Young Drivers.

Prideth · Post by **Prideth** » Sun May 21, 2006 17:06

Currently I'm listening to the sounds associated with the fact a car has just crashed into the house directly across the road from ours, after the teenage driver came barelling around the corner into our street, speeding of course, and lost control. Those sounds involve fire trucks, an ambulance, at least 2 police cars, half the neighbourhood, and the anguished wails of the driver himself as he looks at the mess he caused by driving like an idiot.

Luckily for him, he wasn't hurt, but he has made a hell of a mess of my neighbours front fence, garden and front porch, not to mention the car is probably a write off. I must be honest and selfishly admit that I am glad he hit the other house and not ours. We don't have a fence to slow the car down, so if he had hit this house, he probably would have caved the front part of it in.

He is yet another of the growing number of young morons who have chosen our street over the last few months or so to play what I call the "wanker's serenade". This involved roaring down the main road, and turning into our street barely slowing down, and with much screeching of tyres and roaring of engines, then barelling down our street as fast as they can with total disregard for anyone or thing else using it. Only difference with this guy is the screeching tyres didn't stop after he turned the corner, they stopped when he hit the house instead.

Don't get me wrong, I know all young drivers don't drive like that, in fact I hope the vast majority don't, but there are enough who do to cause totally un-necessary death and mayhem, and they do tend to give all teen drivers a bad name.

I don't drive, never learned, so can't understand the mentality of getting behind the wheel and speeding through residential streets. The drivers doing this know it is illegal, they know it is dangerous, they know it is idiotic, so why do they do it? Is it bravado, a feeling of invincibility or what?

Guybrush · Post by **Guybrush** » Mon May 22, 2006 0:18

this is a slightly difficult question to take up imo, because I think most people agree that there are problems, but it's difficult to tell what to do about them

I'm a young driver myself - I've had a licence for 2½ year, and I think I drive responseably, but sadly to say I know several people around my own age who doesn't - a few due to lack of practise, and a few just should've never got their licence - at least when I overhear people complaining that they were unable to get the car up above 140 km/h when they drove to school it's enough to worry me

what to do about it - in Denmark various solutions has been suggested - a few suggesting that males would not be able to grant a licence until they turned 21 (I would've hated that) - after that was turned down they suggested that girls shoule be able to get it at 16 instead so that boys would not drive fast to impress their girlfriends

these days youngsters get their license on 'prohabition' so that they lose the licence even on 'lighter' offences, but that only helps if you're caught, and it doesn't hide the fact that there are older drivers who is in fact just as bad

can't really conclude this because I don't really have any idea exactly what it is that makes some youngsters behave like madmen in traffic, nor do I have any idea on how you get rid of them effectively without going against innocent youngsters driving with responsibility

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:37

The reasons behind such behavour are many and varied - you hit the nail on the head in with some of those reasons your suggested in your final paragraph.

These actions are I find to be an automotive extension of current and existing behavour, a general disregard for authority, lack of respect, etc - the usual teen thing really

This, coupled with 1.5 tonnes of steel, a bit of physics and that aforementioned feeling of invincibility makes for a mess. Young drivers are 26% like to die on the roads here in Australia - That's die, not merely be involved in an accident. Five people die on Australian roads each day.

Unfortunately the only way these kids learn is the hard way. Pity it usually involves killing someone else but until there is a politican with some brass and/or the community to say 'enough'.

Cheers,

Eric

Prideth · Post by **Prideth** » Thu May 25, 2006 14:07

I must admit at the time I was wishing the driver had broken an arm or leg, or done some other damage to himself. Not life threatening, I'm not that hateful, but painful enough to really drum into his skull exactly what driving like that can do to a person.

Though, it turns out the car he totalled was his fathers, who had only bought it a few weeks before. Lets just say that when his dad arrived at the accident scene, he wasn't happy.

Post by **Chroelle** » Mon May 29, 2006 19:35

Well a couple of my friends have gotten busted for driving like jerks. IT is all a good handfull of years ago, so I can only really remember one thing about driving with them. You were scared, but you didn't want to tell them to drive carefully as that would seem totally uncool, and you would be ridiculed. Today I have no problem telling people if I think they drive too fast, too reckless and so on. My GF can be a bit heavy on the pedal sometimes, and I tell her when she is driving stupidly - I mean I really tell her that she s driving like an idiot!

As you know I failed my first attempt at getting the license. I am pretty sure that the instructor took me out on a hard route to really press me to flunk. (I'm not saying that I didn't help him with flunking me, I am just saying that maybe they try to flunk as many young guys as possible sometimes.) I think that if you were to raise the agelimit to 21 in Denmark, you would have a lot more Driving without a license cases, than you have now.
I have always told myself that I would never be a speeddevil, but I must admit I like driving on freeways, and going 110 km/h, which is the speedlimits around here. (In my vicinity)
But I only like speeding on freeways. Speeding meaning: going fast - not meaning: Going faster than allowed.

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:41

I failed my first driving test too... I erred on the side of caution a little to much for the instructors liking I think - weird really but there's a fine line between caution and indecision I guess.

Having driven at 185KpH in my car I can honestly say you're mad to do that often and think you can get away with it - there's no room for error and on a public road, where literally anything can happen in front of you, it's utter madness.

Post by **Chroelle** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:03

I think that the main problem is of course the fact that you get used to high speeds just like you get used to so many other things.
Ever tried driving off the freeway and onto a road with a 50KpH limit? It feels like you're coming to a halt....
And if you tried driving 150 kph and then slowing down to 110, it is weird experience. The same 110 that felt fast just last you tried it, now seems like crawling. So getting used to driving 180 is just a matter of doing it for a long enough period of time.

A story that my driving teacher told me:
This man has been driving the same route to work every day for the last 20 years. Along the way there is a curve and in the middle of that curve a good ten meters out on a field there is a tree - it is the only tree for miles.
One day this driver crashed into that tree after spinning off the road - The weather was fine, and there was nothing on the road that made him do it.
Why did this happen?

Habit! He has been going through this curve everyday for 20 years going faster and faster through it - everyday coming to the same result - I can go even faster in this curve without anything happening.
Next day he would go just as fast or a little faster, and once again make it through the curve.
But on this day he just pushed it over the top, and went just too fast for the car to keep its grip. As the car spun of the road, the driver thought: Damned, I spun off, how stupid, now I just hope that I wont hit that tree. And then he focused on the tree which is pretty much the worst thing you can do if you want to go around something.... And CRASH!

I think that traffics worst combinated enemy is to blame for young people driving the way they do, and never seeing the danger.
Habit and adrenalin. Adrenalin tells us to go faster, while habit tells us that we never crashed before, so why not proceed untill we do.