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
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