Young Drivers. Too over confident and too fast.

[gagafan]

I know young drivers have always been the same since time began but the roads are so busy these days - took my daughter out for a drive for the first time last night for a little practice before her test. It was rush hour. OMG never again. I was so shocked at just how fast she went considering the conditions - not exactly dangerous but her inexperience really showed. I know you can't put an old head on young shoulders but the statistics frighten me. Anyone else had experience of this with son/daughter. What can I do to help her without losing my hair?

Have you been watching young drivers on bbc, the drivers on there are shocking.

I wouldn't practise with her, my dad refused with me. Thats what her driving instuctor is for.

When I was a new driver I was exactly the same. Very confident and very fast. This was over 20 years ago and they roads were a lot quieter and there were less speed restricted areas and speed cameras. I have slowed down a lot since then. Age and experience has taught me to be more considerate.

I'm learning atm and my instructor keeps am eye on my speed for me! He asks me if I thought I was in control, the right gear etc. Also what speed limit is this area?

She is learning, part of learning is judging appropriate speed.

I'm the exact opposite. 22 years old, been driving for nearly three years, and only just getting comfortable with the idea of 70 mph on the nice clear motorway.

I dread being driven by my hubby as I think he's an accident waiting t happen, at 33 years! Brakes too late, changes gears with no respect to the engine (jerky), accelerates too hard, drives too close to the curb, manoeuvres in car parks too fast. He thinks he's a good driver, but the reality is it puts me in a foul mood if I have to spend any time in the car with him! I do most of the driving when we go out together!!!

If she drives too fast for the conditions she IS dangerous. Tell her that she is going to fail her test and she needs more lessons and more sense.

tell her before the crash.

To be fair to her it was her first time in my car. It has a big engine so this probably didnt help the speed issue. She has a lovely very experienced instructor. But only has an hour a week with him. I was the same - I only had an hour a week then my boyfriend took me out in my mums car which helped me a lot.

Ageism on mumsnet again! If you'd said 'old drivers, drive slowly, dangerously and don't know rules of the road' you'd have been flamed and rightly so.

Unfair Sweeping generalisation to tar all younger drivers with the same brush. New drivers, maybe. Inexperienced drivers, maybe.

So- you took your DD out and she went too fast, ergo every young driver drives too fast?

Some young drivers do go too fast, but then so do many middle aged people who have been driving for donkeys years and should know better Chris Huhne.

Your daughter may have driven too fast but don't tar every young driver with the same brush. There are good and bad drivers of all ages and levels of experience,

Hey, don't lump us all in the same boat! I'm a young driver and I go slooooow and very cautious.

I'm a young driver and shit myself frequently...so quit your age bashing of drivers thank you

This is an experience issue, not an age one. One that will improve as she learns more about driving.

I know lots of 17/18/19 year old drivers, they're perfectly sensible. I also know lots of 30/40/50 year old drivers who I'm amazed quite frankly ever passed their test.

It always annoys me to see young-driver bashing in the media!

Why take her out in rush hour? She was probably a bit 'heavy footed' because it was a bigger, unfamiliar car.

Newly qualified drivers know if they get caught speeding and get issued 6 points up to 2 years after their test they have to stop altogether and retake the tests both theory and practical. Those points stay on the licence fpr 3 years.

My grandad sped up on motorways 'to keep up with the flow' - really alarming.

It costs more but 2 hours either consecutively or a few days apart would be helpful. Plus extra coaching after about 10 lessons somewhere quiet (pedestrian and cycle free) first of all, (industrial estate on a Sunday?) to get used to handling and careful manouevring first, before going out on public highway.

That'll teach me to read properly, you say she is practising before her test so way ahead of starting anew, sorry.

Was she definitely too fast?

Was she under the legal limit?

Could it be that you are perhaps an overly cautious driver (I know one of these, and he's as much of a danger as someone who is heavy footed and confident)?

For every over confident young driver there is an under confident old driver driving way too slow, and a premium german marque driving middle aged driver tailgating because they feel they own the road.

My son passed his test about a year ago and he's a very safe driver , having said that I'd still rather not be a passenger in the car because he doesn't do things the same way as me and its annoying .

your car has a big engine, but it also has a speedometer.

Sorry, don't like to generalise but the insurance premiums and recent facts are plain to see published by Brake.

Young drivers: the hard facts

There is a wealth of research and casualty data showing that young drivers - particularly young male drivers - are at a much higher risk of crashing than older drivers. They are therefore more at risk of losing their lives or being seriously injured on the road, often killing or injuring their young passengers or other road users too. Road crashes are the biggest single killer of young people in the UK and worldwide

[1]. Young drivers are involved in in in four fatal and serious crashes, despite only making up one in eight driver licence holders

[2].Other data from the UK shows that:

An 18-year-old driver is more than three times as likely to be involved in a crash as a 48 year-old

[3] One in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing their test

[4] Young male drivers have much higher crash rates than young female drivers.

[5]. Young male drivers aged 17-20 are seven times more at risk than all male drivers - but between the hours of 2am and 5am their risk is 17 times higher.

I'm looking at different training strategies now - pass plus looks quite a good scheme if she does pass her her test next month - I've found a wealth of material on the net.

And after watching a young driver with a full car pull the most stupid of overtake manouvers I have ever seen, I am not surprised at the statistics! The tractor pulled an emergency stop and ended up in the hedge so he did not hit them head on...........I honestly thought I was about to witness 4 young people die. :(

If you are worried make sure she does the pass plus, and advanced driving, it can only help.

Quote - yes i've already looked into Pass plus. It looks a very good scheme and also she could get a bit of discount of her first car insurance if she passes her test.