Dying To Drive

[monkeykplunk]

So as harsh as it may sound, when I see some grieving parent on TV I am always tempted to ask, what did you personally do to improve your children’s chances? Did you just send them along to a driving school and then hope for the best? What have you done since they got their licence? As a parent I don’t think I can abdicate responsibility to the government or the police or the RTA. The fact is the buck starts and stops with me.

Amen to that SK!

You and Mrs SK should get an award for parents of the year

The biggest misconception held today about driver education is that a driving school will teach you everything you need to know about driving on public roads. Even the instructors will try and perpetuate this myth. It's simply not true.

When I was learning 10 years ago, I knew more then my instructor. I knew that book inside out before I went out with a driving school, and had been driving with my dad almost every day for about 4 months before that. And I knew half the things the instructor was telling me were wrong things to be doing, but they were things that would help me pass the RTA test.

I've been driving everyday for the past 10 years, and I've only ever had 1 accident, and it was completely my fault because I was stupid enough to be having a perve in peak hour Sydney traffic! Good thing the ol' XF could stand up to a bit of punishment

My girlfriend is 8 years younger then me and I hate going anywhere driving with her because she's simply terrible at driving. Which constantly amazes me since I know her Dad taught her well. It's just that she got lazy and couldn't be bothered doing half the stuff she should once she got her red Ps.

I think I had a point when I started.....

[Sydneykid]

Amen to that SK!

You and Mrs SK should get an award for parents of the year

The biggest misconception held today about driver education is that a driving school will teach you everything you need to know about driving on public roads. Even the instructors will try and perpetuate this myth. It's simply not true.

When I was learning 10 years ago, I knew more then my instructor. I knew that book inside out before I went out with a driving school, and had been driving with my dad almost every day for about 4 months before that. And I knew half the things the instructor was telling me were wrong things to be doing, but they were things that would help me pass the RTA test.

I've been driving everyday for the past 10 years, and I've only ever had 1 accident, and it was completely my fault because I was stupid enough to be having a perve in peak hour Sydney traffic! Good thing the ol' XF could stand up to a bit of punishment

My girlfriend is 8 years younger then me and I hate going anywhere driving with her because she's simply terrible at driving. Which constantly amazes me since I know her Dad taught her well. It's just that she got lazy and couldn't be bothered doing half the stuff she should once she got her red Ps.

I think I had a point when I started.....

Time to reteach her, you might be saving her life, but tread carefully.

Or buy her a course for her birthday, anniversary, Xmas, Easter etc

cheers

[dangerous_daveo]

So, how did/do I approach teaching KoSK (kids of SK) to stay alive when driving?

From the day they were born they learnt about safety in cars, wearing seat belts, not drinking and driving, keeping the noise (distractions) to a manageable level etc etc. For example,.Mrs SK and I made sure we openly discussed (in front of KoSK) who was driving and who was drinking whenever we went out.

I then took SOSK Karts racing from 10 to 16 years old. He learnt all sorts of important stuff like;

1. Idiots will run into you

2. If you break it, you fix it

3. If you break it real bad, you miss the next race/meeting

4. It costs money and time to fix stuff after you break it

5. When another driver/kart hits you, it hurts

6. Safety gear (helmet, suite, gloves etc) save your ass

7. Car (Kart) Control

8. Braking and traction

9. Steering and traction

10. Acceleration and traction

11. How to get you and the kart out of the shit when you stupidly got yourself into it

12, How not to get in the shit next time

And heaps more “life” lessons.

Then I taught him how to drive a car, how to stay alive, what to look out for, how to change gears, look the other driver in the eye etc etc. Then I sent him to a Driving School so he could learn how to pass the test (that’s what they are good at). Then I shipped him off to a Peter Finlay course so he could take all of that kart learning and translate it into car stuff. Now I watch and make comment, I do plenty of coaching, I think its part and parcel of being a parent. Just as important as helping with homework, teaching them to talk, to read and write and all the other things parents teach kids.

So as harsh as it may sound, when I see some grieving parent on TV I am always tempted to ask, what did you personally do to improve your children’s chances? Did you just send them along to a driving school and then hope for the best? What have you done since they got their licence? As a parent I don’t think I can abdicate responsibility to the government or the police or the RTA. The fact is the buck starts and stops with me.

Enough rant on my slant on bringing up kids.

cheers

LOL at the KOSK and the SOSK. Gold.

But yeah, your spot on. I think a lot of it is they were never taught those good habits themselfs. So they just dont realise all the stuff they need to do to be a good driver. Its just pure luck they havent had serious accos. I mean how many mums and dads get done drink driving, talking on the phone, etc etc.

Thats the problem.

[predator]

I watched it.. was one side of the room old people.. on the other young people, and everything you'd expect to be said from each side.

Wasn't too much new, nor that well done. If anything, there was no counter to what the younger people were saying re, less passengers means drink driving, we need to learn actual avoiding accidents, rather than just how to drive and park. And the usual parents who had lost loved ones needlessly trying to justify tougher actions, and attempting to do something to cover up their own guilt issues over their kid's deaths.

Then there was that tool from the Monash Accident Centre (Bracks toy boy) going on about more stats and 'statistics show..' which bothered me, rather than the real world. Statistics can show anything if you spend enough time wanting them to say something.

[Pauly33GTS-t]

that point is very much debatable

The whole point of this quote is that the stupid people ask the stupid questions. A question is simply a question unless asked by a stupid person to which is becomes a question asked by a stupid person.

make any sense?

[skylinecouple]

Don`t get me started on P-platers.Next time I see a WRX side by side with a Skyline doing 140 on the expressway while everybody else is doing 110 I would love a copper to pull them over,douse their cars in petrol, then give the drivers a match and make them burn their own cars.MAKE NO MISTAKE,these idiots though only a few, will have us all driving electric golf buggies.Broad statement? Open your eyes to the future.Ill never forget my best friend in the 70`s buying a new Ford Bathurst Cobra and proceded to do 140mph, thats miles per hour on the northern rd to Penrith.IDIOT !! As S.K. said,if your young you Will speed.

Sorry, I have to go calm down.Now where did I put that T88-34d ?

[petrolhead]

Hailing from Victoria I would have to say that I don't think our governments are really all that interested in saving lives. They say they are but they just make too much money out of their current policing of speed limits. Little if any of it seems to be injected back into driver training.

Its big business for them and they are now experts at making us (the average driver) feel unsure of ourselves and unsafe.

I just returned from California where the trucks have to stick to the right lane (slow lane over there) and have a separate speed limit. Most of the traffic was exceeding the 65-70 mph limit by 10-15 mph. The police didnt care in fact they were busy making sure the trucks did the right thing and slow drivers stayed out of the fast lanes. It worked incredibly well.

Driving back from Melbourne airport we were confronted with cars 4 abreast blocking all lanes doing anything from 80 - 95kph in a 100kph zone. It was just crazy.

They (our governments) need to put more controls in place for trucks and educate soon to be licensed drivers. Wiping off 5 may save a life. But instead of being told we should run into things as slowly as possible wouldn't it be better to know how to avoid running into them at all?

As long as they are including speed camera revenue in their budgets (and they do) there is little hope of changing anything IMO.

[ctjet]

The whole point of this quote is that the stupid people ask the stupid questions. A question is simply a question unless asked by a stupid person to which is becomes a question asked by a stupid person.

make any sense?

you lost me

... and i think you did it on purpose

[insu]

The statistics do show a disproportionately high number of young males involved in road crashes and deaths.....

What they don't want to tell you is how many of those crashes were with the young male driving, not as a passenger. The number of young males in crashes/road deaths who are DRIVING are actually pretty inline with the rest of Australia's road using groups (slightly above it must be said).

This is how the do the statistics (just listen to the wording they use next time on TT or ACA):

In the year XXXX there were 1,234 males under the age of 22 who were involved in crashes on Australian roads, while at the same time the number of females aged 22-38 only had 584 crashes while driving their cars.....

See what I mean? You can make it sound bad without actually 'lying'.

[SKY031]

What they don't want to tell you is how many of those crashes were with the young male driving, not as a passenger. The number of young males in crashes/road deaths who are DRIVING are actually pretty inline with the rest of Australia's road using groups (slightly above it must be said).

Darn those conspiracies.

The TAC website allows you to do a filtered search, you can choose to search pedestrians, cyclists, passengers, and (wait for it...) drivers.

I imagine that other states would also have access to local databases which carry similar information.

How this is a manipulation of facts?

[predator]

lol.. did you know that between the hours of 12 midday and 2pm from 1/1/06 to 1/3/07 there have been zero recorded fatalities??

Which by all rights mean I can travel 200km/hr in a 60km/hr zone as there is a 0% probability of me being involved in a fatality at this time? right..............

Now also look at 36 in rural areas vs 23 dying in the cities. Now consider the average population/cars on the road in your average city compared to a country area. So it makes sense to put speed cameras in the city, rather than the country? right.......

It also shows that 33 out of 59 crashes occurred "Run off a straight road".. f**k me, that's 55% caused by A STRAIGHT ROAD! So therefore, if we changed all straight roads to curved, we could save 55% of road deaths in a yearly period? right..........

Wait ! my ideas seem stupid from what I am gathering from this data - maybe I am picking out certain figures to suit my own agenda here? hang on a sec........

[ctjet]

I been 'hangin on a sec' and its been almost 12 hours... how long do we have to wait?

cant you find what you were looking for? try your right pants pocket