Thread: I reckon this was unfair

[QUOTE=rick130;1835838]The article has come about as NSW are finally going to change the ridiculous laws we have here re turbo and V8's for P platers to a power to weight ratio as used in Victoria.QUOTE]

This is not correct. Vic used to have a power to weight ratio. It was changed about 4 years ago. It is now a blanket no V8's and no petrol turbos.

What makes this rule ridiculous is that any late model cars, especially a 6 cyl, will leave an old 3.5 Rangie for dead.

Originally Posted by JayBoRover

This kind of amuses me. Most posters are feeling somewhat sorry for the girl but suggesting she should have known it was a V8. So the current rules require the driver to have at least some basic knowledge of what's under the bonnet. Is it a V8 or a Turbo? But even at that simple level it doesn't work out so well and innocent (ignorant?) young people get caught out. So what should we do? I know! We'll make it faaar more complicated by making it ratio of the power and weight. Not only do you now need to know the power, in the correct units, and the weight, also in the correct units, but also to calculate those into a ratio and determine which side of the line your mates, girlfriends, parents car is. Or you could take the easy way out and memorise the list of vehicles that are okay to drive. Or the really lame method of keeping a copy of the list with you at all times and update it each time a manufacturer changes models or spec's.
Continuing to try and legislate for common sense just can't be sustainable. One of these days something will have to give ... maybe when the P-Platers of today become the parents of tomorrow?
Just MHO.
Cheers

A simple solution to all of this would be to apply to cars what they do to motor bikes in Vic. Every model of motor bike under 600 cc is rated by the government for power to weight. If it is deemed ok for an L/P plater it has the letters L.A.M on the rego label. This stands for "Learner Approved Motorcycle"

If you are a P/L plater you just check the label, if it says LAM you can ride it. I do understand that a lot of states no longer have rego labels but this could be a valid reason to bring them back.

As far as driver knowledge goes, that's a good idea....except the Government in NSW just dropped rego. labels for light vehicles.

Fore warned is fore armed. I don't buy this chicks excuse, and what of the dope who tossed her the keys.

Matt.

Ignorance really is bliss for a lot of people when it comes to cars and their running. Until it goes wrong they don't want to know. My inlaws are a classic case in point. Buys a perfectly good second hand rodeo to replace the precious one (that I inherited prior to the disco) and within 18 onths it's needed 2 new autos, head gasket then rebuild, diff, 2 batteries.

Now has a new one, had to spend more than he sold it for just to make it roadworthy enough to sell. And thats with the mechanic that supposed ly has maintained it recently.

Ask himm the engine capacity, no of cylinders, towing capacity (tried towing a new Malibu, all 3+ tons of it) behind a 2.5L rodeo up the hill from Wisemans ferry. That led to the first auto replacement.

Rules are rules.

Originally Posted by rick130

The article has come about as NSW are finally going to change the ridiculous laws we have here re turbo and V8's for P platers to a power to weight ratio as used in Victoria.

As far as I am aware, the power to weight ratio thing for cars was tossed out years ago.

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Kiddies on P's aren't allowed to drive my "high performance" vehicles.
Let's have a look at that in a little more detail.

They can't drive a 101. A V8 that struggles to get to 100km/h.
They can't drive my 100" hybrid. A V8 that struggles to get over 100km/h.
They can't drive my HSV enhanced Commodore with a whopping great 185kw V8.

But....

They can drive a Falcon G series with a 195kw 6cyl.
They can drive a Camry which can reach speeds over 200km/h.

The people making these rules have no Idea of reality. They seem to think the more cylinders, the faster it goes.

Why not just limit the list of cars P/L can drive.
I know there is a list, but it seems to be implied by restriction rather than an explicit list of models makes. I mean that perhaps P drivers are only allowed to drive Ford Fiestas, Holden Astras, Kia Rio and Diahatsu Charades*.
Car companies then lobby and 'buy' the rights to market a P Plate approved car based on safety rating, speed, pw ratio, colour, fuel economy etc. It's a little bit socialist, a little bit left field, but might actually work.

Might reduce youth credit debt as well because the range available would be so narrow, that you know you have to buy car x from an authorised P Plate dealer. Perhaps a scheme where P Plate cars are leased or returned to dealer centres to be cleaned, serviced and on sold/leased.

Ralph

* Hypothetical example list only, not actual list.

Slow learner if she was previously fined for driving a turbo ??

Some sympathy though as the bureaucrats obviously have no idea...I was pi$$ed off for years at having to pay amost DOUBLE the registration fee in SA every year with my V8 County 110 to those with the Isuzu 3.9 four cylinder County. Apparently larger engined vehicles caused more wear and tear on the roads and needed to pay more road tax to the government. The definition of engine size for SA bureaucrats was how many cylinders it had. It annoyed me that the four cylinder Isuzu County not only weighed more than my petrol vehicle but actually had a larger engine! Mind you Toyota and Nissan didn' have V8s then either but had bigger engines in their 4WDs than my little 3.5L!! I would have thought that bigger engined heavier vehicles use more fuel, so put the tax on the fuel, not the vehicle registration.

Mark

Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

Why not just limit the list of cars P/L can drive.
I know there is a list, but it seems to be implied by restriction rather than an explicit list of models makes. I mean that perhaps P drivers are only allowed to drive Ford Fiestas, Holden Astras, Kia Rio and Diahatsu Charades*.
Car companies then lobby and 'buy' the rights to market a P Plate approved car based on safety rating, speed, pw ratio, colour, fuel economy etc. It's a little bit socialist, a little bit left field, but might actually work.

Two problems with that.
1. I will surrender the keys to my Discovery when they manage to pry them from my cold dead hands
2. What happens if they're required to drive a different vehicle for work?

Simple solution.
Remove Turbo/V8 laws.
Set up a website with a database of approved vehicles based on P/W ratios or whatever from factory. Pretty sure there's already a website with a similar list. Hell, make it an App, then you'd have no excuse.
Any engine modifications require an engineering inspection to determine if it still falls within legal limits, if not then no dice.
Increased rego for engine modified P plater vehicles, plenty of advertising about the website, include part of it in the learners theory or something, that way you can't claim ignorance.