The problem of young male drivers

[StressedDave]

There's always progress review weeks, you know... Or next Thursday when the workshy are going on strike (speaking as a non-member of the union and therefore doing my evening class on that day!)

[EmmaP]

StressedDave said:

There's always progress review weeks, you know...

I did think of that but I wondered if some students would bother turning up. I'll mention that in my email.

[BOF]

Emma,

Maybe you can get some thoughts from this ...

http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/essential-thinki...

BOF

[EmmaP]

Thanks BOF! I'll take a look at that tomorrow.

[BOF]

EmmaP said:

Thanks BOF! I'll take a look at that tomorrow.

Emma,

I e mailed Steve Haley with this comment, and suggest you include it in ANY discussion with young drivers...

"When I fill the X Type, it feels as if I have added a passenger...when I have three passengers...(as many young drivers do to show their mates how they can drive), my overtakes are more considered...as are my braking distances...maybe this has been discussed and I have missed it, if so, apologies."

His reply...

"Ref your fuel tank / passengers point - I’ve not specifically done that one (yet). But you’re right, full car is a common thread in teen-tragedies. It’s gone into my ‘thoughts tray’, and needs to be worked in somewhere - if only into the response to the DfT consultation due ‘soon’."

BOF.

Edited by BOF on Monday 21st April 18:31

[RabD]

waremark said:

You guys who are practising to drive the twisties as fast as possible, it's great that you are trying to drive as well as possible, but can I just check something without sounding too patronising?

You are thinking, aren't you, that the limiting factor on a blind bend is not how fast you can get round it if the road is clear, but how fast you can go and still be able to stop in time if there are cyclists in the middle of the road, or worse still someone coming towards you on your side of the road because they are overtaking cyclists ...... You have to be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear on your own side of the road, taking into account the amount of grip being used up by cornering. And if the road is slightly narrow, you have to be able to stop in less than half the distance you can see to be clear.

That's one of the great things about track days - no bad surprises just round the bend.

I can second this. Near my house there's a B road about 6 miles long that I do regularly. I love this road. About a year ago coming home from one of my mates houses at 11:30 at night doing about 10mph over the guideline into a dip followed by a left hand bend I came across a group of 6 children occupying the whole of my side of the road in the dip. No lights or high vis gear; nothing. I was forced to swerve offside on a blind bend to avoid them. If there had been any oncoming vehicles then there would have been a pretty major problem. Now, as I said before I was doing about 10mph over the guideline. The scary part is my normal speed for that bit of road was about 20mph over the guideline and I've seen that particular corner done at 50mph over the guideline. I now drive considerably more slowly when I don't have a full and unobstructed view ahead.


I'm a 19 year old male, BTW and "perfecting" my driving on a favorite B road almost turned me into an 18 year old murderer.

[mph999]

EmmaP said:

I've just had a word with a curriculum manager at a local FE college (one where I have taught part time) and he is very interested in getting me to come in to talk to the students about how to develop their driving skills (discussing advanced driving with them). This is something he feel passionate about as his wife works in a department at the local hospital where road traffic survivors are cared for. I am certain that the college will be very keen to get something established given that we lost a student 18 months ago in a RTA. Indeed it was that that first gave me the idea to get something set up, but I have not done anything about until this thread was started. I shall go through this thread again and consider all of the useful points that have been made.

They have twelve hours (per academic year I believe) set aside to cover issues relating to health. This currently covers matters of sexual health and the consequences of the misuse of drugs and alcohol. The curriculum manager is going to suggest to his colleagues that driving awareness and road safety (for want of better phrases) are included in their timetable.

So, I will let you know what progress I make and the format that any formal presentations might take so that some of you might get a similar event set up at your local college. The college in question has had a visit from the fire brigade already to discuss the role they played in dealing with RTAs, making good use of imagery. I am going to seek to get the involvement of the police in this and, if possible, someone in their age group with first hand experience of being in a RTA that was the result of poor car control or reckless driving.

Edited by EmmaP on Thursday 17th April 17:57

Hi Emma,

I'm in the middle of putting together a "driving lecture" - to present (to public) sometime in the summer.
I'm doing this with ClubDriving (ie. ClubDriving branded) but it will be free, no charges at all.

Have also been in contact with Steve Haley (Mind Driving) and he is very kindly allowing me to use some of his material, I also have a number of video clips from the Bespoke videos, and will be making a few of my own shortly.

I believe Mark Kendrick at Bespoke allows his videos to be used "for education" purposes, I can have a word if you like and perhaps can help you out a little.

I would like to involve the police (co-presented) but unfortunately down here (Berks) they only seem interested in enforcement, not education. I will be asking them again though.

Let me know if I can help.

Martin

[EmmaP]

BOF said:

Emma,

I e mailed Steve Haley with this comment, and suggest you include it in ANY discussion with young drivers...

"When I fill the X Type, it feels as if I have added a passenger...when I have three passengers...(as many young drivers do to show their mates how they can drive), my overtakes are more considered...as are my braking distances...maybe this has been discussed and I have missed it, if so, apologies."

His reply...

"Ref your fuel tank / passengers point - I’ve not specifically done that one (yet). But you’re right, full car is a common thread in teen-tragedies. It’s gone into my ‘thoughts tray’, and needs to be worked in somewhere - if only into the response to the DfT consultation due ‘soon’."

BOF.

That's an excellent point BOF. The first time I drove a car after passing my test I lost control of it having over-loaded the back axle moving back home from uni. The realisation that you are within a whisker of rolling a car at 70MPH with you and your dad inside it remains the scariest moment of my life. Thankfully I had my dad with me to instruct me on how to control a rather large tank-slapper. Not the best way to learn perhaps but I never forgot how to control a skid after that.

Edited by EmmaP on Monday 21st April 22:21

[EmmaP]

Hi Martin!

Thank you so much for the offer of support. That is very useful indeed. I only got my email off to the college today so as soon as I have the nod I'll let you know. It might not happen this academic year though. I shall get in touch with the people and organisations that you have mentioned as they could prove to be very useful resources.

Nottinghamshire Constabulary is a pretty decent force from what I can gather so I'll be getting in touch with them once I know when this is likely to go ahead. I'll let you know what their response is. A chat with one or more of our IAM examiners might be useful too.

[mph999]

EmmaP said:

Hi Martin!

Thank you so much for the offer of support. That is very useful indeed. I only got my email off to the college today so as soon as I have the nod I'll let you know. It might not happen this academic year though. I shall get in touch with the people and organisations that you have mentioned as they could prove to be very useful resources.

Nottinghamshire Constabulary is a pretty decent force from what I can gather so I'll be getting in touch with them once I know when this is likely to go ahead. I'll let you know what their response is. A chat with one or more of our IAM examiners might be useful too.

No problem, I'll PM you my email address ...

M

[p1esk]

EmmaP said:

BOF said:

Emma,

I e mailed Steve Haley with this comment, and suggest you include it in ANY discussion with young drivers...

"When I fill the X Type, it feels as if I have added a passenger...when I have three passengers...(as many young drivers do to show their mates how they can drive), my overtakes are more considered...as are my braking distances...maybe this has been discussed and I have missed it, if so, apologies."

His reply...

"Ref your fuel tank / passengers point - I’ve not specifically done that one (yet). But you’re right, full car is a common thread in teen-tragedies. It’s gone into my ‘thoughts tray’, and needs to be worked in somewhere - if only into the response to the DfT consultation due ‘soon’."

BOF.

That's an excellent point BOF. The first time I drove a car after passing my test I lost control of it having over-loaded the back axle moving back home from uni. The realisation that you are within a whisker of rolling a car at 70MPH with you and your dad inside it remains the scariest moment of my life. Thankfully I had my dad with me to instruct me on how to control a rather large tank-slapper. Not the best way to learn perhaps but I never forgot how to control a skid after that.

Edited by EmmaP on Monday 21st April 22:21

That sounds less than ideal; starting the training when the emergency confronts you! The advice must have been taken and acted upon very quickly.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

[EmmaP]

p1esk said:

That sounds less than ideal; starting the training when the emergency confronts you! The advice must have been taken and acted upon very quickly.

Best wishes all,
Dave.

My dad was so sharp. He saw me go for the brake told me to not touch the brake and told me to steer into the skid until I regained control then calmly asked if I'd like him to take over the driving. The next day he said, "Right you are going to go for a drive because if you don't get back in the car now you never will." He taught me some good techniques over the years and is a rather good driver though sadly he doesn't drive much now because of his age.