Driving age increase to 18 *warning, may constitute a rant*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6904821.stm

I just read this on BBC news, does anyone else think its a bit of a daft idea? Ignoring the bias of being a young person myself but are 18 year olds measurably safer drivers? Or are they suggesting that 1 year extra life experience = 1 year driving experience.

Are they also carefully ignoring the fact that the reason 17-25 year olds have 1/3 of road deaths is beacause most inexperienced drivers are 17-25 and not because 17-25 year olds are prone to being in accidents based on age.

Banning drivers from carrying 10 - 20 year old passengers will surely result in a group of 4 friends going out in 1 car to a group of 4 friends going out in 4 cars - 4 times the chance of there being an accident

End of rant, any comments?

 

My comment is: read the date on that article.

Not going to happen any time soon imo, for the reasons you have stated.

 

I think its to bring it more in line as an adult. 18 after all is the drinking age and highest rating on games and DVD's.

Personally i would limit all drivers for the first 2 years to nothing larger than a 1300cc engine regardless of age.

The amount of kids that go from a 1.2 straight into something like a 1.6 and bin it into a tree on the first corner is staggering.

I learnt to drive in a 1.8, my instructors car was a 1.8 as well. I understood what power is and how easy it is to get the car out of shape if a mistake occurs.

I could have had an accident in my girlfriends clio which is a 1.2, pulled out to overtake and felt no acceleration at all, the speedo creeped from 55 to 60 in a painful time span even after dropping to 3rd and trashing it.

 

The driving age here in the Netherlands has been 18 since forever. I have never heard anyone suggest it should be changed.

 

Limiting engine size for the first two years is far more sensible.

I think 17 is actually better than 18 - I reckon drink driving would go up.

 

I'm 18 and drive a 1.6. Ain't crashed it, although my instructors car was a 1.6 turbo...

 

And?

Your in the small percentage that hasn't wrapped there face around a tree just yet.

 

Most people don't pass their test until they're nearly 18 anyway, since you can't even start lessons until turn 17. So raising it to 18 would mean most people aren't driving until they're almost 19. That's also the time when a lot people are looking for their first serious job/career so having to wait another year could severely limit their options.

 

Not sure there is an argument there. Younger being proportional to inexperienced; I'm sure there is a correlation so whether its one or the other..... looks at insurance. Is it 24 when there is a huge drop in premiums?

Its the kids on scooters with L plates that concnern me. There are some real wali's about and I woul dlike to see that sorted out first.

 

Firstly, its from years ago, so its not actually going to happen. Second, young drivers kill themselves and others all the time so why not force people to be more careful with stricter rules?

 

I reckon the steering wheel should be replaced with a joypad and that you have infinite lives.

 

Place a TV screen on the bonnet and simulate the journey! Would do the environment some good too!

 

But wouldn't drivers then start beating up hookers?

I started driving at 14 and I have never caused an accident.

 

Because you never caused an accident must mean that exactly the same holds for every other person on the planet, right?

 

This. I hate driving my 1.4 ltr 206 on motorways, it's fine around town, but not being able to pull out of a slip road with ease drives me nutts. I also only overtake slow tractors for the same reasons you mentioned, it's mid/high range acceleration is rubbish. Even still small engines cars should be a must for the first couple of years driving. Half the fun of having your first car is reving it up, while never getting over the speed limit.

 

Every time I see the idea of raising the driving age - And I hear it a lot, because Mum's an instructor - I can't help but think of:



Yes, young people statistically have more accidents, but you raise the driving age and all that changes is the age of the people who have the most accidents.

Doubt they're going to raise it, though.

 

Well done, you must read the Daily Mail with your kind of outlook on young drivers.

 

tbh your comment just backs up the statistics, Under 18s are risky drivers and their juvenile's?

A mature response will show some hope for you youngsters yet..

 

Under 21s are risky drivers in general, because we're newbie drivers and because being 17-21 is a risky business anyway. I'm 21 and in the previous three years I reckon I've spent more time doing handbrake turns in car parks than I have actually parking. I took my first car (998cc '95 Micra) gravel rallying and autocrossing. I revved the engine until the valves danced on the bonnet and the manifold cracked, and (after having been passed on to another relative) the engine apparently lunched the gearbox and then grenaded. In fairness, I've never had an accident, but I'm not going to pretend I was particularly fit for the road when I was certified as such, and my friends were even worse.

All that, however, pales in comparison to the sheer horror of the motorway drive I just had back from Cambridge. Nobody indicates. People cut lanes, people cut each other off, people cut across the exit ramps. It's truly unreal. What we need is not a higher age of qualification but a stricter standard of qualification - a harder test. Places like Sweden require skid pans and night training and motorway tests; it can take two years of probation to get a license even in places like Canada. Put simply, it's too easy in this country to get a licence. If it took more time and more training to get passed, we'd have safer drivers.

 

The problem with limiting engine size is that there are still some very quick small engined cars the 1.3 106 rallye for instance, not only that but 2 years driving around in a little engined car means they then have 2 years no claims and can jump to much more powerful cars more cheaply.

Imo like PS^ the tests need to be MUCH harder, and include things like night driving, motorway driving, and slippery/awkward conditions. Or have a crippling tax on cars over a certain engine size and power until drivers are 21/25 even if the driver is only down as a named driver on the insurance policy.