A Very Scary Mix

[Mr Man]

I grew up on a block, been driving/riding cars, tractors, motorbikes solo since I was about 7...

Having done so has given me an advantage as I had the chance drive a car before I got my L's, which some of the kids in the city dont have the opportunity to do so, I reckon it made it easier to concentrate on the road conditions as opposed to trying to learn how to drive a car at the same time.

In 10 years time when I am 31 I may look back and think differently about my current skill level behind the wheel..

[jordak]

Lets not bullsh!t ourselves people even @ 240rwkw the T is a big heavy car that can get out of shape very easily.

Noone spends money on modifications and then does'nt try out the new found power on the street. Regardless of age or experience I doubt there would be very few of us on this forum who haven't had "a close call" as a direct result of the extra grunt.

It wasn't that long ago that alot of effort had to go into getting 270rwkw now 300rwkw is considered the norm and easy as p1ss to achieve.

Simon (extreme) talked about duty of care and the Tuners responsibility not to deliver stupid amounts of power to the inexperienced and I'd be interested to hear whether he continues to stand by this.

It's the mistakes we make that help us grow and there is no better example of this than on the road. Driver training is an excellent thing to do and should be a compulsory part of getting a license, however nothing is going to teach you respect like nearly killing yourself, friends or others as a result of doing "silly" things on the road.

I hope none of you Respectful but relatively inexperienced 20 something drivers don't have to go through a serious incident but driving a 300rwkw taxi isn't going to improve your chances.

Edited 17/05/07 01:45 AM by jordak

[mpsxr6t]

well I agree with all of this...im only jus 21 and ive had my ute for about 7 months now...had an accident about 1 week after I bought it...in the wet round a roundabout at about 40km/h...was used 2 a 4cylinder car that had lotus suspension n held on for anythin....I was caught out n somehow instead of braking I hit the accelerator...and crashed in2 a pole backwards...(signpost) it was really shocking coz me n my mate had just been discussing how stupid u would hav 2 be 2 try anythin in this kind of weather....n then it happened...n I thought I was a good driver...yet it still happened....kinda made me realise it can happen 2 any1 no matter wat u think of your driving...but I am really keen 4 the defensive driving course....would b good for all of us....only takes 1 little slip up n u can b gone....no matter how good u are or think u are....

[Johnny G]

The "driver training" issue is an interesting one. I'd done a couple of one dayers and various skid pan jobbies and it was a ball of fun.

Then - years later - bit the bullett and did the full house 5 day course up at Gympie Driver Training centre. Don't even know whether they still do it - but it was a great and soooooo worthwhile experience.

Monday morning started with the basics, building in intensity through the week with a myriad of subjects covered both on and off track. Thursday afternoon was an instructor and the pupil for a 250km open road drive in city and highway conditions, in examination mode. And yes - you got a report card - where they slammed you on every little thing (by then you knew what was right and wrong). Followed on Friday by skid pan high speed wet weather avoidance techniques, slalom etc. They break you down - then build you up. Through the week you learn everything from steering techniques (even push pull), to where your eyes focus and how, to emergency throttle control of a skid to heaven knows what. IMHO - well worth considering.

Appreciate your original thread Bugs... and good to see so many level headed replies to a sometimes touchy subject.

[ZAP]

When you buy a new FPV, they send you on a advanced driving course which is very good for people to try out their cars in a controlled environment.

My course was last year and a few regulars from here were also there.

What suprised me was the lack of advanced driver training. I think only myself had done any advanced driver training out of a group of 25 people.

When it came to doing the required tasks, there was a significant lack of ability. Firstly most people did not listen to the instructions.

They were told 4 times to drive a certain way, yet failed to do so. They had very little skid control and panicked when trying to correct a slide.

Most of the drivers were over 30 and it really scared me that just because you have a fast car, does not mean you can drive.

I think we should have a national performance car license and only people who posses this license should be able to drive cars with over 150kw per ton of power. Unfortunatly I doubt we will ever see this as the government do not want us to be better drivers or they would not be able to fine us as much.

[F6_Tornado]

I don't know mate. I'm 24 and drive a 400+rwkw manual ute daily and ride a low 10sec 1000cc kawasaki zx10r.

You off those Crutches yet Jason?

Its young blokes like you and Ben that cause all the trouble

Seriously though, I now know that if I had the power I have now when I was 17 I wouldnt be writing this post I'd be dead.

I used to race Speedway and motocross from the time I was 8 and I had no boundaries! The only boundary I had to deal with was the limited power available at the time. Thank god I'm still here.. My wife wishes otherwise :roflmbo:

Know your limitations and the vehicles and if you dont......Do a driver training course. Hell I did one a couple of years back and they call me Gramps!! so your never to old and definately never to young to take a course....It might save your life and a few others one day.

[tab]

Appreciate your original thread Bugs... and good to see so many level headed replies to a sometimes touchy subject.

Better hope nobody from the media sees this - it'll tarnish our reputation!

[tmac450]

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread, so forgive me if I repeat anything already said.

I personally think that age has nothing to do with it. Look at motorsport, some of the best drivers are barely out of nappies.

The issue is a lack of propper driver eductaion in this country. The way it currently is, they only real way to learn is through experience, and with age comes experience. Hence the beleif that older drivers are better.

However, we also have an ever growing number of older drivers who's experience have consisted of poor driving. As Ron Barassie once said, 'Only perfect practice makes perfect.'

Our driver education system needs a serious overhaul and the authorities need to get serious about enforcing all of the laws, not just focussing on draconian speed limiting and fining.

If we had a tiered licencing system, similar to trucks, where certain courses need to be passed (regardless of age) to drive certain levels of cars, we could all be certain that no matter who is behind the wheel of a modded T or GT, is at least qualified to be there.

[harvyk]

I think we should have a national performance car license and only people who posses this license should be able to drive cars with over 150kw per ton of power.

I personally think the performance car license should even be even lower than that, and there should be other factors included (eg the cars ability to get from 0 to 100km, the cars top speed etc) so that if a car has the ability to be treated like a sports car your required to get a performance car license. By including other factors it reduces the ricer's chances of getting a sh*tbox hyundai and modding it so it's just under the performance car license level. No one is impressed by a hyundai with a 0 - 100 acceleration time of 10 seconds, no matter how riced up it is.

[dingah2]

I haven't read all of the posts on this thread, so forgive me if I repeat anything already said.

I personally think that age has nothing to do with it. Look at motorsport, some of the best drivers are barely out of nappies.

The issue is a lack of propper driver eductaion in this country. The way it currently is, they only real way to learn is through experience, and with age comes experience. Hence the beleif that older drivers are better.

However, we also have an ever growing number of older drivers who's experience have consisted of poor driving. As Ron Barassie once said, 'Only perfect practice makes perfect.'

Our driver education system needs a serious overhaul and the authorities need to get serious about enforcing all of the laws, not just focussing on draconian speed limiting and fining.

If we had a tiered licencing system, similar to trucks, where certain courses need to be passed (regardless of age) to drive certain levels of cars, we could all be certain that no matter who is behind the wheel of a modded T or GT, is at least qualified to be there.

I'd certainly endorse that approach.

Emotional intelligence (maturity) is not just a factor of age but experience and there little doubt that there is a corellation between age and experience - hence the rather alarming statistics supporting the theory that young folk and cars are a potentially dangerous mix.

Not a day goes by without yet another occurrence where a Gen X/Y demonstrates great awareness of their rights with almost no thought for the responsibilities that go with them.

I have taken three teenagers through to adulthood and sure it was not without its challenges. As a parent one always wants to see one's kids go down the middle of the road of life, however, how do you know where the centre is without having first discovered the far edges!?

A graduated system of qualifications and approvals makes sense as it might be able to track experience and age better than the current system.

Let's face it, currently all youngsters do is learn to pass a test not to drive.....and therein lies the root of much of our dilemma.

Dingah

Edited 20/05/07 12:02 AM by dingah2