Driving Miss Crazy
Grandad January 14th, 2009
So the Road Safety Authority are trying to find ways to stop young drivers from killing themselves?
They have a hope!
In typical Irish/Nanny State fashion, they see a problem and decide that the answer is more laws.
Zero tolerance on alcohol? Fine, but there are already laws for that.
Night time curfew? Bollox! They would have one hell of a job enforcing that, and anyway, how do the new drivers gain night driving experience?
Increased penalty points? Ha Ha. What difference will that make?
Hazard perception testing? Rubbish. It takes years to become an expert at that. It is impossible to ‘test’.
Age restriction for passengers? How the hell do they enforce that? The first thing a young buck wants to do with his licence is impress his pals/girlfriend. Forget it.
Mandatory tuition? I thought they had that anyway?
Restricted car power? If a bloke has a powerful car, he is going to drive it, and fuck the law.
Extended supervised driving? Considering that for years, half the country were driving on provo licences while unaccompanied, that’s a joke.
Upgraded driving test? The only item that shows a glimmer of hope.
There are a few things that the RSA don’t seem to realise.
Firstly, anyone doing a test is going to be on their best behaviour. They are going to drive by the rulebook. They have no intention of driving like that once they have their licence, simply because the it doesn’t work. When I was learning to drive, my instructor told me there were two ways to drive – the Test Way, and The Right Way. He was spot on. Therefore the test gives no indication whatsoever as to how that person intends to drive.
Secondly, they don’t understand that mixing immaturity, testosterone and a car is like mixing nitric acid and glycerine – potentially explosive. All young drivers think they are brilliant. Speed is king, and you will never teach them otherwise.
Thirdly, they ignore the “it will never happen to me” philosophy. That one alone negates most of their proposals.
If they want to make the roads safer, all they have to do is police the existing laws.
If they had more patrols on the danger spots and fewer on the ‘easy money’ back roads, they would have a chance.
I would also suggest a simple penalty. If a driver is convicted of an offence during their probation period – remove their licence, so they have to sit the test again.
Or else just let them get on with it and kill themselves.
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