 tier system?

Honestly the government just leave me astounded and wondering why I still live in the UK, they go out for the opinions of all the professionals and the totally ignore them, T*ssers

rant over

 

[NormanC]

Zero alcohol limit - you can never have a zero alcohol limit have a steak in red wine sauce and you are over the limit madness and not workable.

I can see where you're coming from but I'd have thought that any cooked sauce would have had the alcohol driven off during the cooking.

Pehaps a limit of say 5 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath rather than the normal 35. Should basically have the desired effect, don't you think.

 

[flango]

I can see where you're coming from but I'd have thought that any cooked sauce would have had the alcohol driven off during the cooking.

Pehaps a limit of say 5 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath rather than the normal 35. Should basically have the desired effect, don't you think.

Yes totally agree but if you look back at other threads on this, some of the alcohol remains after cooking. I agree the limit should be a lot lower than 35 which is one of the highest in the Western world and I think you probably have it spot on ,5 microgrammes would be a good level.

Also worthy of note that no other country in the Western World has a zero limit, with the exception of the Muslem countries where it is obviously zero on religious grounds.

 

[st4]

I actually had some input into this as a driver trainer but as usual they have come out with half ****d ideas that wont work.

Learn to drive at 17 but no test till 18 Why??? I pased within 6 weeks of my 17th birthday and had been driving in motorsport since 14 so was well trained.

Minimum number of lessons with structured syllabus, no real problems with this as long as the syllabus is in line with modern conditions and vehicles.

Extended hazard perception training, great idea no issue at all.

Zero alcohol limit - you can never have a zero alcohol limit have a steak in red wine sauce and you are over the limit madness and not workable.

No passengers aged 10 -20 in the car between 11pm and 5am again a half ****d attempt at copying the American system.

The problem is they have missed the biggy, toughen up the driving test include motorway tuition and test maybe a 2 tier system?

Honestly the government just leave me astounded and wondering why I still live in the UK, they go out for the opinions of all the professionals and the totally ignore them, T*ssers

rant over

Thats the biggie isn't it.

Passplus maybe should become manditory AFTER the basic DSA test so some form of motorway and dual carriageway (in areas where there are no motorways like Aberdeenshire and Cornwall) are covered off properly. Night time driving should also be covered off as well IMHO as a lot struggle with it, including night driving which a lot struggle with

 

[crockers]

Also worthy of note that no other country in the Western World has a zero limit, with the exception of the Muslem countries where it is obviously zero on religious grounds.

Let's hope they don't clean their teeth and use a mouthwash that MAY have a trace of alcohol in it....

 

[Ade B]

Aren't they all off their head on drugs anyway - doesn't show up on a breath test..

Should perhaps limit teenagers to two seat cars to reduce the 5 in a metro rural back road rally style crashes which my mates found so amusing at 17.


Ade

 

[stevesey]

I can see where you're coming from but I'd have thought that any cooked sauce would have had the alcohol driven off during the cooking.

This came up a few months ago - some link were provided to show this is not the case. Then there's trifles to think of.

Also the driving age came up a while back - didn't someone suggest that research has shown that driving younger actually improves the situation (didn't read that one fully).

 

[ringway]

THIS thread from last year makes for interesting reading.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Interesting about the alcohol content after cooking, having searched the thread, I came upon the google link, and found it hard to reconcile their cooking methods with my own, but I normally boil wine, flame it and then reduce it to about a fifth by volume (about 20 minutes or so) before adding it to any slow cooked dish for up to 3 hours.

As a friend writes on wine science, I might ask him to run some tests on remaining alcohol, but learned something new today.

Back to thread, young males do stupid things. If I recall correctly the part of the brain that handles inhibitions from reckless behaviour doesn't develop fully in the male until the mid-twenties (not that its presence necessarily helps with the effect of alcohol), which evolutionary scientists posit is a hangover from our warrior ancestry as too much inhibition in fighting is a bad thing.

So like soldiers acquire discipline from constant training, so I think the more training for young drivers the better.