To think the new driving proposals are a fantastic idea?

[Sallystyle]

Teenagers could have to wait a year longer than currently before they are allowed to take their driving test.

The government is considering issuing only 12-month probationary licences at the age of 18 in a bid to cut accidents involving young motorists.

New drivers would also face a curfew between 22:00 and 05:00 unless a passenger aged over 30 was in the car.
It recommended a one-year "learner stage" during which drivers would have to total at least 100 hours of daytime and 20 hours of night-time practice under supervision.

During this stage, drivers under the age of 30 would also be banned from carrying any passengers also under 30.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24485792

There is also talk about making motorway lessons mandatory.

Should have known it was a bad idea when I heard the 'Loose Women' agreeing with it.

I thought people had night driving lessons anyway. My instructor has taken me out late at night as he said it was important.

Actually now waiting for him to come get me but I hate driving in the rain.

I think everyone should be retested every ten years or so.
I don't agree with the curfew, I think it will lead to more speeding and accidents as they try to get home before, I also think there's plenty of youngsters who work in bars clubs, pubs, restaurants it would affect. It's safer in the car than trains and buses home.
I do think the black boxes (without curfews) is a fantastic idea I think two years with that should be compulsory.
(Currently it's offered to reduce insurance, generally by about £1000. You can check online how the driving is as well as the insurance companies checking. Some will also rebate you if you've driven well)
Pass plus should be compulsory as well.

There is a serious imbalance of new drivers (particularly young ones) ending up wrapped round trees and worse when they head off after passing their driving test, all enthusiasm and bravado and no experience. It's one of those 'we have to do something' situations but the answers are probably not making them drive around with granny in the car.

I worry about these 'pass in a week' intense courses - they could be done in addition to lessons over a month/6 months. My concern is that in a week you may not see any rain/ different conditions. Experience is everything in driving.

I agree Belu

I have been doing lessons for 6 months (2-3 a week) and I am still experiencing new situations I haven't came across before.

What insurance companies should do is invest in dashboard-cams for all cars, so that every driver can easily shop a video of a bad driver to the insurance companies/police, who then ban or at least heftily raise that individual's premium depending on the severity of the dangerous driving on tape.

That way, premiums for all drivers are on average lowered.

I can see why they've made the proposals, but in reality it's a daft idea. I was a teenage mother - I had to drive about with DD. Sometimes at night. My father just after I'd passed my driving test, so frankly, I had little option but to drive around, as my mother had never learnt to drive.

So - sure - do all you can to stop boy racers and 17 year olds who think they're invicible to drive carefully, but blanket, knee-jerk ideas such as this are daft.

The under 30 thing is absolutely ridiculous. Dh and I are both 27, will we not be allowed to drive around together? Despite being old enough to have three children, have a mortgage, be married etc?

Dh is the best and safest driver I know even better than me. It's when I get in the car with my grandad I worry!

All the tailgating and cutting-up problems I've had with impatient drivers on the roads haven't been from younger new drivers, but middle-aged guys with a temper!

Though I have noticed the boy racers in their pimped-up cars tend to have those really very annoying xenon headlights

Actually Samu, when I first heard these proposals I thought they were a good idea too. However, since reading the responses on here, I've changed my mind, it's a ridiculous proposal. So many different scenarios just wouldn't fit.

If they're able to vote, buy booze, and get married at 18yo, then they should be paid the same wage (I hate this lower minimum wager for younger people - ridiculous!) and have the same driving restrictions as anyone else.

Isn't this (along with the lower minimum wage and the loss of benefits for under 25s) ageism? I was married with a baby at 20, and worked some night shifts. Hard enough for young adults to get a job, but this will restrict them even further, as public transport when you're working late or on nights can often be tricky.

Perhaps the smarter move might be to LOWER the driving age, but put in place strict conditions. Then they get more experience in driving, but not the full responsibility and pressure involved.

I think it's a splendid idea - the first sensible idea this government has had so far. In fact, I think the age that you are allowed to drive even more.

It won't kill our kids to use public transport. In fact, it may keep a few more of them alive.

YABU It's penalising the teenagers/young people who drive sensibly. If you can drive then you can drive. Whether you follow the rules and drive carefully or not is generally not dependant on age.

What utter rubbish. Spoken like the sort of mediocre driver who has no interest in driving or improving their skills. The sort of driver who is likely to kill someone on the roads "failing to look properly" which is the most common cause of fatalities on British roads. Passing a driving test means you meet the absolute bare minimum standard to be allowed to drive on the roads. Driving is a skill which is (or should be) actively built upon during your driving career. There are plenty of truly shocking drivers out there who have just passed tests. Its time that testing was made much more rigorous include skid pan/advanced car control testing. People need to realise that a driving licence is a privilege and not a right.

I want to know what's so special about the number 30? It sounds a bit shit tbh.
Young drivers need more safe time on the roads and loads of speed awareness and road safety lessons focussing on the effects of driving dangerously.

flifflie what about those young people who live in areas with NO public transport? It's easy if you live in a town. My parents were really keen for me to learn to drive and spent many hours with me, as well as driving lessons as we were 20 miles from town, with no buses after 4pm, and no buses at weekends at all.
And to those people who say that motorway driving should be compulsory before the test - what about in areas where there are no motorways?

I think that a minimum number of driving hours before a test is a good thing, but how would you prove it? would it have to be with an instructor? Cos that would be too expensive.

And the under 30 thing is bonkers. I know its only for new drivers but even then.

Personally I think more speed bumps in certain areas are a good way to start. Its not just 'boy racers' who cause accidents and more needs to be done than targeting one group.

"I thought people had night driving lessons anyway. My instructor has taken me out late at night as he said it was important"

Sounds like a good instructor, unfortunately there aren't a hell of a lot of regulations in place for driving instructors. I think that might be a better idea to focus on.

Some instructors will teach the absolute bare minimum, and will actually avoid teaching certain fairly obvious stuff just because they know it wont come up in the test. Eg. DH had one who refused to teach reversing into a parking space because she knew the local test centre didn't have space to test that. Didn't worry about night driving for the same reason.

Absolutely crazy that they get away with it.

I know my dad and his driving instructor mates are all in support of more regulation for driving instructors, as while it'd mean more hassle for them, it would also mean less competition from the idiots who undercut their prices.

Pass plus should definitely be pushed more.

These proposals though are just demonising the young (again).

I thought there was already a minimum number of hours driving with an instructor required before you could pass?

I was a shift worker and mother to one at the age of 25, how could I have done my job and done the nursery stuff if I wasn't allowed to drive in the dark or gave my son in the car? Bloody ridiculous proposal.