| Author | Message | ||
     Robert Noel Reddington Frequent User Username: bob_uk Post Number: 62 Registered: 5-2015 |
Every time a younger person drives too fast or whatever. The are calls to make the driving test harder. It doesn't work that way. I remember what I was like. It took a badly damaged car before I realised that speeding etc was bad and I wasn't a racing driver. Smashing a Austin 1100 up certainly impressed my mates not. A friend had skid pan lessons. The idea is to make you a safer driver. But he in the rain used to skid the car on purpose. I think our UK present test is fine. No matter how many times you tell a new young male driver they will still push the limits. Just the same as a five year does push the limits until they get told off. Unfortunately one ends in tears before bedtime and one could be fatal. Fortunately like me and you 99.9% percent got away with it. This just reinforces the young drivers view that they will get away with it. There's no solution to this I just accept that a small percentage are going to come unstuck. RIP. | ||
| Richard Treacy Grand Master Username: richard_treacy Post Number: 3216 Registered: 4-2003 |
Ah yes. The Morris 1100. 1098cc. The A-Series motor was ancient even at the time but it did the job. My father had a new 1100 in 1964 and kept it for about 4 years. It was a great runabout. Hydrolastic suspension and a bit of Moulton thrown in. Disc brakes even. Upgraded to the massive 1275cc 1100S about the time that the Silver Shadow hit the streets. Built at Zetland in inner Sydney alongside the Moke, Austin 1800, Morris Marina and finally the Leyland P76. Yes, the Morris 1100 is an Australian motor car unsurpassed in its class until the Honda Civic came along in about 1973. You could really hoon about on the highway in a Morrie at 80 km/h. | ||
| Richard Treacy Grand Master Username: richard_treacy Post Number: 3217 Registered: 4-2003 |
Of relevance, inexperienced drivers are banned from driving our cars altogether. Have a look below: http://vicroads.redbook.com.au/results/?Ns=p_Make_String|0||p_Family_String|0||p_Badge_String|0||p_Series_String|0||p_NewPrice_Decimal|0&N=2994+4294965112&TabID=2611202&Nne=15#ctl08_p_d_ctl04_ctl02_cboMake=4294965112 | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Frequent User Username: bob_uk Post Number: 69 Registered: 5-2015 |
Before the 1100 I had a Ford Popular Estate with 3 speed and side valve engine 100 E. The Austin 1100 was a revelation. It was a much better car. 85mph. The handling was excellent. Also mpg much better. A rust free example even now would still be a useful run about. I wreaked the car. After that I got a Austin A60 Cambridge which was also a good car. | ||
| richard george yeaman Grand Master Username: richyrich Post Number: 305 Registered: 4-2012 |
my dad had an Austin 1100 and before that he had an Austin A40 he got his moneys worth out of them both some where along the line he had a cross spring ford popular that I shortened when I hit the end of a bridge in fog I was a popular young man for a while after that. Richard. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Frequent User Username: bob_uk Post Number: 74 Registered: 5-2015 |
It takes a wreaked car before one gets to realise that one is not such a good driver as one thought Some make an expensive habit of wreaking cars. I stopped at one car. I sold a very tidy Golf to a young guy and within 6 months he had so many accidents that the car was trashed and the insurance company had cancelled him and refunded part of the premium. Every body told him he was driving to fast. He was scary. I liked the A60 it was such a nice riding robust car. Very reliable. Happy days. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 1631 Registered: 4-2003 |
After being married in 1972, we needed a second car as I was using my car [Ford Falcon XY 351V8 4speed manual GS pack] for work [receiving a car allowance was a great help financially]. I purchased a 1971 Ford Capri XL automatic at University Motor Auctions [Sydney members might remember this company and in my University days, I used to get casual work with them as a "ferry driver" picking up unwanted trade-ins from dealers and driving them back to Camperdown for sale]. The car was fitted with the 1600 GT engine and standard exhaust manifold which was quickly replaced with a set of Lynx extractors. I couldn't afford a set of twin Webers so kept the standard Weber carburettor. Later mods included Michelin XAS tyres and Armstrong Roadholder shock absorbers. The car was a delight to drive, great roadholding and beautifully balanced unlike the nose-heavy V6. We kept the Capri until 1983 when a growing family resulted in the purchase of a Toyota Tarago people mover and the Capri was sold to a young car enthusiast whose father collected and restored Ford vehicles. I last saw the car in the 1990's when it was in a pristine condition; I had treated the body with fish oil when I bought it so the vehicle didn't have the rust problems characteristic of the Capri. Great car and fun to drive that didn't attract attention from the constabulary. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Frequent User Username: bob_uk Post Number: 79 Registered: 5-2015 |
Dave, You are bang on the money with Capris the best Mk1 was the 1600 GT the V6 could be a scary hand full, made it harder to drive fast. The best hatch back Capri I found was the 2.0 litre one. I had a one of these and it went well. The V6 ruined the handling. However a nice MK1 1600 GT is as good as a Mustang in the real world. Its not silly fast. But fast enough for a bit of fun. The Mk1 also looks better than a Mustang. Very good gearbox. Slick. Also the handling although entertaining invited one to push the car hard. Easy to counter steer. Good capris are still at reasonable prices. I suspect that some will cotton on to what good cars the Capris are. | ||
| Jan Forrest Grand Master Username: got_one Post Number: 807 Registered: 1-2008 |
In 1969 I was taught to drive rather than merely pass the test. It was the same a few years later when I went in for HGV training. In both cases I was told by my trainers that my real driver training was now about to commence. As predicted I've learned many times more in the intervening years than before I passed my tests. I think that the universal use of 'P' plates, along with a fully licensed driver in the vehicle at all times, should be adopted and policed assiduously. The %age of new drivers who do not survive their first year is horrendous and could be cut significantly by it. | ||
| Bob Reynolds Prolific User Username: bobreynolds Post Number: 269 Registered: 8-2012 |
It has been shown that the part of the brain that evaluates risks is not fully developed until around the age of 23. Which is one reason why teenagers have more accidents. They are also more prone to showing off in front of their friends and trying to impress the opposite sex. The accident rate could be significantly reduced by raising the minimum driving age to 25. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Frequent User Username: bob_uk Post Number: 95 Registered: 5-2015 |
Sounds about right 23. I remember what I was like. I drove to fast for the conditions. Of course I didn't see it that way. And thats the problem. No amount of P plates others telling them stops kids from driving too fast. However P plates would warn other that the driver is new. I was immortal when I was 18. A motorbike dealer told me he tries very hard to make customers ride with sense. It goes in one ear and out the other. The worse offenders are born again bikers who don't understand how fast a 150 bhp bike is. He tries to get them to buy bikes with less power. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 1639 Registered: 4-2003 |
I do not agree with increasing the age for obtaining a driver's licence but am strongly in favour of reducing the age for starting driver training and increasing the training period to at least 3 years with periodic stringent evaluation tests during this period which have to be passed before moving on to the next stage. The young driver has to be fully aware that a driver's licence is a privilege and not a right and rigorous and thorough testing has to be passed before it is granted. Skid pan and high-speed car control training should be mandatory for all drivers and their driving ability should be retested at regular intervals during their life. I see too many drivers on country roads who are a risk to themselves and everyone else on the road from poor driving and failure to drive to the conditions especially in wet weather. In my case, I was fortunate to start driving at the age of 12 when my grandfather took me out in his new Ford Anglia 105E and taught me how to use the clutch, gears, steering and brakes. His logic was he knew his health was deteriorating and as I spent a lot of time with him, there was a possibility I may have to drive him to get help if he collapsed. Fortunately, this never happened. My next driving experience was at the age of 14 on a friend's parents dairy farm near Gloucester where they had an old 1941 Studebaker truck they used to cart the milk cans from the farm to the road for pick up by the milk factory contractor. The truck was a wreck, no floor, very iffy brakes, crash gearbox, bald tyres and sloppy steering; just the thing to teach me to drive within my capabilities and experience how things quickly go wrong if you are careless. My father being a strict law-abiding man refused to let me drive the family car on private property until I was 16 and he saw me driving the truck on the farm and realised I was a competent driver. I was then allowed to get the car out of the garage, park it on the lawn to wash and polish and then drive it back into the garage. I do not think he ever knew what my grandfather had done and I certainly never mentioned it. I have done a lot of driving in the following years in Australia, the USA and the UK and I estimate I have covered over 2 million kilometres in the past 50 years in a wide range of vehicles ranging from the Anglia to the Corniche and have a claim-free insurance history covering the 46 years I have owned motor vehicles including several classed as high-risk vehicles by the insurer. Yes, I drove fast in the years we had no open road speed limits but always appropriate to the conditions and within my capabilities. My fastest speed was 150mph [240km/hr] in my 1971 Falcon XY 351CID manual GS pack in outback NSW, the engine hydraulic lifters "pumped up" at 6000rpm and the differential ratio gave 25mph/1000rpm so this speed is accurate and not from an optimistic speedometer. I have since slowed down as the years pass and traffic has increased but still enjoy driving good cars on challenging roads but always at speeds appropriate to the conditions where I can stop the car in whatever distance is visible in front of me. IMHO increasing the age for obtaining a licence is going to create more problems than it will solve due to unlicenced inexperienced untrained illegal drivers ignoring the law and having accidents affecting other innocent people. Starting young, applying high training standards, undertaking stringent testing and having the enforcement authorities make correcting poor and inconsiderate driving behaviour a priority instead of enforcing unrealistic speed limits would go a long way to improving driving standards and reduce accidents by reinforcing the possession of a driving licence [and a motor vehicle for that matter] is a privilege that has to be earnt and kept rather than a right that has very few enforced responsibilities other than not "speeding". |
