20 somethings giving advice on the forums

[Del Lardo]

Let me start off with a story....

When I was 18 years old I was driving my fathers Peugeot 306 1.9TD (sans screw mod) and I did some truely stupid things.

Two* that spring to mind are:
1. Doing 80mph in a 30mph residental zone.
2. Going round a corner too fast, writing off two wheel trims and persuading a friend to steal two wheel trims off his neighbour 306 overnight, cycle down to my house and fit them on so I wouldn't get into any trouble.

You may wonder why I'm telling you these things. It's not to clear my concience (I sorted that many years ago) but it's so that as a 20 something I can warn younger drivers of the perils of the road.

In the last couple of days I've seen various threads on the motors forum describing people coming off worse for wear in accidents or young drivers seeking advice on insuring fast cars at a young age. I don't really have a problem with either but when I think back to the driver I was two years ago, let alone seven years ago it does start to worry me slightly.

I currently consider myself to be a fairly safe and considerate driver though to be perfectly honest I'm sure me at 30 years old will disagree. I still cringe at my driving at 22, when I used to tailgate* in a ~1400kg V6 Alfa Romeo, let alone my driving at 18.

I guess my point is that no matter how safe a driver you think you are now your older self will probably judge you as a irresponsible driver. Before you think about braking late for that corner or overtaking that extra car take half a second to consider what you +5 years will think of your decision. Worse case scenario you arrive at you destination 30 seconds later, best case scenario you arrive there alive.

Even at my age I often consider myself imortal, I'd hate for one of you guys or gals to prove me wrong.



*Obviously none of these things happened otherwise I would be a child killer

 

[TripleT]

Completely agree, I look back to my college years and how I drove then and cringe. The past few years I've come on leap and bounds with doing stupid things, I still occasionally do them, but under a lot more "sensible" conditions (if there ever could be a sensible time to do a stupid thing?! )

I had a massive scare when I was following a friend of mine who had just bought a celica, in the car with him was one of my best friends and in the car with me was another good friend. We were driving together but by no means racer, just rather in a hurry (actually we were late for footie ). And well he lost the back end and slide his car sideways and into a car coming the opposite direction, NOT a nice thing to watch I can assure you! That has calmed me down no end, shame it took something like that to do it though.

I have my faults still, e.g. tail-gaiting idiots who do 70mph in MY lane on the motorway But, with experience comes wisdom

 

[Fr0dders]

a couple of fairly early accidents have already taught me those lessons

had 1 accident when trying to overtake when there wasnt a gap
had 1 accident going round a blind bend at normal speed (might have avoided the idiiot on the wrong side had i been going slower)
had 1 accident leaving my braking too late on a wet road

trial by fire maybe, but those few accidents inside 2 years made me grow up rather quickly.

 

[ci_newman]

Well, Ive been driving for 2 1/2 years now..

Although Ive never had a collision with another vehicle, I have done some damn stupid stuff.. i.e.

*Reversing off my driveway, not fully checking behind me, and knocking my neighbours motorbike over (Cue £100 *please dont go through insurance* plee )
*Throwing the car around a corner slightly too fast, realising it went from two lanes into one, with a sodding great big cast iron fence going down the lane i was in (Cue £700 repair bill for the gf's car )
*In my VERY early years, going down a short stretch of dual carriageway, going to move into the left lane and the car drifting right into a 2ft curb (Cue fubar'd wheel bearing on my parents car )
*Taking a bend slightly faster than the car could handle, finding the back end drifting out towards some traffic (I eased off, and the back end snapped back in but if it hadnt )
*Doing a handbrake turn on an unlit road, just in time for a Police-car to come into view (Cue getting a lecture about doing U-turns on a national stretch (I had a clear 2-mile stretch))

As i think about it, Im actually tending to look after my own cars better than others ive driven so far... As a whole, Im a fairly sensible driver... Never break 30 limits, rarely go over 80 on the motorway and NEVER tailgate! My licence is too valuable.. Like all young holigans, I just overstep the line sometimes..

 

[monkeyspank]

warn younger drivers of the perils of the road.

Warn them about drivers like you used to be, more like.

 

[Dogbreath]

Warn them about drivers like you used to be, more like.

Get of your high horse please.

 

[thebrasso]

Driving is a constant learning experience, only had a license just over two years now...so I'm still a relatively new driver.

I know I definitely took stupid risks in the first year or so.

My IAM observer does keep saying that going into hazardous situations too fast is a characteristic of young drivers. I don't think that has changed much but amount of traffic on the roads makes it more dangerous.

I speed, but I'd say I drive more appropriately than I used to.

 

[F355]

Well, Ive been driving for 2 1/2 years now..

Although Ive never had a collision with another vehicle, I have done some damn stupid stuff.. i.e.

*Reversing off my driveway, not fully checking behind me, and knocking my neighbours motorbike over (Cue £100 *please dont go through insurance* plee )
*Throwing the car around a corner slightly too fast, realising it went from two lanes into one, with a sodding great big cast iron fence going down the lane i was in (Cue £700 repair bill for the gf's car
*In my VERY early years, going down a short stretch of dual carriageway, going to move into the left lane and the car drifting right into a 2ft curb (Cue fubar'd wheel bearing on my parents car
*Taking a bend slightly faster than the car could handle, finding the back end drifting out towards some traffic (I eased off, and the back end snapped back in but if it hadnt )
*Doing a handbrake turn on an unlit road, just in time for a Police-car to come into view (Cue getting a lecture about doing U-turns on a national stretch (I had a clear 2-mile stretch))

As i think about it, Im actually tending to look after my own cars better than others ive driven so far... As a whole, Im a fairly sensible driver... Never break 30 limits, rarely go over 80 on the motorway and NEVER tailgate! My licence is too valuable.. Like all young holigans, I just overstep the line sometimes..

You child killer!



I have had some dodgy moments myself. Thankfully my boring car doesn't encourage me to go crazy

 

[Nozzer]

I drive like a granny on the most part. I have had a couple of dodgy overtakes recently that had I left a second or two later could have gone a bit wrong though. This year I'm going to resist overtaking people doing 55 in a 60 zone and put up with them, I think.

Unless there's no other traffic for miles

 

[Coco]

Excessive speed in built up area's is totally totally un-neccessary.
The likelyhood of you causing an accident is very high as well as the chance of being caught & prosecuted.

Save your fun for B-roads, far more rewarding.

 

[Gilly]

I'm a 20-something and haven't ever held back on giving what I thought was sound advice on this forum. Don't think I'm particularly irresponsible on the roads either tbh.

 

[Enfield]

I don't drive fast on the roads, I don't see the point. I'm hoping that I will have a car in time for the trackday at Donnington so I can drive fast.

One of my friends is supposed to be taking me out in his new Golf TDi this week and I'm really dreading it as he drives like a tit.

 

[Brum Man]

Yes I can see where you are coming from, but I think you are making a huge generalisation about all young/old drivers based on how you have developed. How often have you been on the motorway and had some prat in a jag/beamer/merc tailgating you when you have no-where to go, to see that when they drive by they around 40ish?

TBH honest it sounds like you were a boy racer when you were younger, and yes there are a lot out there, but I don't think you can say all young drivers (which is how I am reading this thread, sorry if it's not how it was meant to come across), are bad drivers/drive fast/make bad decisions, I think there are just as many 30+ drivers out there that do the same, but think they know better as they are older.

I had 30 something over take me a couple of weeks ago doing over a ton into a 30 zone!

 

[Third Opinion]

I used to drive fast as a late teen's and early twenties. I would be a hypocrite really to **** off young people in fast cars as I owned a Lancia Delta HF Turbo ie at 18. I am totally embarassed now i'm 32 at the truly stupid things I use to do. Fortunately I never had an accident.

The only thing I would like to add now is that over the last 5/6 years driving has been considered more and more anti-social. When I was 18 an accident was an accident and was treated accordingly. However nowadays if you do have an accident were there are casualties they tend to start a witch hunt and the consequencies are much higher. You read more and more cases of prison terms being given out for motoring offences. Younger drivers are often slapped with the inexperienced or boy racer tag.

I don't know maybe I am just imagining it but I would hate to see anyone go down for a moment of rash thinking.

Drive safe

 

[monkeyspank]

Get of your high horse please.

OK mate, whatever you say. I'm not sure what's being high horsish about pointing out that the "perils of the road" are mostly caused by inconsiderate drivers (which the OP clearly admits he was and, to a lesser extent, still is) and not "the road".

 

[Enfield]

Yes I can see where you are coming from, but I think you are making a huge generalisation about all young/old drivers based on how you have developed. How often have you been on the motorway and had some prat in a jag/beamer/merc tailgating you when you have no-where to go, to see that when they drive by they around 40ish?

TBH honest it sounds like you were a boy racer when you were younger, and yes there are a lot out there, but I don't think you can say all young drivers (which is how I am reading this thread, sorry if it's not how it was meant to come across), are bad drivers/drive fast/make bad decisions, I think there are just as many 30+ drivers out there that do the same, but think they know better as they are older.

I had 30 something over take me a couple of weeks ago doing over a ton into a 30 zone!

I agree with this, not every young person is a boyracer and you don't have to have a fast car to drive like an idiot.

 

[Lashout_UK]

Was going to say, I've never used excess speed or done anything illegal on the roads, or pushed my car to a point where I can't control it.

It's a shame when people do generalise about the young drivers Makes me cringe sometime.

I know where you are coming from though.

2.5 years on the road in my "dangerous, unreliable, unsafe, difficult to drive" classic cars

(I only use that line as someone spouted it to me few days back. Think they might have recovered by now after I shattered their argument )

 

[Hate]

my granddad used to say

"watch out for the idiot behind the car in front"

 

[ajgoodfellow]

I agree

Experience pays dividends

I have done many stupid things in my youth, starting off with spinning off a corner and hitting a tree writing off my Mum's car at 18 (been driving for 6 months or so)

Recently I hit a lampost due to lift off oversteer. Was going around a corner in the wet and thought I should ease off as I was going a little fast - the back end immediately snapped out and I went sideways into a lampost

Just before I thought I was OK as I can control the car when the backend breaks around a roundabout, I don't tailgate, I don't speed in built up areas, etc. Just goes to show that I still have so much to learn

It annoys me when I see people doing far more stupid things than me and getting away with it though!