Just watched a story on CBS news about young drivers going to Skip Barber driving school. They were teaching them car control in a panic stop situation, and skid recovery (looked like drifting to me). They start them off in a Neon and move them up to the Viper. This was a multiple-day class that cost the parents $800. It was a pro-con report. Parents feeling better about the safety of their kids vs. a safe-driving group rep worried that they were promoting reckless driving by making the kids feel over-confident. I don't know, but I would feel better if they taught these skills to all new drivers. Anything to keep them out of MY lane. You can't get much better instruction than Skip Barber, but she did make a good point about the over-confidence. Thoughts?

 

Raise the minimum driving age to 35

 

Sounds like a good idea...we're lettin' too many inexperienced kids out on the road without proper training.

 

Teaching collision avoidance is a good idea

Even driving a Viper and sliding it around a turn can teach you a lot about driving in rain and snow and even ice.

Those who don't test the limits of their cars are doomed to crash - or something like that

 

Yup. It's worked for me so far. Also, how do you go about signing up for that?? I think I'm a pretty good driver, but a little extra instruction wouldn't hurt.

 

To me raising the minimum age for drivers is silly, then we'll have drivers that are just as bad, but tey start at a later age.


I started driving around age 11, I'm now 25. I do realize not every kid grows up in a rural area on a farm where that is possible but TOO MANY times I see kids who are GIVEN a vehicle that is too much vehicle for them to handle.
My dad hs been a car salesman for 30+ years, he used to sell at a GM dealer and refused to sell a guy some hopped up new Camaro for his 16 year old son becuase he said "that car is too much for a 30 year old man and I will not sell it to you knowing a 16 year old will be driving it, I will not be responsible for his death." The guy went somewhere else and bought it, 3 weeks later the kid crashed and died.
Lets face it a Mutang GT in the hands of a 16 year old is not always a great idea. I would have been fine in it, I have freinds who were dangerous in an Escort.

I still think the best vehicle for new drivers is a full size F-series pickup with a 300 I-6 and a 4-speed, 2wd or 4wd, no A/C, and an am/fm cassette. Why that truck, very little distraction, easy to see out of, safe to the driver in an accident, you feel every bump so you drive slower, the truck ain't overly fast anyway and you will be more aware of what is going on around you.

 

Birdhunter,

I am living proof of your statement. I grew up on a farm and started driving very early, so by the time I got my license I had plenty of experience. My first truck was a 92 f150 with 300 2wd, 5 speed am/fm no cassette and no ac. I had it for two years, no wrecks no tickets. And a very nice truck to have I might add.

and you were right about feeling every bump, it definitely drove like a truck, but I would take it back in a heartbeat

 

I lean to giving kids as much experience in emergency situations as possible. All too often we learn about emergencies when it is too late and when the cost is too high. I also believe that boys at least, will drive in a stupid manner anyway so it is better they know what they are doing before they get to that point.

I am very very lucky. As a teen driver I had many opportunities to drive my car in more than the usual commuting style because I liked driving in a stupid manner, in LA yet, jeez. My first official drivers ed class was driving to LAX on Christmas Eve.

I used to take my car every opportunity up into the local mountains and drive faster than is prudent, I thought I was Ricky Racer with my 74 Datsun truck with fat tires. Fortunately for me, these roads were pretty much deserted and the only person usually at risk was me. Yes the way I drove probably would have been ticketable and not wise, but I learned much about vehicle control and how to control a skid. It would have been better if I learned this in a controlled environment, but I had what I had and did what "came naturally".

A kid growing up in Southern Cal doesn't get much opportunity to learn about skids on ice, but I believe my experience on dirt roads taught me enough that I was easily able to handle driving in blizzard conditions when I was put into those type situations during my business and pleasure travels over the years. I am still puzzled how anyone can skid a car 360 while driving about 20mph on a freeway with relatively dry surfaces, I saw a lady in an RX7 do this once by accident but for the life of me I don't think I could do it if I tried. Guess I think I know plenty about skids and can't figure out how she did it.

My oldest son is now almost 14, my insurance agent is licking his chops. Unfortunately my oldest son is one of those who flusters easily and would probably throw his hands in the air if the car got a little squirrely on him, he did this once on our tractor, what fun. My youngest son is more agressive and will probably present other issues in his driver training.

I would want to send the boys to a professional school where they can learn what a car feels like that is pushing the envelope and how to recover when it exits the envelope. Having these skills has kept me out of mucho trouble and probably alive to boot. The problem is learning these skills in a controlled environment. I believe these schools provide that environment.

Like everything in life, it takes experience. It can be controlled experience or experience from the school of hard knocks. I prefer controlled situations.

Jim Henderson

 

yeah In know that a lot of guys can't wait to get their hands on taht four hundred hp. but that's too much for the bulk of us. It takes a while to learn, but I'm gonna echo birdhunter's argument. Driving is like mechanics, you learn from experience. You can't learn from books, and there are bad drivers in their thirties and good drivers in thier teens. It has to to with how you're matched to the car, experience,confidence, and common sense. Most of the time the teenagers that you see out there are a little heavy on the confidence, and a little light on the common sense, but the only thing that helps this is experience.

I'd rather have a young'an around me than a distracted or geriatric driver, at least the youngan is predictable to some degree. You never know what the other two will do next.

 

haha ur hella funny :P anyways, ive been driving since i was 9 or 10 and i can tell you that ppl need to learn how to drive earlier and by the right ppl... they need a bunch of crappy farm trucks in drivers ed and some beer drinking dad in the passenger seat yelling if u wreck ima beat ur ***.. it worked well for me.. i can still hear my dad after i bumped the disk i was following, boy u do that again ur butts gonna bleed...

Matt

 

I know a few older people that could use a course like that and need it a hell of a lot more then any young person would

 

i hate to say it but i think some people can just drive better than others....i never went to driving school my parents taught me, been drivin since 16 now 20 no wrecks, or tickets. All about being lucky and reflexes, the faster you can assess the situation the faster you can hit those breaks i guess...some people jsut cant drive

 

I agree with that, my first truck was an 83 F-100 2wd with a 300/4spd. I never really had any problems in that truck other than 1-2 speeding tickets, nothing major just the casual kind of speeding. Of course when I bought my next truck, 95 F-150 2wd with a 5.0, thats when I had problems, in the 4 years I owned that truck I would rear end some one every 2 years on the week of my birthday, and I couldn't keep the tread on the tires either. I still love a good burnout, I just know theres a place and time for it, and that's not at every stoplight.

 

I went to a "Skid School" offered at a local driving school. A two hour lecture on the physics of traction and lack thereof, and then we took a beat-up old Neon out on a snowy/icy track they had built. Skid recovery, etc. It was nice to have the opportunity to get constructive critcism from a professional teacher watching me, and I learned a bit. Also, my insurance went down slightly.

My first (and only) truck is a Ranger with a 4-cyl. and a 5-speed. 2wd. Same idea, but enough slower that you have to really learn to read the road conditions ahead (build speed up before hills, etc.) Also, the 2wd has made me VERY good at recovering from skids (some on purpose, some not).

 

Just last night, down the road from me a ways, three local boys all 16 years old were killed when they lost control of thier car at high speed, flipped over and hit a telephone pole. The driver had just gotten his license. Kids need all the guidance you can give them when granting them a serious responsibility like driving a car. Specifically because of instances like this one.