How Would This Go Down? (teenagers and driving) *may distress*

[Trillian]

I have no idea what the solution to that would be. I think that more needs to be done to make it seem 'real' for the teens - by that I mean the accident survivors who travel around the schools and tell them how hard life has been since they became a paraplegic/amputee etc. You're right, they are so desensitized to what they see on TV, that it doesn't seem real to them so that's why I think taking a personal, real life approach would work. I know there have been times where they have shown kids what a real wrecked vehicle looks like and even SES demo's of cutting people (dummys) out of cars. What worked for me years before I had my license was in yr10 and we went to Sydney for an excursion and part of it was going to the Surry Hills police station and we were shown actual crime scene photos of the Grafton Bus crash, Granville Train crash and other assorted vehicular crime scenes and seeing those real people with limbs missing, skulls broken really rammed it home for me.

It's something I'm thinking more about lately as my 16yo brother recently got his L's so we've been ramming home the need to drive responsibly etc to him.

[Bathsheba]

I totally agree with the exposure to real accidents like you described Trillian. My mother worked at the base hospital here when i was younger and used to come home quite regularly upset by the weekends carnage on the roads... maybe that affected my attitude to driving... not blaming her BTW.

My 16yo DD witnessed a fatal accident on the day she got her L's. Driving home from the license office in Melbourne they were caught up in traffic and had no option but to drive slowly past a truck with a teenaged boy lying under it. DD said she didn't really want to look but "had" to. I think that has affected her. Some might say 'what a shame she had to see that'... i say "well that's the reality of driving" and i wish more teens (especially boys) got to experience that degree of reality.

[Astrid]

Even real life exposure to the carnage of an accident still does not stop all of them. I know of one incident where some kids were caught speeding about the same time as a horrific accident involving the same age group. The country cops took them to the accident to show them what speed does, sadly an hour later the same cops caught them speeding again

[Trillian]

Even real life exposure to the carnage of an accident still does not stop all of them. I know of one incident where some kids were caught speeding about the same time as a horrific accident involving the same age group. The country cops took them to the accident to show them what speed does, sadly an hour later the same cops caught them speeding again

There will always be some groups that no matter what you do, you will never be able to get them to change the way they think or act and it is those groups that will have to learn the hard way unfortunately.

[Pandora]

Its just really, really scary.
A group of 3 boys were killed in a single car accident near my Aunt's house recently, they were speeding and wrapped teh car around a telephone pole.
To "honour" the memory of their friends, there mates went to the scned of the accident...to do doughnuts and burnouts
I dont know how to get inside their heads. Im dreading having 2 teenage boys in the house.

[Bathsheba]

I seriously believe that some personality types should be excluded from driving. Recklessness is symptomatic of depression and other mental health conditions. I seriously think that driving is a priviledge and not a right and that if somebody has a mental impairment to safe driving then their license should be revoked. Police should have the right to determine who in society might be suffering from the types of mental illness that is dangerous to other drivers (speeding off after witnessing the results of a fatal accident for example)... they then should demand a psychiatric report and if that confirms a negative result then exclusions should apply for a set period until re-testing. Support evidence from doctors/teachers should also form part of the report so lying under interview can't be attempted. I'm not saying all people suffering from depression should be excluded... only repeat offenders that come under the attention of police. Yet another reason why mental health issues NEED to be taken more seriously by the government in terms of funding!

[Astrid]

I cringe saying this - to some there is something glorious about the risk, something that is tempting about dying that way. I am not sure anything much can be done to stop those of that mind set. The big media articles, the huge funerals and today the burn outs, facebook pages etc. It all just glorifies the death and in some sick way, some teenagers are drawn to that glory.

[Bathsheba]

I don't doubt that Astrid! And the red neck in me wants to reply; "Well send them off to bloody war so they can die in true glory!" Put the same monkeys in the passenger seat of their loved ones, say sweet old Nana, and suggest she say 'Oh... I think that it might be better to die in a blaze of glory than of dimentia... let's go hoon sonny!" I'd love to see their face as she floors the pedal. If only they could gain a bit of perspective.

That reminds me of another thread i wanted to start... about little old ladies and how they are changing...

ETA: missed your last post Trillian... i'm sure you're right... they lack the self awareness as it's developmental. I totally agree with raising the age of driving licenses... the human brain isn't fully developed in terms of risk assessment until the early 20's. Delay fully licenced driving until then.

[Trillian]

I get what you are trying to say Bath, but a lot of that 'recklessess' is a developmental issue and completely beyond their control in many cases. It is something they genuinely have to grow out of it. And then there are the special people who think they are Peter Brock and that they are the best driver in the world I know quite a few people who drove like a bat out of hell and were reckless as teens, but then they grew up, grew out of that type of behaviour and are now the most careful drivers you'd ever meet kwim? Oh and the special people usually stay special LOL. Maybe the key is to raise the age before they can get their license in the first place? They have to stay at school for longer now, so it is only a small amount that leave early for apprenticeships that would actually need a license. So most teens are well over 18 before they leave home so they don't really need a license before that point.

[Shanti]

Take them to a morgue and show them a messed up body of a 17yr old who died being stupid in a car?

[Astrid]

Another thought. I was someone who got their licence later (early 20's) and it was hard. I no longer had the ****iness of a teenager, which really I needed to be able to hop into a car and not cry. To me I still suffer from getting mine later, I am missing that extra bit of confidence that I need now in driving everyday, if anything it probably makes me a bit dangerous on the road, as I don't have the guts to overtake when it is safe to do so etc. So to an extant, I believe it is a good thing to use that confidence to help teenagers learn to drive. As for when they should get their licence, I am not so sure.

[Bathsheba]

Am yep, i get that point too Astrid... as you know I don't have my full license yet due to similar cautiousness. However when you are limited to doing 80km (as you are in NSW when you are on your L's) you're also a bit of a road hazard when everyone else is doing 105 on these country roads. it also basically means i can't drive onto a freeway or overtake. Silly law. Should be the same as Victoria; Learners should be able to drive at the sign-posted speed so they can fit in with everyone else.

[Cassius2]

I have no idea what the solution to that would be. I think that more needs to be done to make it seem 'real' for the teens - by that I mean the accident survivors who travel around the schools and tell them how hard life has been since they became a paraplegic/amputee etc. You're right, they are so desensitized to what they see on TV, that it doesn't seem real to them so that's why I think taking a personal, real life approach would work. I know there have been times where they have shown kids what a real wrecked vehicle looks like and even SES demo's of cutting people (dummys) out of cars. What worked for me years before I had my license was in yr10 and we went to Sydney for an excursion and part of it was going to the Surry Hills police station and we were shown actual crime scene photos of the Grafton Bus crash, Granville Train crash and other assorted vehicular crime scenes and seeing those real people with limbs missing, skulls broken really rammed it home for me.

It's something I'm thinking more about lately as my 16yo brother recently got his L's so we've been ramming home the need to drive responsibly etc to him.

this demo idea is one that Mum wishes would happen more often. she works for police and reckons that they should be shown the accident photos...

funnily enough i reckon the the approach of possibly going to jail for killing someone etc in a car accident would be more frightening than death itself ITMS. i saw on Oprah (yeah i love her lol) an episode where a boy killed a pedestrian and it was powerful stuff because he had to face the consequences. i know that it shut up the hoons that she had on the stage!

[UsPlus2]

I honestly just dont think some teenagers get road safety. My BIL just got his P's and he failed 5 times before passing. My BIL and DP were ALWAYS blaming the tester for him failing. I had to keep reminding the both of them that the tester and can only fail on BIL's actions, he wasnt be nasty or harsh, the guy has a ticker box check list, and BIL kept failing basic things. On one occassion he actually stopped on train tracks waiting for traffic to clear. BIL was laughing when he was telling us how mad the tester got at him, like the tester should have taken a chill pill. seriously and now this kid is on the road.

In some cases I blame the parents. My inlaws were 100% behind BIL when he blamed the tester, rather then explaining he needs to pull his socks up, they went along with the conspiracy theory, it just enable that ego boast BIL was already on. I had my learners the day I was eligible but my parents always instilled it wasnt a right and they would take it away at any time if I acted irresponsibily.

I say harsher penalities, espec more jail time for those drivers that hurt or kill people with their car, start looking at cars in the same light as guns. A car, like a gun, by itself cant hurt anyone, its the driver that does. I feel like people, teenagers/drink drivers/hoons etc have had enough warnings, now its time to start penalising properly.