Thread: The standard of P-plate drivers getting worse?

Professional driving instruction teaches them how to pass the test. You are quite correct about the minute little details that need to be correct because it is what the examiner will be ticking off a sheet. I taught both my boys how to drive the way my father taught me. Plenty of common sense and regard for everyone around you on the road. Then I sent them off for driving lessons where they learnt a lot of stupid things that were required to pass the test. They both told me straight out that this was the case. By the sound of things, you are teaching yours the correct way. I think that the poor standard you have observed must be due to those drivers only being taught to pass the test. I don't mean to be slamming pro driving instructors here. They're being paid for results and they get them.
On another note, I must say I have lost respect for many truck drivers. When I was growing up I held them in very high esteem and deservedly so. My father was a truckie. These days there just seems to be a lot of car drivers driving trucks, so many speeding aggressive tailgaters.

G'day Dave,
I wish you well on all of this.
Our daughter, not long turned 19 had all the right stuff taught to her whilst learning. I'm a fairly aggressive driver myself, although I have manners and consideration for all other road users, which includes things like looking to see how fast someone is hurtling down the road before pulling out and making them have to brake.
Ours is not a perfect driver, nor is she bad. And most importantly, don't forget what we ourselves were like at that age/experience, although we didn't need the hours behind us that they do now.
Ours has already written off one very nice little Fiesta, now drives a new Focus.
One would think that with that experience under ones belt, one would have learnt something maybe (??).
Hmmm,, na,, still only took just a tad under 3 1/2 hours to get from SE Melb to Wodonga. Having done the trip myself God only knows how many times, I know she's sped, and had no breaks on the way.
I can only imagine how one might feel when it all comes crashing down in a heap, and I dread it.
Unfortuneatly it's all about attitude, and their all taught its their right,, even after its already cost them. How do you change that? If someone can enlighten me, I'm happy to listen.

Totally agree chops but it seems to be the their attitude to everything, last week i had a P plater in a micra or similar matchbox car pull in front of me when i was 3/4 across a roundabout, i just missed him and the little tray ute that was beside had to hit the anchors to avoid a full on T bone.
Little **** was probably too busy listening to his doof doof or trying to look cool to consider the traffic conditions. I have another 8 years till my eldest can go for her license and although i will try to prepare her as much as i can (as you did) i'm still dreading it.
It doesnt help when most other motorists are driving aggressively as well.

Have to agree!
A few days ago my 18 year old niece who has had her "P's" for about 8 months drove us home from a family function. It was a journey of about 150 kays, a few kays of unsealed road and then the remainder along the busy Sturt Highway. Her driving was atrocious, braking late, braking hard, cornering under brakes, one hand on the steering wheel with a laxed grip, complacent, careless, eating an icecream whilst driving, meandering from the rumble strip on the left to the centre line and so it goes! Her driving did not instil any confidence in me what so ever. Her father was sitting in the front along side her and I thought he should pick up on her errors, but then he was her instructor when she was on "L's"
I think driver training should be part of the school curriculim, as it's a much need survival and life skill that most adults will have a need to use almost daily for the remainder of their days on earth!


Cheers, Mick.

She probably caught her bad driving habits off her Dad, Mick, so he's not going to see them as faults.
Many years ago when I was off on a long job overseas I taught the wife to drive.
She failed first time because according to the examiner she shouldn't have changed down through the gears approaching a corner and gave far too long an indication of her intentions.
Apparently she should have rushed up to the corners, banged the foot on the brakes, 4th to 2nd, flick the indicator and round the corner.
My way she risked other motorists running into her and would wear the clutch/gearbox out.
So we called in a professional instructor in, he checked her driving and said it was great, but he would teach her how to pass the test, and she did.
Since then some nearly 40 years have passed with 1 accident with bad damage to the car but luckily no inuries, and a car park incident where another driver caused bad dents/scratching down the side of the car and would have driven off if our daughter hadn't seen him do it......both P platers.
And the stupid examiner on her first test got inducted into the the RTA (Road Traffic Authority) a long defunct forerunner to the WA Traffic Enforcement Group whose driving leaves a lot to be desired.
Bah humbug.
AlanH.

None of this stuff is unique to P plate drivers. It's everywhere on the road. I also think on the highway at least that the trucks are by far the easy ones. In my opinion the ones that are the most dangerous are the oldies who drive insanely slow and have no idea of what's going on around them. The P plate drivers although doing silly things like everybody else generally have a much higher awareness of what happening around them.

And yes, there will be individual counter arguments to any argument.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

None of this stuff is unique to P plate drivers. It's everywhere on the road. I also think on the highway at least that the trucks are by far the easy ones. In my opinion the ones that are the most dangerous are the oldies who drive insanely slow and have no idea of what's going on around them. The P plate drivers although doing silly things like everybody else generally have a much higher awareness of what happening around them.

And yes, there will be individual counter arguments to any argument.

I saw an elderly lady go round a multi lane roundabout out side a major shopping centre (you can imagine the heavy traffic) THE WRONG WAY!! She did not have a clue to the chaos she was causing as she calmly indicated that she was leaving the roundabout after finding the entrance to the Shopping Centre!!

I spend quite a lot of time on the road, and in the past week have had a run in with a P plater, but nothing like the problems with Sydney taxi drivers and the over 70s. The theory that the more practice you get the better you get are blown on these two groups. They seem to think the world doesn't exist outside their vehicle and everyone else must avoid them, not the other way around. I worry more about my kids crossing the road than driving on them.

Mikehzz, I have found truck drivers are much better than they used to be. There were more speeding aggressive tailgaiters twenty years or more ago in my experience.

Jeff