So my unlicensed cousin took me for a spin yesterday...

Peño

Peño

Peño

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..and my God, what I fool I was to let him!

And what was our steel rocket responsible for my half hour of terror? Why, a KEWL '99 Nissan Almera of course! A 5-door hatcback, glossed in aged blue and silver, a custom silver gearstick resembling one of T-1000's eyeballs from Terminator 2... oh, and seats that were spruced up to look the part in blue "Sports" cloth. Rather cushy actually.

"So, what kind of experience do you have - how many hours?"

"Oh, I'm pretty good. I've had quite a few lessons. My instructors have said I'm making good progress."

Hmm. Okay. He's avoiding my question but I trust him (known him for 15 years). I guesstimate 10 hours.

He lives just within the M25 near Heathrow. Not of police patrol the roads there and it's mainly quiet town rounds with a few good mini-roundabouts and the M4.

Provisional license (for him)? Check.

MOT? Check.

Tax? Check.

Insurance? Check.

Me being over 21? Check.

Me having held my license for 3 years? Mark.

"L" plates? Mark.

Yes, I know. A bit risky. But after a lot of hesitation, I convinced myself that a 10 minute drive around the roads he's driven before will be fine. Heck, I've already made the 20min drive to his house so my mind was already made!

Seatbelts. Ignition. Biting point.

We're off!

...

Okay, so we're off to a rolling start... literally! Leaving the junction from his house he rolls straight into a right turn, no signs of braking or signal! Okay sure, the roads were clear. I put this down to over confidence and keep my mouth shut.

First mini roundabout. Again, rolls straight into it! Fair enough, we were only doing 20mph and the roads were clear but I'm mentally keeping a record of these little errors.

We enter a busy town road. Okay, he's using his brakes now and more importantly his eyes!

"I'm hungry. Let's go to a drive-thru!"

So we do. McDonald's (ugh!)

But even that was a bit dodgy! He cuts through the exit lane to get to the entrance. Then when we leave the drive-thru, he randomly just stops to fix his wallet keeping cars behind waiting and honking! I tell him to leave that 'til later - it's not important. His driving is. But we sit there for a minute whilst he sorts out his money. :rolleyes:

Straight clear roads - he's doing 20mph in a 40mph limit.

"Come on, put your foot a bit down.. there's a queue of cars behind!"

Windy back town roads, quite a few cars in the opposite direction.. 30mph!

Parked car blocking our path. Car in the opposite direction is reaching the obstruction before us. Cousin speeds up and squeezes in first!

My heart is changing pace as quickly as Eddie Izzard changes sex!

Mini-roundabout. A car is coming in the opposite direction...

"Okay, watch out for that car ahead. Slow down. She might want to turn right."

No reply. IS MY COUSIN EVEN ALIVE IN HIS HEAD?!

Okay, calm down. Relax. I trust him.

The other car signals to turn right, she eyeballs us. Good, at least I know someone's awake! She reaches the roundabout before us.

My cousin rolls into the roundabout straight after, causing the woman to break sharply!

"WHOOA! WHOOA!" (I'm flailing my arms around at this point) "What the French Connection UK are you doing!? I said SLOW DOWN and STOP! That woman had priority!"

As if my cousin had been lounging in Southern France sipping cocktails, he finally wakes up,

"Oh really? I didn't know that. Oh well!"

"What the hell has your instructor been teaching you?!"

"Oh, she's taught me that but I thought I didn't need to do that when I'm with you."

:eek:

We park up back at his house. My heart is still racing. Never has 10 minutes felt so long!

So I beg the question: Had he actually crashed, what would happen? Would anything happen to my license or insurance? Or would he suffer all the consequences?
 
Peño said:
.


"What the hell has your instructor been teaching you?!"

"Oh, she's taught me that but I thought I didn't need to do that when I'm with you."
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enough said ....

bad driving stop them ! or at least put them in a fear stage, so that they are careful because that's just a hideous answer !
 
Peño said:
West Drayton.

Think we stopped off at the drive-thru on the A4.
Click to expand...

I know the one you mean :). Who's his instructor? I don't know whether it's your cousins fault for being a plonker or the instructors for not explaining the rules of the road properly.
 
Lets see, you didn't have the 3 years experience required to be a supervisor and therefore your cousin is considered unsupervised, as a result of this he is not insured to drive that vehicle as he is not complying with the conditions of his driving licence.

Cousin:
LC20 Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence 3-6 points plus a fine of up to £1000
IN10 Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks. 6-8 points plus a fine of up to £5000
Grand total: Up to £6000 fine and 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up. Then if he passes his test and then gets a single penalty point in the first two years he'll have his licence revoked and be reverted back to learner status.

You:
LC24 Causing or permitting LC20 to occur, 3-6 points plus a fine of up to £1000
IN14 Causing or permitting IN10 to occur, 6-8 points plus a fine of up to £5000
Grand total: Up to £6000 fine and 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up.

Good job! :rolleyes:


Edit: IN10 and IN14 also carry a possible ban.
Edit2: Googled some more accurate details and updated the post.
 
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Lum said:
Lets see, you didn't have the 3 years experience required to be a supervisor and therefore your cousin is considered unsupervised, as a result of this he is not insured to drive that vehicle as he is not complying with the conditions of his driving licence.

Cousin:
LC20 Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence 3-6 points plus fine
IN10 Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks. 6-8 points plus fine
Grand total: 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up, if he passes his test and then gets a single penalty point in the first two years he'll have his licence revoked and be reverted back to learner status.

You:
LC24 Causing or permitting LC20 to occur, 3-6 points plus fine
IN14 Causing or permitting LC24 to occur, 6-8 points plus fine
Grand total: 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up.

Good job! :rolleyes:


Edit: IN10 and IN14 may also carry a ban, I can't remember.
Click to expand...

Quick, it's the internet police, HIDE!
 
Meatball said:
I know the one you mean :). Who's his instructor? I don't know whether it's your cousins fault for being a plonker or the instructors for not explaining the rules of the road properly.
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He said he's learning with BSM. In a Peugeot 206. But when I was with them I had a Vauxhall Corsa. In fact, I gather that based on his experience he's either had VERY little hours or there's very little truth in that (assuming BSM only use Vauxhall cars).

Lum said:
Lets see, you didn't have the 3 years experience required to be a supervisor and therefore your cousin is considered unsupervised, as a result of this he is not insured to drive that vehicle as he is not complying with the conditions of his driving licence.

Cousin:
LC20 Driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence 3-6 points plus a fine of up to £1000
IN10 Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks. 6-8 points plus a fine of up to £5000
Grand total: Up to £6000 fine and 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up. Then if he passes his test and then gets a single penalty point in the first two years he'll have his licence revoked and be reverted back to learner status.

You:
LC24 Causing or permitting LC20 to occur, 3-6 points plus a fine of up to £1000
IN14 Causing or permitting IN10 to occur, 6-8 points plus a fine of up to £5000
Grand total: Up to £6000 fine and 9-14 points = possible immediate ban due to totting up.

Good job! :rolleyes:


Edit: IN10 and IN14 also carry a possible ban.
Edit2: Googled some more accurate details and updated the post.
Click to expand...
Wow, very foolish then!

And according to Directgov:
If you want to practise your driving with an accompanying driver, the accompanying driver must be over the age of 21 and must have held (and still hold) a full licence, in the relevant vehicle category, for three years.
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I've held my license for 1 year 3 months but have only been driving for 8 months. I wouldn't consider myself experienced but I would say that I'm a safe driver (no accidents yet - touch wood).

Now that quote from Directgov doesn't refer to experience but the length of time a person has held a licence.

So let's just say I have held a licence for 3 years and he crashed under my supervision. Would the same penalities still apply?

I think that would be a bit harsh. The only thing I'd be able to do is pull on the handbrake and possibly steer him out of danger.
 
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Peño said:
So let's just say I have held a licence for 3 years and he crashed under my supervision. Would the same penalities still apply?

I think that would be a bit harsh. The only thing I'd be able to do is pull on the handbrake and possibly steer him out of danger.
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If you had held your licence for 3 years then you would be a valid supervisor and thus you would have valid insurance on the car (assuming your cousin is still insured on that car)

LC20 and LC24 for no L plates would still apply though as having L plates on the car is a condition of the learner licence. As far as I'm aware it doesn't affect the insurance.
 
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