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Driving Age to be Raised to 18, then restricted for one year!
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
As a newly qualified driver I am sick of seeing the government(s) progressively put more and more obstacles in the way of people who want to get a driving license.
The latest proposals are for the age of driving test to be raised to 18, but not only that, according to the Independent:
"For a further 12 months the young person would be subject to a number of new restrictions, including a curfew from 10pm to 5am unless they were accompanied by an adult over 30, a ban on carrying any passengers at all under the age of 30, and stricter rules on mobile phone use (even hands-free) and alcohol consumption." (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/driving-age-could-be-raised-to-18-in-uk--with-a-curfew-and-strict-rules-for-recentlyqualified-drivers-8873739.html)
So you're seriously telling me that a new driver who had two mates, John aged 30 and Jack age 29, it's time to go home at 10:30pm, John asks you "can we have a lift please?" You'd have to say "I can take you but can't take Jack in my car because he's 29 and I can only drive people over 30!" How ridiculous. And you only have to be 21 to be a driving instructor so Jack could actually be an instructor with an Advanced Driver's certificate, but no, he's hasn't reached the good old age of 30 so you he's not allowed in the backseat!
Ridiculous or what?
The latest proposals are for the age of driving test to be raised to 18, but not only that, according to the Independent:
"For a further 12 months the young person would be subject to a number of new restrictions, including a curfew from 10pm to 5am unless they were accompanied by an adult over 30, a ban on carrying any passengers at all under the age of 30, and stricter rules on mobile phone use (even hands-free) and alcohol consumption." (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/driving-age-could-be-raised-to-18-in-uk--with-a-curfew-and-strict-rules-for-recentlyqualified-drivers-8873739.html)
So you're seriously telling me that a new driver who had two mates, John aged 30 and Jack age 29, it's time to go home at 10:30pm, John asks you "can we have a lift please?" You'd have to say "I can take you but can't take Jack in my car because he's 29 and I can only drive people over 30!" How ridiculous. And you only have to be 21 to be a driving instructor so Jack could actually be an instructor with an Advanced Driver's certificate, but no, he's hasn't reached the good old age of 30 so you he's not allowed in the backseat!
Ridiculous or what?
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Comments
Good question. And from the article I couldn't quite work out whether this did just apply to 18 year old new drivers or older new drivers too. But if your saying an 18 year old new driver has a ban on all passengers between 10pm and 5am, it means they'd have to drive and navigate at the same time - surely its safer if someone else is in the car to do the map reading? And also driving between these hours is actually very easy if you just put your headlights on, virtually no traffic on most roads. Its the early evening that's most hazardous when it gets dark but there's still a lot of traffic about.
I see lots of idiots out on the road (old as well, but particularly young men who have just started driving) who have got some piss poor driving skills. Excessive acceleration, inability to take corners/junctions in a safe manner, and constant showing off to their mates who may or may not be in the back seat.
The new Ford Fiesta can be fitted with a new driver kit, where new drivers are given their own key and they are restricted to how fast they can go, how many passengers they can carry, stereo volume, stereo won't work when parked e.t.c. I think manufacturers could take a lead on this.
Otherwise, as police we have the Section 59 power, I think an alteration to that. If we catch you driving like an idiot, then we impose things like a curfew/number of passengers e.t.c. Breach the restrictions (and like we currently do) we seize your car.
That way the good drivers aren't unfairly penalised. You will be cruising about town with your pals in a safe way, and you'll see the moron in a souped up corsa restricted to 40mph and he has to be at home by 10pm because he couldn't help but do a handbrake turn in front of a cop.
For example, the 10pm time is silly. Quite a lot of call centre shifts - where you might expect new drivers to be using the car to get home - run from 2pm until 10pm. This arrangement would mean they can't take their car home, which is just nuts.
Then we have enforcement. Which is the crux of the issue, really. If there's traffic police around to enforce "new drivers after 10pm", then there should be traffic police around to enforce dangerous/careless driving anyway, so a specific law targeting new drivers wouldn't be required.
Really you have to say it's an ASBO on boy racers by any other name, and that's wrong. It's also not needed: laws already exist to deal with them. If the police aren't enforcing the current laws, what makes us think they'll enforce the new laws? The issue they're targeting isn't inexperience, it's bad driving, and that's not just an issue with young people (see mid life crisis blokes on superbikes they can't handle, for instance).
Another stupid idea from a stupid Government. It'll never come in but it sounds like they're being tough on those pesky kids. Thats something that makes the coffin dodging fuckwits who vote for the Tory filth cream their knickers in excitement, after all
I'd like to see the licensing process have solid proof that you are a competent driver before giving you a license - currently it basically says that you can handle a car for 30 minutes without any monumental fuck ups, and you know how to play to the system.