Eternal Pedestrians! New driver loses licence on first day

[Buller_Scott]

victorian drivers are a joke- but how do you address the widespread problem of no indication/ occupying part of the next lane/ creeping around a right hand turn on a green arrow at a leisurely 5km/h during peak hr, allowing for only 2-3 cars to leave the intersection?

i reckon mandatory licence tests every couple of years. if you indicate after going around a corner to show the guy who just slammed his brakes to prevent from running into you, what you just did, then boom- loss of license for 6 months.

sounds harsh, but it would make people knock their sht into gear if they knew that complacent driving resulted in losing their ability to pick up the kids etc.

[gareth_oau]

the government continues to put less cops on the road and instead relies on speed-cameras - great for revenue raising, and does diddly-squat about all the other crap-driving issues we see day-to-day

[Greg Roles]

If you are unaware enough to hoon in the city / suburbs where all the camera's / cops generally are, you deserve what you get. Hoon smart.

[Highlander]

Ask yourself this

It may well be a joke, but what that idiot did it is still the truth & what the other bloke is flapping his gums about isn't exactly BS either!

Is it worth sitting in jail with murders and rapists, or maybe you won't be able to sit that often, just to do some stupid burnouts or hoon around on a public road.

And no matter how big the farm you learn to drive on is, its a bit hard to claim to be an experienced driver on the day you get your licence.

Often when I think of my early driving days I really feel that I am alive more by good luck than good management. I had no doubt that I was the best, most skilled driver in Australia when I was 17. Can't believe how much my driving skills have deteriorated since then.

Now I can't even keep up with P Platers on the motorways when I am sitting on a true 110km per hour.

$1500 hurts. If it doesn't hurt, no lessons learned.

[Preen59]

Gotta agree with Golfworx.. However..

These "hoon laws" unfortunately target people unfairly aswell as the people that they are truly aimed at. I really don't see the harm in chucking a skid to a degree.

Like has been said before, it's about risk management. If you want to go silly, do it where you can't get injured or at a very minimum, can't injure someone else.

It really comes down to education. And i don't mean more driver log books and computer tests. Physical, one on one tuition with someone who can actually drive. Not some useless bastard that got their license 30 years ago by taking the cop up to the corner shop and back. Nothing will change while ever you have people who would be lucky to be able to drive their thumb up their own arse (let alone a car!) teaching new drivers.

[Calais]

.

It really comes down to education. And i don't mean more driver log books and computer tests. Physical, one on one tuition with someone who can actually drive. Not some useless bastard that got their license 30 years ago by taking the cop up to the corner shop and back. Nothing will change while ever you have people who would be lucky to be able to drive their thumb up their own arse (let alone a car!) teaching new drivers.

Well said.

If only the peanuts running this country could see the logic.

[VW Convert]

These "hoon laws" unfortunately target people unfairly aswell as the people that they are truly aimed at. I really don't see the harm in chucking a skid to a degree.

Like has been said before, it's about risk management. If you want to go silly, do it where you can't get injured or at a very minimum, can't injure someone else.

It really comes down to education. And i don't mean more driver log books and computer tests. Physical, one on one tuition with someone who can actually drive. Not some useless bastard that got their license 30 years ago by taking the cop up to the corner shop and back. Nothing will change while ever you have people who would be lucky to be able to drive their thumb up their own arse (let alone a car!) teaching new drivers.

There's some truth but some rubbish in this thread. Getting back to the OP, here is another report about that same incident.

A KYNETON teenager whose car was impounded the same day he received his probationary driver’s licence has been banned from getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle for 12 months.
Dwayne Martin held a licence for just 90 minutes before embarking on a three-hour hooning spree through Kyneton last year.

His friend Stephen Lowe, of Romsey, was following in a separate car and driving in a similar manner.

The teenagers, both 19, appeared in the Kyneton Magistrates Court yesterday where Martin pleaded guilty to six counts of careless driving and improper use of a motor vehicle.

Lowe pleaded guilty to four counts of the same charge.

Prosecutor, Sergeant Brett Sheppard told the court Martin passed his driver’s test at 8.40am on April 27 last year.

He said that at 10.30am the teenagers were hooning through Kyneton, revving their cars loudly, spinning the wheels and performing burnouts.

At one stage the 19-year-olds performed burnouts in the Kyneton Secondary College car park, he said.

Students where nearby at the time.
Sergeant Sheppard said police caught up with both Martin and Lowe shortly before 2pm after receiving reports from people concerned about their behaviour.

Both cars were impounded.

Lowe, who was involved in a serious car accident before he got his licence and as a result suffers long-term injuries, told police he had a 16-year-old passenger in the car with him during the spree.
Martin told police he was showing off.

Defence lawyer Christopher Durston told the court both boys were extremely immature and lacked insight into the issues within the community surrounding hoon driving.

However, he said they were remorseful and asked the court to consider their youth before imposing a conviction.

Magistrate Richard Wright said the teenagers’ offending was extreme and a message needed to be sent.

“Driving is not a right, it’s a privilege,” he said.

“Young men who get their licence think they’re bullet proof and they can do what they like.”

Mr Wright told Martin and Lowe that the road rules were there for a reason and suspended their licence for 12 months.

He also fined them $1500 each without conviction.

Sorry guys, no amount of education will stop this type of thing from happening, some people just don't get it. Think about the string of horrific accidents in recent times where cars have been torn apart and too many young lives snuffed out, many of these accidents have occurred because of precisely the behaviour demonstrated in this case. So when are people like this going to wake up?

I agree driver education is lacking, too many people with bad habits teaching new drivers their own bad habits and a drastic overhaul of the driver education system is needed.

I'm not 100% sure that crushing cars is the answer, but long licence suspensions in cases like this and keeping idiots like these off the road makes us all safer.

Cheers

George