Rise in teenage driving deaths - what can WE do?

Dave_G_5

Are we getting the full facts though or just some statistics adjusted to give good headlines? What I saw reported on the news was an increase of teenage road deaths, but it failed to say how many of those involved a teenage driver. It was only a couple of months ago where a woman in her 30's crashed with about 6 kids/teenagers in her car and several were killed. Nothing to do with teenage drivers in that one but I bet it will add to the statistics!

I think the best option would be to make something like the P plates for new drivers compulsary, and also ban them from the motorways until they have had either lessons or a motorway test. I'm sure some shock tactics from the police visiting schools/colleges showing the students images from car accidents would help too.

tomstickland

Motorways are safer than A-B roads though.

not much street cred in a brown ford fiesta, but they'll probably be less inclined to go racing than their peers in the suped-up nissan micras.

Boy racers will boy race in anything.

westie666

As almost being a stat myself I can give my HO here...

5 Weeks after passing my driving test I wrote off my 1st car (Ford Fiesta 1.1 LX 11 years old @ time). I had 2 friends in the car (before any one says...I WAS NOT showing off). As I came over the crest of a hill a monster 4x4 was pulling out the on the wrong side of a junction.

After hitting it head on (at about 45-50 on a 60) the driver admitted thathe did see me comming and did it to show me a lesson.....

Not just the youngsters

The pass plus scheme is a good idea (6 hours worth of driving in all weathers and all types of road - mway,A,B,country) but the 'boy racers @ heart' will do this to lower thier insurance, and what they would save in insurance use to add on to their car in ways of induction kits etc....

IMHO I think that it should be compulsary for every newly passed driver - banned drivers and drivers coming back from suspension, should all have to go on the Skill for Life course (provided bt the institute of Advanced Motorists or ROSPA).

If parents want to help thier kids with cars....do this... only £75 and it is a Skill for Life.

VincentVega

Of course youngsters aren't responsible for *every* accident they get involved in, but all the statistics say they are more likely to be involved, due to inexperience and so on. I didn't learn to drive until I was 25 and I'm glad I waited, as I was much more mature [sic] and confident.

Why are people who get caught drink driving allowed to drive again? Why do people who knock people down and kill them get their licences back? Surely these people are so dangerous, they should be removed from our roads permanently?

We also need to introduce mandatory re-testing every ten years and clamp down on older drivers who shouldn't be on the road. I followed an old couple in a ropey Citroen Saxo for ten miles this morning and the driver was highly erratic - he took ages to get up to fifty, stayed at that speed for around seven miles, then sped up to 60 briefly, back down to 50 and stayed at that speed. I kept well back. When he got to a roundabout (at which point we parted company), he braked as normal and then slammed his foot down on the accelerator, causing the nose of his car to dip alarmingly. Sheer lunacy.

Driving is a privilege, not a right. Making "Pass Plus" and other schemes obligatory is an excellent idea.

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

VincentVega wrote:

We also need to introduce mandatory re-testing every ten years and clamp down on older drivers who shouldn't be on the road. I followed an old couple in a ropey Citroen Saxo for ten miles this morning and the driver was highly erratic - he took ages to get up to fifty, stayed at that speed for around seven miles, then sped up to 60 briefly, back down to 50 and stayed at that speed. I kept well back. When he got to a roundabout (at which point we parted company), he braked as normal and then slammed his foot down on the accelerator, causing the nose of his car to dip alarmingly. Sheer lunacy.

Grrrrrrrrr - my pet hate! My usual route to work involves the speed limit changing 8 times and the number of people I get stuck behind who obviously can't cope with this and stick at 40 all the way is huge!!!!!

BobToo

I must admit that I find the increasing teenage death toll odd. I and my contemporaries used to drive like maniacs and get it wrong all the time, just as they do now. The difference is I can't remember anybody being even injured in a car and I'm going back to a time (mid '80s) when young drivers drove rustbuckets with no airbags or even rear seat belts. I believe there are a few contributing factors.

1. Cars are much more refined and easy to drive nowadays. My old Sunbeam started to get noisy and scary once you went past 70mph. You could do 100mph but you were well aware that you were going fast. 70mph is a breeze to most modern cars.

2. The overheads of teenage motoring are so high that a shiny car doesn't seem so expensive. Todays boy racers drive newer cars than I have ever owned. New cars are easier to drive fast.

3. One thing that really puzzled me is that boy racers drive so slowly- why are they getting hurt? My theory is that they smoke so much dope that they move in slow motion. That's a bit of a generalisation but dope smoking is much more widespread than it used to be.

4. The CBT rules for motorbikes mean that almost no teenagers learn roadcraft on two wheels. On a motorbike you soon learn respect for the road. There are a lot of "bloody hell, I could have died there" moments. You remember those.

5. With all the safety equipment on modern cars there has to be a feeling of invincibility, something that's present in teenage minds at the best of times.

6. Cars can now go much faster before they bite back, with the result that they bite much harder. There is often less warning too.


Those are just a few of the things I think contribute to the teenage death toll on the roads.

tonys_3

The main problems are their inexperience coupled with the fact that they do not realise that they are inexperienced. Add showing off, experimentation and drugs
to the equation......

But how to get them past that first year? Virtually impossible to prevent them showing off, or the experiments-go on- remember when you were young.

Apparently, the Irish are trying to monitor their teenagers speeds by satellite to ensure they stay within the limit. Its early days but seems to be having some effect.
It would appear obvious to keep them off the roads between 11pm and 5 am when their death toll is particularly high.But I wonder.If they can't get their kicks at those times,will they then try during the day when the potential to take others with them as well is that much greater.
Putting governors on their cars and keeping them on if they are triggering speed cameras etc may help, though I suspect that many will be driving their parents cars
who will not want their cars tampered with.
I did see some recent figures on teenage deaths which were horrifying, but not sure
whether the figures mentioned were for car drivers, motorcyclists or all drivers. My
own thinking is that it would have included motorcyclists as that is where historically
teenagers have been most vulnerable. On that score, a raise in mimimum driving age
may help, but the lure of speed will always overcome any thoughts of their mortality.
Tough call.

Gibblestick

Education is the way forward,
The driving test is a joke. Germany, with it's may miles of derestricted Autobahns, has the lowest road death figures in the world.
How is this possible?????
Their driving test is incredible.
They need to have a certain number of lessons with government tested and licenced driving instructors, they mush have lessons in the dark, in the rain, they go on autobahns and dual carriageways etc.
Basically, they are taught well and given a LOT of experience of driving before being let out on their own.
The casualties here have very little to do with 'boy racers' or alcohol/drugs. It's almost all down to lack of experience. The increasing teenage accident rate is strongly linkes to the fact that cars are cheaper than ever before (relative to earnings), more parents will give cars to their kids and there is far more traffic on the roads.
There is no quick and easy fix.
There is no one person/group/body to blame.

mistyarthur

There may be less teenagers passing their tests early but of those that do almost all of them get cars which I'm sure over the past few decades wasn't necessarily the case. I'm not saying that they are good drivers but I'm only 18 and drive as well as get the bus at times (share with me mum).
I have had an accident were the car was written of but the other driver was at fault (tried to straight line the roundabout with me in his way). Near me there is a dual carriageway which has three lanes and it was good practice for a motorway not identical but gave you an experience of three lane driving and all that.

mistyarthur

Gibblestick wrote:

The increasing teenage accident rate is strongly linkes to the fact that cars are cheaper than ever before (relative to earnings)

Is that true when you take into account the cost of the petrol and maintenance?
I would agree with you though that too many parents just give cars to their kids. I go to uni and the amount of people there that have cars but don't actually need them (live 5-10mins from campus), and couldn't afford them unless they were bought them.