Should we have graded car driving licences in the UK?
First 2 years after test, less than 70 BHP normally aspirated.
2 to 5 years after test up to 120 BHP.
Over 5 years unlimited.
Or would this upset the "celebs".
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It might upset car sales.
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Not really practical. A low BHP car can have high torque :)
Consider the increased cost of administration.
A stupid will remain stupid in any grade.
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Consider the increased cost of administration.
The goverment is good at pointless job creation scemes.
A stupid will remain stupid in any grade.
Very true
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If you look at the reported fatal accidents for young drivers, it seems that most of them are Corsa/Saxo sized anyway, as that's all most can get insured for. I think that insurance costs effectively does much of what you describe.
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I would think the £100,000 + car market is totally irrelevant to the vast majority of the population who are more interested in arriving at their destination in one piece.
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This is already done with motorbikes.
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I agree with it in principle but it can't go off BHP it has to go off other things. I also think its not fair to say x amount of years after passing because many people pass and then don't drive for years afterwards.
It would be fairer to make people take an advanced driving tests for cars over a certain weight (e.g large 4x4s) or a certain power maybe 180bhp. I would imagine there would be an organisation who decides what cars require what test to drive, so a 180bhp small hatch with all the electronic aids you may be able to drive on a normal licence, but a 180bhp with no ABS etc requires an advanced test.
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Would this have prevented young Ronaldo from writing off his brand new Ferrari? Just because you can afford a car doesn't mean you can drive it!
Incidentally, I know the road in question quite well, and can only assume he was giving it some beans in the tunnel to hear the engine note - no other way he could have crashed on a straight, level, road with a 50mph limit, IMO.
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Can someone tell me how you will police it? We can't even keep banned drivers off the roads, what chance of us keeping inexperienced drivers out of powerful cars??!
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me beans in the tunnel to hear the engine note -
Fair dos. I had the loan pf an M5 many moons ago and searched out a tunnel to do the same....
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Fair dos. I had the loan pf an M5 many moons ago and searched out a tunnel to do the same....
As we did not see reports of your acoustic adventure I assume that you -
a, are not a celeb.
b. are an experienced driver.
c. applied some common sense to your fun and games.
d. did not wreck the car.
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>First 2 years after test, less than 70 BHP normally aspirated.
70bhp will still do 100mph plus - sufficient speed to kill and be killed.
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it would be easier to make specific learner cars which everyone had to use for the first 2 years limited to maybe 1000 cc and 60 hp and make them lime green to be noticable then move to orange and a bit more power and so on for the next three years ,another advantage of this is that they could have a flat rate of insurance for new drivers to start with at an affordable price
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How about a probationary licence for th first two years, blanket speed limit of 40mph, (60 on motorways), car to wear "P" plates and a six month ban and retest for any moving traffic offence, unless a more serious penalty applies?
Edited by Old Navy on 09/01/2009 at 22:29
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how about no driving license till you are 21?
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Could be onto something, but I have a feeling it should be more inline with the bike scheme.
Under 21 - 2 years with a max bhp and max power to weight ratio
Over 21 test to be taken in a car exceeding both max bhp and power/weight
Don't like the idea of speed restrictions though, it really is scary tootling along in a 70 when your struggling to make 60.
Also if the learner car had to have more power than the car that the 17 year old passed it half an hour before, would hopefully show that they had some restraint.
Honestly though, is 35 minute drive around a town really enough? the route I was taken on didn't involve a limit higher than 50.
Boris
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......... blanket speed limit of 40mph (60 on motorways)
Most accidents occur within a mile or so of home so a speed limit probably wouldn't help.
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Whatever restrictions were put on new drivers, in the end they have to learn from bitter experience that accidents don't just happen to other people. Whenever I've been involved in an accident I've been honest with myself. I've thought about and analysed the events that took place and worked out how I had managed to get myself involved in the accident. Once I'd done that I could learn how to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Perhaps, after an acident, all drivers should have to go before a panel to discuss the accident to work out how they had become involved.
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Perhaps after an acident all drivers should have to go before a panel to discuss the accident to work out how they had become involved.
snail, i didnt have you down as a wholemeal sandal wearing tree hugging lefty social worker?
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zookeeper, I don't care what you say as long as you don't just ignore me and pretend I don't exist!
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I like the New Zealand ideas - P plates, no driving 11pm-6am, no passengers for first x months, speed restrictions.
And the biggest one of all - hefty penalties including taking the car off them on their second offence.
UK is just a namby-pamby state, terrified that people will cry "human rights". What chance have we got when prison inmates get paid compensation for having to toilet in a bucket!
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GS, New Zealand doesn't have the P - plates, that is Australia, but, having spent some time in Aus, I do approve of their approach, including uncluding unpleasant results for a probationary driver with more than zero blood-alcohol. Both Aus and NZ have random road-blocks where everyone is breath-tested, and a mobile lab on hand if the driver disputes the breath test results.
Aus has 3 years probation, and NZ two years with 6 months off for attending an approved defensive driving course.
Here, driving out-of-hours and with passengers is permitted if the main passenger has held a full licence for at least 2 years. No motorway driving whilst on restricted licence without supervision.
Of course, there are young gentlemen, and more regularly young ladies, who consider that rules are there to be broken.
Police can order instant confiscation of vehicle, regardless of who owns it, for 28 days. Longer requires a court order. One young gentleman actually burgled father's flat whilst Dad was on holiday, and took the keys to the 2-seater Merc to go racing. Got caught. Merc confiscated for 28 days. Dad gets home to no car, and no chance of getting it back before the 28 days expires. Police spokesman said that they declined to get involved in the subsequent family discussions.
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Good idea to have some sort of probationary period. I have also thought about the OP's plan as well but think that it might be a bit too tricky albeit very sensible. In fact I think that both should be brought into force.
My first car was a Volvo 340 which I think had 72bhp. As my parents helped me out a little, they made certain conditions to me buying a car, mainly one that wasn't too speedy and one that was strong. Having driven through a brick wall at least it was strong!
But the best way would be insurance class. I know that this is not perfect but maybe better than the rest. I realise that someone who has been driving for 1 year but does 40,000 miles is likely to be better than someone who has been driving for 3 years but does 4 or 5 k a year.
First couple of years, group 1-3 and progress that way, ending up with group 18-20 after say 12/15 years. I have been driving longer than that but still do not feel the need to have a car in group 18/20 - currently it is group 15 (BMW e39 530dT)
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"I wasn't going fast," he said.
Oh dear. Part of the learning curve:-)
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/783748...m
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First car my son drove after passing his test was a Volvo T5. He never pranged it or (and still hasn't) got any points. His cousin got a Pug 106 - and pranged it after two weeks and got 3 points on his license.
It's not the power but the driver. I would suggest speed limiters, but that's already been a topic of discussion..............
Edited by grumpyscot on 20/01/2009 at 07:49
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I learnt to drive in my Dads 3 litre Granada GXL so I've always been used to powerful cars.
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