Thanks Fox, that was exactly what I am trying to say...
Okay, the fors and against...
Yes its true there are many younger drivers that have the skillz and also have a large degree of common sense, dont drive like morons but
There are a large number exceeding that who have poor observations skills, drive too close, accelerate harder than is safe, go too fast around corners, couldnt counter a skid if their life depended on it (which it often does) and far far worse, show off to other people they have in the car risking their lives as well...
Some of those grow up and continue driving the same way, but many learn, mature and drive more safely... usually after a few accidents...
I myself am not alone in having 3 accidents in my life...
1. traveling too fast on country lanes when lost (only 30mph believe it or not) but the bend I came accross was no more than 15 mph max!!!!
2. Shunting someone up the back at a roundabout pulling out!
3. skidding on a freshly wet road
All of these prior to reaching 22
Since then the only accidents I have had have been non-fault....
The point is that had the guy been in a golf 1.6 he would have been far less likely to have had an accident of this type, and no better or worse off had he managed it... I am sure the golf n-cap ratings far exceed that of an impreza wrx/sti so in a lessor speed accident he would probably have fared better...
Not having had an accident at a young age can equally be put down to luck in a lot of circumstances, as I bet many here who havent had an accident have had some very near misses...
As for the impreza being as safe as houses compared to a golf, I would disagree... on a wet or slippery road, the focussed nature of the car makes it less compliant in a lot of circumstances and far less forgiving than than a much lessor powered golf... You are more likely to be in a high speed situation in an impreza than a 1.6 golf, and speed means things get out of control far more quickly...
If you are gonna drive a car in a spirited manner, then the best place for it is a track, sadly however, many young (and some older ones, usually in BMW's
) drivers think the road is their own personal track and everyone else should just get out of the darn way... They overtake dangerously, and approach bends with 100% commitment, meaning any obstacle or danger they come accross part way around is usually unavoidable...
The Govt stopped younger motorcyclists from riding 150bhp monsters at a young age and this sent many young men onto high performance cars instead... Movies like F&F glamourise street racing and these drivers try to emulate their hero's on the road as they cannot afford to do a track day and be happy with that..
Yes there are exceptions to the rule, like I said in my early posts, some drivers use their cars responsibly on the road, and drive quickly on track days, good on them... but sadly they are a minority compared to the others..
I bet no more than a handful of contributors to this forum can declare a claim free history prior to age 25...
