Petitioning safer driving licensing for newly qualified 17-19 year olds

[Karmacamelia]

Don't know if im allowed to share this petition... absolutely broke my heart. Please sign..

Petition · Safer Driving Licensing for Newly Qualified 17-19 Year Olds - United Kingdom · Change.org share.google/eoVafTPwLxKOC0Jur

I've signed. DS is coming up to driving age and the thought of him doing the things I used to do is terrifying!

Signed - DD best friend was killed in the summer (aged 20) by a young driver who lost control and mounted the pavement on which she was walking. Young drivers can be so dangerous and the repercussions for those killed devastating and brutal, change is needed urgently yet the Government won't address it. DD friend had a whole bright future in front of her which has been torn away and a family left without their precious child.

Hi OP, we're absolutely fine with you sharing this petition but we've moved your thread to our Petitions topic.

Thank you x

So sorry to hear this x
Agree with you, it needs to change urgently.
The government needs to listen.

Im in the same position and really want him to put lessons off for now.

I'm so sorry to read your experience @Screwyousimon. How utterly tragic.

OP, I've gone the other way and am signing him up for early lessons as his 16th birthday present. The way I'm thinking is the more lessons he has, the better a driver he'll be and the easier he'll recognise when a driver is doing something dangerous. I remember being at the age when I was getting lifts from older friends and not feeling able to challenge their driving because I hadn't even started lessons yet. Knowing what I know now, I'd prefer to get DS a 2-seater car to drive himself around than see him pile into a young driver's car with a bunch of friends.

I personally think that you should have to pass your theory test before you get into a car to drive. Driving lessons here are £72 for 2 hours and I chose a very qualified instructor with 25 years experience for my children. Lots of people get into cars with their parents who can't drive safely anyway. Mine also did "Young Driver" so from 14 driving with an instructor on private land.

I think as part of sitting the theory test you should have to sit through a selection of dashcam videos to highlight the daily fuck ups drivers holding a full license do every day. From pulling out of junctions, cutting lanes on roundabouts because they don't understand how to drive around one, straight lining roundabouts so no mirror checks, stupid overtakes and putting yourself to the left hand side of a HGV and in their bloody blindspot which means they sideswipe you and spin your car. So roundabouts are about positioning to keep yourself safe etc.

Luckily lots of these are just near misses but both my children watched a huge amount of these videos with us to talk them through it, can you see what might happen? Same with Jobber on Tiktok who was in insurance claims so talks about who is in the wrong and where liability lies with videos sent to him.

We also have dash cams in the car so I can watch back my children's driving and my car is new so there is an app on my phone for speed etc. I don't think it purely comes down to having other people in the car. It is inexperience. This is why watching a lot of driving instructors on youtube with mock tests shows lots of junctions, meeting situations that you might not get locally, ambulance gate anyone? My mate passed his test on the Isle of Wight, I passed in a sleepy small town and now live and drive in a major city. Not all tests are done to the same level.

@cathugger I do get this. I would like teens to have tons of lessons (going to cost a fortune) then have the graduated driving licence system.
When DS is in car, I tell him what an instructor told me, see everything around you as a potential hazard, ie that person walking along the pavement could suddenly step out on to the road, that cyclist could swerve in front of me etc might sound a bit obvious, but it's stuck with me through all my years of driving.

@DontGoToThatPlace
I think as part of sitting the theory test you should have to sit through a selection of dashcam videos to highlight the daily fuck ups drivers holding a full license do every day
Good idea. And also the dash cams to monitor driving.
My biggest worry with DS is his phone addiction, driving and the temptation of the phone.

I have two DC in that age bracket, both with cars and licences. On several occasions, I have been put in the position of being the bad guy/fun police - but luckily I am strong enough to just own it and also to continue to make parenting choices for DC who are technically adult or almost adult.

Licences definitely need to be graduated in some way, like other countries do. There should never be a scenario in which one 17yo is driving 3 passengers. It definitely should be illegal. Mine are absolutely banned from doing this, even my 19yo I have told two passengers only and to think carefully about what's going on. I let my 17yo take one passenger at a time. There was recently a scenario where she was asked to take 3 drunk teens home in the dark to unfamiliar places. I told her absolutely no way, I will come with my family sized car and deal with all of them.

A little car will handle very differently with 4 adult sized people in it, as well as all the other risks. Some roads are very confusing, some markings are almost totally eroded and kerbs can be quite strangely positioned. I also think the test is too easy to pass. I didn't allow my kids out alone immediately after passing. It was up to me as I bought both cars and pay the insurance. I determined when it would be appropriate. Still, I am not thrilled about them out in cars alone, but you have to build driving experience somehow and I have done everything in my power to keep them safe.

I've signed this one a few months back.

@Karmacamelia then get a dashcam that also records the interior of the car so you can see what he is doing and check the footage. 6 points on his license if he is caught using his phone and make sure he knows that doing it whilst stationary traffic is also illegal no matter how many people argue it shouldn't be. We have a Vifo dash cam, really good quality footage. Plugged into the usb and comes on automatically when we start the car.

I would look at dash cam videos with him on youtube, Ruby Dashcam and Dashflix are our go to ones and there are others. One of the main crashes you see are exiting roundabouts but not from the left lane so the car in the middle/right lane totals the car in the left lane who is continuing round the roundabout. This has case law and is called Grace and Tanner, both cars are at fault. So for your son, being aware of going straight on at a roundabout using the left lane, position yourself so you are not immediately next to the car to your right, check mirrors all the time. In this house we say "Constant vigilance" which is a quote from a book.

I agree you have to play bad cop but I never had. My two sons are incredibly sensible which may be because 2 school mates were in a horrific car accident due to driver error. The school really drove it home how easily it is to die but also survive, need 24 hour care and never walk again. One did die, the other is the 24 hour care part.

If you are able to take them in your car once the driving instructor says it is safe then get him to narrate his thoughts as he drives, we also narrated it too so they could see what we looked for. I did what we called finessing which was positioning, lane discipline sort of stuff. Dh took him out all over the place, followed a sat nav and he probably did about 600 miles of private driving with us whilst a learner.

My car is all singing and dancing, lane discipline, blind spot mirror warning, collision avoidance, all sorts of sensors for reversing and at the front of the car etc. I chose this deliberately because they would be driving my mid sized car and not Dh's car.

@DontGoToThatPlace thank you, very helpful reply.I am going to look into the Vifo cam and the constant vigilance is something I am trying to get across to him now as a passenger, seeing my driving through his eyes. Awful to hear about the schoolfriends - and their poor families.