Are We Properly Preparing Our Young Drivers?

[j2bad]

Just to help you all, thought I better get this back on topic.

 

Is the and L/R plate scheme is improving driving, the answer is on the whole no.

 

I see a driver with an L plate and I know that they are being supervised, and am careful but know they are not going to act like an idiot just a lack of confidence / skill. I see an R and I immediatly check whether there are passengers, I then steer well clear, R plates and passengers mean danger.

 

I have an R plate teenage Driver living down the road if the driver has no passengers he slowly and very carefully reverse parks into his parents driveway, which takes him several attempts, with passengers he travels to the end of the cul de sac at speed and then does at u turn at speed and drives into the driveway as this shows what an ace driver he is. This morning he had four passenger at least one of which was drinking a bottle of lager (what a hard man).

 

My thoughts would be similar to that mentioned previously that R plate drivers should not be allowed to carry young passengers, also they certainly should not be allowed to carry passengers that are drinking or under the influence of drink or drugs.

[Slim]

I enjoy driving quickly, on a bike and in a car, and also hold an advanced driving qualification.

 

See this kind of "I'm qualified and special" type of post on here, superdrivers enthusiast types who distance themselves from hot hatch drivers by taking advance driving courses. I think its anecdotal and doesn't really add anything to the subject.

 

Nobody's answered my first question, what is it about the Isle of Man that makes its lack of a national speed limit different from every other nation? What makes our system right and everyone else's wrong?

[rednik]

I enjoy driving quickly, on a bike and in a car, and also hold an advanced driving qualification.

 

See this kind of "I'm qualified and special" type of post on here, superdrivers enthusiast types who distance themselves from hot hatch drivers by taking advance driving courses. I think its anecdotal and doesn't really add anything to the subject.

 

Nobody's answered my first question, what is it about the Isle of Man that makes its lack of a national speed limit different from every other nation? What makes our system right and everyone else's wrong?

 

I nearly left that bit out, and nearly put a disclaimer on it. It has no relevance to anything other than the fact that I "might" have thought about these things a bit more than people who have no interest in driving, and that I can say with confidence that I feel kids should be encouraged to take tests beyond the basic and inadequate driving test that we have.

 

I don't see myself as special in terms of driving ability at all. I'm special in most other areas of my life, but as a driver I'd just class myself as naturally gifted

[TurricanII]

R plates do draw attention to those drivers that should not be doing more than 50mph, we just need more means to spot and punish all drivers who do 80mph in a 40mph zone! But no need to punish the many who enjoy driving fast and manage to do so without coming to the attention of the likes of Slim. Do you know how many car drivers do 100mph at points accross the mountain but then slow to a safe distance before as they catch you up and then do not go on to perform a crazy overtake?

[Nitro]

My thoughts would be similar to that mentioned previously that R plate drivers should not be allowed to carry young passengers, also they certainly should not be allowed to carry passengers that are drinking or under the influence of drink or drugs.

 

So you tar everyone with the same brush then?, i'm on "R plates", i'm "young" and I carry passengers (at times to the cars maximum capacity), now this is normally back and fourth between work, I've been accused by work mates of "driving like a grandad".... bearing in mind I tend to sometimes drive early hours as I work nights, the roads are empty like a ghost town but I still stick to the speed limits, these comments are by people who don't have a licence so it makes me laugh, I like to get home, but the idea is to wind down after work, not tear ass about and get home a whole 1-2 minutes quicker.

 

I also had one mate refuse to wear a seat belt, my reply "if you don't then you can walk", also moaned about how "slow" my driving is, after sticking to speed limits, also had other chip in's such as "just slow down when you see the cops", Well I've gained my licence and its wasn't easy, losing a licence is a damn sight easier, He's got a point a good 70%+ of other drivers around me were breaking the limit, but I don't care, they want to break the limit (or take a liking for my rear bumper) thats their choice.

 

Its all to do with respect of others really, what I love sometimes is the sheer look of confusion on peoples faces when I let them out or let them through if part of the road is blocked by parked cars etc, R platers aren't allowed to do that usually i'd presume, I also look and laugh at the faces of drivers behind me when I'm sticking to limits, today it was one car following me through Laxey (I was doing around 28-30mph between downhill requiring braking and uphill sections), by the time I got out of the 30mph limit (to a 40mph limit), It had built up to 7 cars and I actually did laugh out loud because its ridiculous, I bet these are the very same people who come on here to rant and rave about others, without looking at their own standard of driving.

 

I really need to get a camcorder set up though, because it does get comical going through a long 30mph zone (a perfect example would be throughout Laxey from the Lonan side right upto just after minorca hill, with Laxey village being a 20mph zone aswell!), If you're not someone that sticks to 30mph then try it, goes through the stage of irritating (people sitting on your bumper throughout the 30 zone), to highly amusing, more so when you come across a bobby doing a speed check such as the other day, suddenly all of these cars right on your bumper drop back and the cars infront turn to a sea of red brake lights, slowing down well and truly beyond 30mph!!)

 

Another funny one for me was a cyclist I caught up in the unrestricted, just before entering the 30mph zone he was going about 25 ish, with 5mph in it I didn't think it was worth overtaking (30mph afterall is a maximum not a minimum) and knowing it was about to go into a steeper decline he was going to pick up more speed, throughout laxey he actually pulled away from me, ie above 30mph, he kept looking over his shoulder as he got further and further down the road, his face was a perfect image of confusion!

 

In my own mind though 50mph over the mountain is a bit slow (but its the law for me), i've pulled over twice now just to let the stream of cars behind me get passed safely, because i've seen people take lunatic risks trying to overtake 8 cars for example and with me being the last car they overtake its me their risking, I however did have 2 R plate cars (on seperate occasions), overtake me to carry on doing what i'd say was more 60-70mph, both were well judged safe overtakes, not saying it was right, but their carrying the risk and driving wise the standard wasn't "dangerous", just making progress which you are actually taught when learning, but seemingly restricted for the best part of 2 years to a maximum of 50mph.

[gazza]

Gazza, what makes Manx roads special?

 

never said thay were special

 

Nobody's answered my first question, what is it about the Isle of Man that makes its lack of a national speed limit different from every other nation? What makes our system right and everyone else's wrong?

 

why does one have to be right and one have to be wrong, cant 2 things be diffrent and still be right,

 

and slim u diden answer my quastion,

how many deaths are caused in the uk from young drivers,

im takeing it these figures will be a 100% better than the isle of man as thay have a speed limit

 

just because some kid stuffs his car at speed and kills someone, ppl start going about speed limits,

even if there was a speed limit do u really think this woulden have happined, course it would have, he woulden have given a shit bout the limit, christ he was in a 40 when he crashed,

and all this shit bout well if there was a limit he woulden have been going so fast into the 40, my ass, he prob still be doing the same speed,

 

for the few and rare times this happins, i dont think it warrents a limit at all, i think the sentence handded down to him is prob quite a shock to a few young ppl that will think twice about going to fast, well for a month or so maybe,

 

load of old bollocks,

and yes i like to drive fast, and no im not an advance driver, no i dont have a hot hatch so u have to group me with something eles,

 

the thing is, we will never agree on this, u want lower speed i want it to stay as it is, so its prob best if we just stop posting, cause it just carry on back and forth

[SScott]

Why is the IOM the only place in the world not to have a national speed limit? Is the whole world doing it wrong and we're right?

 

The Isle of Man is the (self appointed) Road Racing Capital Of The World. This is how we are marketed, and why TVR Owners Clubs and sad wankers on bikes who like to pretend they are racing drivers/riders come over here. A few dead people are a price worth paying for the perpetuation of that image. In fact, they're probably welcome. As long as the odd token prison term is delivered, regardless of whether it serves any useful purpose or not, then we can at least be seen to care without jeopardising the macho motorist's need for speed.

Exactly!

You put in a speed limit and you'll lose a lot of money into your economy.

[%age]

Just to help you all, thought I better get this back on topic.

 

Is the and L/R plate scheme is improving driving, the answer is on the whole no.

 

I see a driver with an L plate and I know that they are being supervised, and am careful but know they are not going to act like an idiot just a lack of confidence / skill. I see an R and I immediatly check whether there are passengers, I then steer well clear, R plates and passengers mean danger.

 

I have an R plate teenage Driver living down the road if the driver has no passengers he slowly and very carefully reverse parks into his parents driveway, which takes him several attempts, with passengers he travels to the end of the cul de sac at speed and then does at u turn at speed and drives into the driveway as this shows what an ace driver he is. This morning he had four passenger at least one of which was drinking a bottle of lager (what a hard man).

 

My thoughts would be similar to that mentioned previously that R plate drivers should not be allowed to carry young passengers, also they certainly should not be allowed to carry passengers that are drinking or under the influence of drink or drugs.

 

The above post hit home.

 

Occasionally I am given a lift to from an R plate driver. There seems to be a definite onus for them to display what an ace driver they are. Ace driving it seems, means fast and furious, and taking a few risks is seen as an honour.

 

I wonder at today's behaviour and see it as a reaction to displaying the R plate.

 

Whoever were responsible for the introduction of the R plate have not thought it through. I would be interested in the opinion of the police.

 

My opinion would be to scrap the R plate. It is meaningless and is counter-active.

[WTF]

I enjoy driving quickly, on a bike and in a car, and also hold an advanced driving qualification.

 

 

Nobody's answered my first question, what is it about the Isle of Man that makes its lack of a national speed limit different from every other nation? What makes our system right and everyone else's wrong?

 

we will try to answer the well worded aslmost self answering questions the first lot of words before the first question mark would seem to be the question 'what makes the isle of man different' and then answers it by claiming we don't have a national speed limit like 'everyone else' so in short, a roundabout way of saying we don't have a limit, we know that, it's what makes us different. is it right or wrong?? neither really, it is what it is. BUT, even with a national limit, those that want to speed will speed. assuming this thread was started on the back of the latest hilberry incident, what difference would a national speed limit have had?? the driver broke the limit of the 40mph zone, and broke the 50mph limit of his licence with R plates, ANOTHER national limit of 60,70 even 90, wasn't likely to have been stuck to, so why prevent those that can travel in a safe enough manner over 60 from doing so?? it is not 'speed' that is the issue, it is the 'misuse' of speed that is the problem! using it in the wrong places at the wrong times. SAFE use of speed is not a problem. 2 1/2 x a speed limit IS.

[Slim]

never said thay were special

:

 

You are saying they're special. They're different from every other A road in the UK, they don't have a speed limit. Why? The troll got it, it's economic. It's all part of the whoring of this island for the TT, and the safety of all road users is compromised for this, this is the price we pay.

 

You can pick isolated examples where the speed limit doesn't apply, but in general limits do work to reduce average speeds and thus make the roads safer for all.

 

I don't believe the speed limit debate is over either, it's as inevitable as the smoking ban, and we will finally catch up with the rest of the world. Either limits will expand so there won't be any unrestricted areas, or a national limit will be introduce at some stage.

[%age]

From a 2006 Election Manifesto

 

Road safety – I have already voiced my opinions (in the press and on television) regarding young, inexperienced drivers. Young drivers may have the basic skills required but are ill equipped in both experience and responsibility. The ‘R’ plate system is not working. The tragic loss of lives due to the irresponsible actions of some drivers needs to be halted. The families of the victims feel let down by a legal system which is far too lenient. Again, the victims feel their voice is not heard.

 

There is a lot of points made in that short paragraph.

[Cambon]

You can pick isolated examples where the speed limit doesn't apply, but in general limits do work to reduce average speeds and thus make the roads safer for all.

 

I don't believe the speed limit debate is over either, it's as inevitable as the smoking ban, and we will finally catch up with the rest of the world. Either limits will expand so there won't be any unrestricted areas, or a national limit will be introduce at some stage.

 

So how exactly is this going to prepare young drivers for the roads?

[gazza]

never said thay were special

:

. It's all part of the whoring of this island for the TT, and the safety of all road users is compromised for this, this is the price we pay.

 

 

 

well theres a boat in the morning

[sunset]

Having passed my test in the UK some years ago I was then qualified to take a car on to motorways with a speed limit of 70 mph having never driven on a fast road. I think the R plate system has merits as it alerts more experienced drivers to the fact that a driver is inexperienced and as such needs to be given a bit more leeway and consideration. I regularly drove the London orbital routes as a new driver and was frequently tooted at for being too slow to react.

The Island has other speed restricted vehicles - all vans and heavy vehicles from the size of a Transit Connect upwards are restricted to 40 mph - how many of them display the stickers or stick to that limit? The vehicles hassling the R plated drivers for going slow are probably 40 mph restricted themselves!

My children came up with had a number of meaning of "R" from watching and having lifts with new drivers - RELUCTANT for the overcautious; RECKLESS for the overconfident; RUBBISH for those that shouldn't have passed their test in the first place!

[Slim]

So how exactly is this going to prepare young drivers for the roads?

 

It's not, it's preparing the roads for the young drivers. The objective of either is to make the roads safer for everyone, right?