Thanks Harley, it honestly comes from my tiny bit of experience, I know (listen guys your gonna hear this only once
):
"When I passed my test I drove like a p*ick"
However a couple of near misses and some training bought me back down to earth, I understand guys wanna go fast (I'm sure this is why bikes are popular, even at low speeds the freedom and sense of speed is exhilerating, now wishing I was allowed one
).
My personal pet hate is slow drivers, not jsut sticking to the limit, thats fine, but drivers who in a 30 drive at 15-20 for no reason or in a 40 drive at 25, they are dangerous, like hesitant drivers at junctions, this should be picked up on a test and they shouldn't pass, but they obviously do, that is why I say it's flawed. I'm not trying to stop young drivers driving (that would be hypocritical of me), but driving safely is a must.
I can see what Robbo is saying, and I can see where others are coming from, a nice medium can be reached whereby youngsters, who are suitable can have nice car, the problem is not always with your competency, but with those around you, I know I can drive safely at most speeds, using anticipation amongst other things to ensure my safety (Road craft for you, brilliant book, and a must read for motorists), however
others around you have 150mph cars with 30mph brains, it is them you have to watch out for more, which is probably part of the problem, I drive sensibly and I'm sure most the rest of us who have just paid between 14-24k for their new car do, but does the prat in the 50 quid banger drive carefully, does he look to pull out can you anticipate his movements, I think Robbo is saying their is no substitute for experience, I agree 100%, but I also say experience can only be gained by driving, not holding a licence, my nan for example held her licence for 40 odd years, but only drove for about 8, then there was a gap where my granddad did all the driving when he retired, now to an insurance company, she had driven for 40 years, with no incident, because she hadn't she'd just been insured. Now she had little experience, and tried to drive (she was bad to the point of needing to be a paid up member of exit to drive with her), but her insuirance was zilch, because she was deemed to be experienced, now compare her to say a 22 yo, drives for a living, held his licence for 2 years, but in those two years as a rep etc. has driven 300,000 miles, more than my nan drove in her lifetime, yet his insurance is higher because he is deemed to have less experience! Thats unfair really, but thats the way it is, if we don't like it we should change it, until then we have to use every means at our disposal to find cheaper insurance. It is not always obvious who has more experience, and never judge a book by it's cover.
ATB,
Tom