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

Bath, I reckon you've made a good point with the Nana. So many of these drivers are thinking just about themselves - oh it won't happen to me, and if I ding my car it's my fault and I'll fix it. They need to think about the people they're sharing the road with, so many innocent people who's lives they're endangering by choosing to drive stupidly.

My DH was a hoon in high school. Until one day a man came in to talk about how he lost his 10 year old daughter - she was a passenger in a car doing all the right things, but they were slammed into by someone speeding through a give way sign (this was all in the country, we grew up in small towns).

That's what hit it home for DH, that by driving recklessly he's endangering other people. It's worse for him now, thinking that he knows young people who drive like this, and the thought that our dd and I could be in their path one day - it doesn't bare thinking about.

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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.

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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!

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.

Hey Bath, having been a traffic educator in SA - I've got a few studies (and feedback) that state shock tactics don't always work. Teenagers / young adults (actually most drivers I think as no one wakes up in the morning thinking "hmm, I might have a car crash today" IYKWIM?), have the thoughts that they won't crash (regardless if they cause it or another road user does).

A lot of people do bag P platers - but I find I have trouble with fully licensed drivers more so - unfortunately for the P platers (and in SA, its only the 'P1s' that even have to display a P plate) they are easily identified. And having done country policing, locals recognise the sound / look of the local hoons and can sometimes assume who the driver was at any particular time. I find the older drivers bag the younger ones, taxi drivers blame the bus drivers, cyclists blame the pedestrians etc lol.

That being said, would it be worthwhile to speak to local Police, voice your concerns and see if, with the assistance of the other emergency services, to put on a mock crash in your local district? It may take awhile to orchastrate - but we've held many in SA with much success. Just an idea anyways.

i agree with Trillian, i think its a matter of these hoons growing out of it. ..or raising the age to hold a license. there are always going to be fatalities on the roads due to everyone having a different way of driving. these young people that do the crazy hoon driving might think its completely normal to drive like this. until they have a few near misses or even minor accidents. unfortunately some never get to learn from their mistakes..:(
The company i work for has compulsory safe driving courses that we must do every 2 yrs. its a total reality check. especially when they show you the real life accident scenes etc.

I've been thinking about this a bit since I posted.

Last night DH was training with our local fire brigade and they nearly got taken out by a hoon. He was doing burn outs past them, and almost side swiped a fellow member, leaving him very upset and shaken. They got the rego, and Dh called the police. But because they couldn't "see" who was driving, because it was dark, the police told them they couldn't do anything about it. They went to the house where the car was registered, where the person denied the car was being driven, even though the bonnet was still hot. The police returned to the group training to report back.

Tougher laws are needed. No tolerance is needed. I feel the same way about people who flash their high beams to warn others of a speed camera. I often wonder if a speeding driver is flashed, they slow down, and then go on to cause an accident where someone is seriously injured or killed. Is it worth flashing them to avoid a ticket? Because you're actually flashing to work against saving lives. If they keep getting booked for speeding, then they will either learn their lesson, or lose their licence. Either way, the roads will be safer.

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I've been thinking about this a bit since I posted.

Last night DH was training with our local fire brigade and they nearly got taken out by a hoon. He was doing burn outs past them, and almost side swiped a fellow member, leaving him very upset and shaken. They got the rego, and Dh called the police. But because they couldn't "see" who was driving, because it was dark, the police told them they couldn't do anything about it. They went to the house where the car was registered, where the person denied the car was being driven, even though the bonnet was still hot. The police returned to the group training to report back.

Tougher laws are needed. No tolerance is needed. I feel the same way about people who flash their high beams to warn others of a speed camera. I often wonder if a speeding driver is flashed, they slow down, and then go on to cause an accident where someone is seriously injured or killed. Is it worth flashing them to avoid a ticket? Because you're actually flashing to work against saving lives. If they keep getting booked for speeding, then they will either learn their lesson, or lose their licence. Either way, the roads will be safer.

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Bit off topic, but I've wondered about that too. And the fact that they advertise where the fixed cameras will be - so people either slow down or avoid that area, and then go on to speed elsewhere knowing they won't get caught.

My Dad spent over about 15 years in the Fire Brigade, and they used to do a lot of demonstrations like Leesa mentioned. I was involved in one at school, where I got all bloodied up and had to pretend I had a broken leg from a car accident. I was really sad that the other kids in my year level paid zero attention to the fact that this was supposed to be a horrific accident (where we had one person "dead") and were more interested in how they made my leg look broken :shakehead:

Speed cameras are more about revenue raising than saving lives so I think it's fair to flash oncoming drivers.
Australia's speed laws are crazy but then again Australian drivers seem to be incapable of driving with the same skills as nations with much higher limits (keep left people, it's not rocket science) so maybe they deserve highway speed limits designed for people driving cars from the 40's.

Driver training seems to be focused on passing the test not learning defensive driving skills. I think that subsidising defensive driving course for young drivers might be a better way to spend money than campaigns that don't seem to work. Let's face it, most teenagers are pretty cynical about the messages that TV delivers.

i havent read all the previous posts but it seems we are on to the topic of speeding. i have driven the roads of qld,vic and nsw. NSW is by FAR the most patrolled state. we went on a road trip last year. and as soon as we crossed the border from qld down to nsw, highway speed cameras and undercover patrol cars were everywhere. the closer we got to sydney, i noticed how well behaved the motorists were. no one was speeding on the highway. it was such a nice drive not having to wrestle with other drivers!!
so i think a police presence is very important.