How can reckless teenage driving be prevented?

I haven’t looked up any statistics for Mumsnet chat, but if what you said is true, how upsetting? Let say it’s better now, alright, but still this shit? Why is the bar so low? Personally, to think this under 25s cohort are smarter than we were is very scary. I work with them, they are quite concerning, not necessarily their fault, but very concerning.

Give the young men hormone blockers to stop the testosterone-fuelled showing off, violence and wider destruction.

not sure if I am joking or not myself tbh

No the problem is idiots and lack of consequences.

Yes GB is one of the safest countries in the world for road travel. You will never get zero accidents, but it’s fair to say there is no real problem with driving standards or the legal framework

Very Sensible- I have said similar - the focus should be showing them a different type of life is possible - how we I think by the time this would be an option the damage/ mind set usually deep rooted and already done

You can’t eliminate all risk but there will still be a system in place (like having to have an MOT) that will cut the risk.

This is unworkable for anyone who doesn’t live near a motorway. If you live in Inverness, the closest motorway is about 2 and a half hours away.

There's not a huge difference between motorway driving and driving on a multi-lane dual carriageway except that motorways have fewer (and much safer) junctions.

Well it isn’t just reckless teenage driving is it? It’s part of a wider issue of criminality, school exclusion, poverty. How do you tackle that??

I would say that’s not intentional.

This is absolute nonsense.

The numbers of young drivers killed or seriously injured in accidents has dropped 60% in the last two decades. The numbers of young people consuming alcohol / binge drinking has also reduced by a quarter. This cohort of under 25s are way smarter than we ever were.

In theory the sentences can be similar, but in practise it's vanishingly rare that sentences for death by dangerous driving are anything near what a murder sentence would be.

Adding. There should be restrictions whatever your age or what you drive . Pass your test then do a motorway assessment

Another thing that seriously narks me about driving. You can pass your test then go straight onto the motorway. Some driving instructors can take pupils onto a motorway but there's no requirements.

It's a completely different scenario

That’s the problem isn’t it.

All these ideas people had don’t they think car manufacturers and insurance companies would use and insist on them if it stopped cars being stolen to start with.

These are criminals not law abiding citizens who will go oh no my black box I just not speed.

Good idea in principle but highly likely that the wrong direction driver will be killed as well, as was so in the 2 recent incidents

I don't know the roads involved , did they go down the slip road then deliberately take a right turn instead of joining the main carriageway? Or go across the central reservation?
I did hear they weren't using lights either.
I don't enjoy driving at night , the number of people who don't switch lights on, maybe because most cars have automatic headlights but you have to manually switch on the rear lights. Maybe the streetlights are enough they don't realise.
Some do if I give them a quick signal ( flash of my lights) but if they ignore, I stay well back and don't persist. I was told by a colleague it's something drivers do to get in a fight with you and I cannot be doing with it.

There are some young lads near me who drive small noisy motorbikes, they squeeze through gaps in traffic then roar off doing wheelies. No helmets, no numberplate, probably no insurance. The police don't bother.
I do think " fecking fall off ya prick" .

Tik Tok dares etc are getting worse.
I've seen a few online ( I don't have tik Tok) the ice bucket challenge is innocent compared to the Float Like a Fairy ( spinning from a height with a tie round your neck) or the one where 3 people in a line sweep the legs from the one in the middle.
Now this filming breaking the speed limit and they up the ante going the wrong way

I think this thread is confusing as it is dealing with two things, the dangers of young drivers and the dangers of a young criminal underclass.

It maybe all solutions are needed, but it is certain that the changes that are applied to all young drivers (age limits, black box etc etc) are not going to impact at all on the young criminal underclass.

Yes all this. I know sometimes it's in stolen vehicles but often crashes happen with inexperienced drivers with 4 mates in the car racing with others. We had an accident last year near us 4 teens dead 1 life changing injuries wrapped around a tree Friday night.
What sickens me is somebody has hung the drivers name written on a private plate at the crash site. Glorifying the little fools actions imo. Angers me every time I pass as it happened just after my own DD with 2 kids travelled along the same road. It's a roulette whether the driver kills himself, all his mates or other innocent members of the public.
Having said that the most horrific crash recently near us involved an experienced biker/professional lorry driver in his 50s with his wife on the back. Sunday afternoon In July 2024.speeding allegedly racing with another car and a poor family, mum, dad 2 daughters were hit by the biker he went through their car like a missile. They all died at the scene and the family had left one daughter playing with a friend now living with that for the rest of her life.
I work with a guy who had a motorbike accident at 18 and he always says young people's brains act differently. He never joins in the anger.
With all the Balaclava wearing ebike drug dealers about as well a lot of laws need updating and they need insuring.
At the very least banning passengers is a start after 7pm.

This. Obligatory National service would open up another world to many of the feral little sh*ts who have never known structure or been taught rules, regulations or pride in legitimate achievement. The forces offer so many opportunities that once over the initial shock of not being as tough as they thought they were, it could be the making of them and change the miserable course of their current lives forever.

This is an excellent point.
The "broken window" policy in New York years ago made a massive difference.
However these lads are not ordinary kids from ordinary families, their parents weren't parented and probably theirs before them. Just because it's difficult doesn't mean you don't try.

On the subject of stricter driving rules. I'm absolutely in favour of probationary rules such as night time curfews, no passengers. I know this would inconvenience some but every year in every area there's a tragic death of teenagers. These aren't in the same category as the ones on the news. Ordinary kids with poor judgement and immaturity. My DC are adults now but when they were teens they told me some hair raising stories and at least one friend wrote off a car a week after passing a test.

Black boxes and parents taking responsibility for their children, it’s their role to educate them. My son hasn’t passed yet but I’ve told him the statistics of young new drivers crashing and dying

New laws and restrictions will make not a scrap of difference to the sort of people who do this, because they care zero about the ones we already have.

This is the thing I don’t think people realise. Sentences and consequences can be similar - causing death by driving can attract a life sentence as murder does. If the sentence is the same why are people so set on it being murder?

• Raise the driving age to 21
• Have a minimum number of driving lessons you need to have before you can pass
• Add an extended Safe Driving section to the test
• Any traffic offences below the age of 25, remove their licence so they have to apply again with strict conditions
• No person under 23 to carry passengers
• Limit the models of cars young drivers can drive
• Stealing a car means loss of licence for 3 years
• Frequent and repeated education in schools about driving safely
• Photos, testimonials and videos of serious accidents and injuries to be shown to teens who are 14+, with talks by the police and fire brigade

But it’s not just teens and young people, is it? It’s basically boys and young men. Very few teenage girls and young women speed through streets or drive the wrong way down motorways.