Learning to Drive

[northernladuk]

My first thought when I read this was the rate must be much higer due to

Cars generally being higher powered (granted with better safety features)
Number of new learners jumping in to brand new high end leased cars
How busy the roads are
Detractors like phones

But did a quick google and the number of incidents attributed to young drivers was about 22% in 2001 and about the same in 2011 but the Killed or Seriously Injured from those numbers is dramtically lower from years gone by.

So it appears on the face of it the number of incidents young drivers are involved in hasn't changed and even less are getting seriously injured or die than ever. So they are trying to fix the same problem that's been around for literally decades and is resulting in less fatalities. If they've put so much effort in to trying to reduce this number of the space of 20 to 30 years and it's stayed the same I can't see how this change will affect anything.

[malvolio]

...snip...

So it appears on the face of it the number of incidents young drivers are involved in hasn't changed and even less are getting seriously injured or die than ever. So they are trying to fix the same problem that's been around for literally decades and is resulting in less fatalities. If they've put so much effort in to trying to reduce this number of the space of 20 to 30 years and it's stayed the same I can't see how this change will affect anything.

It's called displacement activity. They aren't achieving stuff that needs to happen so let's invent something that looks like we are

[DoctorStrangelove]

We had fairly basic cars (Hillman Imp, Mini, Chevette etc).

Ah yes: my "Imp" (Singer Chamois: 39bhp) lasted 6 weeks before the gearbox packed up, never had a mini, had two Chevettes (60 bhp downhill with the wind behind them), the first of which tried to kill me & very nearly succeeded, none of which would even approach 100mph unlike some of the boy racer stuff around these days.

Even my much modified mk II Granada with the 3 litre manual was flat out at 110ish, probably even less with that abortion of a Swaymar Holley kit on it.

Anyone want a Swaymar Holley 4 barrel 390cfm kit for the Ford Essex? Thought not. . Stone me I bought that POS 40 years ago. The most impressive thing it ever did, apart from Carb Icing, was spitting back through the carb & setting the aircleaner on fire. Very impressed with that trick. Should have left the Weber 38DGAS on there & saved a mint. Should have sized the cherry bombs on the exhaust rather better too, they were far too big, though nowhere near the crap you see these days.

It's called displacement activity. They aren't achieving stuff that needs to happen so let's invent something that looks like we are

Ready for your compulsory eyetest? .

Though saying that I recall watching a poor old sod driving over all the kerbs in the Homebase carpark in Swansea: someone who really shouldn't have been driving any more. Like my late Dad shouldn't have, though for a different reason.

My Mum was stopped from driving due to dementia. Even before that she really wasn't a natural.

[ladymuck]

I remember my granddad being a menace in his last few years of driving before conceding he should hang up his keys. He only ever had a motorcycle license which allowed him to drive a three wheeled car (I think - hope - that has changed in the 20-odd years since he died). He wouldn't change out of first gear until he could hear the engine, as he was quite deaf and refused to wear a hearing aid that could take a while. Burnt through a clutch a year. Minimal situational awareness. Never had an accident but was definitely the cause of a few, and many near misses.

[northernladuk]

I remember my granddad being a menace in his last few years of driving before conceding he should hang up his keys. He only ever had a motorcycle license which allowed him to drive a three wheeled car (I think - hope - that has changed in the 20-odd years since he died). He wouldn't change out of first gear until he could hear the engine, as he was quite deaf and refused to wear a hearing aid that could take a while. Burnt through a clutch a year. Minimal situational awareness. Never had an accident but was definitely the cause of a few, and many near misses.

In exactly the same situation with my parents. 90 and 93 and both still driving. Both still pretty mobile and switched on the only driving they do is is 2 miles to the supermarket and back a week and not much else thankfully. Neither me nor my sister will get in a car with either of them and tried to broach the subject numerous times which just ends with an argument and my mum in tears, most recently boxing day. Mums same with the hearing aids and can't hear the engine. I swear the only thing that will make them stop is an accident. It's an utter nightmare. Had a pretty serious conversation with my sister about whether there is a system to report them and the relevant authorities would take what looked like pro-active action to asses rather than it looking like someone has dobbed them in. Not fun.

[Protagoras]

I remember my granddad being a menace in his last few years of driving before conceding he should hang up his keys. He only ever had a motorcycle license which allowed him to drive a three wheeled car (I think - hope - that has changed in the 20-odd years since he died). He wouldn't change out of first gear until he could hear the engine, as he was quite deaf and refused to wear a hearing aid that could take a while. Burnt through a clutch a year. Minimal situational awareness. Never had an accident but was definitely the cause of a few, and many near misses.

My mother was certainly not old when I was at secondary school but she never did understand how to operate a manual gearbox. My schoolmates would ask "what's the gear today?" since she'd select a gear when starting and use the clutch and accelerator pedals together to vary speed. She kept the local mechanic in business!

[hobnob]

Where I grew up, for a period of 1 year after passing the test you had to display an "R" plate for "restricted". You were supposed to stay below 45mph, but it gave you the opportunity to experience motorway driving, etc.
If you were stopped for going over 45, then you got penalised, and if you were stopped (for any reason) but weren't displaying your R plates, then they were extended for another 6mths+.

I'm really surprised something like this hasn't been adopted, as it helped promote safety (accident statistics proved that), it also meant that if you were driving behind someone with R plates, you knew to give them a bit of leeway and not just stand on the horn if they didn't move off from the lights, or were going slower than you wanted to go.

There are optional "P" plates which serve a similar purpose:
Driving lessons and learning to drive: Using 'L' and 'P' plates - GOV.UK
It doesn't restrict what you can do, but it might encourage other road users to be patient with you.

[xoggoth]

When I was young I drove like a total loony, going fast and overtaking all the time.

[WTFH]

When I was young I drove like a total loony, going fast and overtaking all the time.

There's a bit of a difference between going fast in the 1970s/80s and what it means 50 years later.
A 1978 Chevette was 0-60 of 15.6 seconds with a top speed of 90mph.
A 2020 Astra 1.4 was 7.8 seconds and an extra 20+ mph.

[DoctorStrangelove]

I remember one of my mates taking the carb off a chevette & replacing it with a cold manifold with a 28/36 Weber on it.

Making sure the petrol didn't leak afterwards wasn't high on the agenda & he managed to melt the battery when it caught fire.

And being a cold manifold it ran like a pig, though that didn't stop him sliding it sideways into a kerb & bending two of the wheels. .

Ah, dear dead days beyond recall, before emissions testing & all that: when everyone wanted twin 45DCOE carbs on a 2 litre pinto engine in their Mexico replica. . (Also ran like a pig since no one ever ever got the carbs set up properly on a rolling road).