[Mike Gray]

So, are younger drivers more irresponsible? A recent report from the RAC has found that younger drivers are also more likely to be distracted when behind the wheel, e.g. when text messaging. However, the report has also suggested that younger drivers are less likely to drink drive than their older counterparts when driving, especially in their attitudes towards driving under the influence. When people talk about being ‘under the influence’ when driving, the automatic assumption is ‘under the influence of alcohol’. However, research has indicated that for a growing proportion of younger drivers, ‘under the influence’ is more and more likely to mean ‘under the influence of drugs’ than of alcohol:

• 25% of 17-24 year olds have been in a car when the driver was under the influence of drugs
• This figure rises to 29% for 25-34 year olds

So, are younger drivers more irresponsible? A recent report from the RAC has found that younger drivers are also more likely to be distracted when behind the wheel, e.g. when text messaging. However, the report has also suggested that younger drivers are less likely to drink drive than their older counterparts and be more knowledgeable about environmentally friendly driving techniques.

We’d like to know what you think about younger drivers:

• Are younger drivers more irresponsible than their older counterparts?
• Are you surprised by the findings on drink driving?
• How should the growing trend of drug-driving be tackled?
• How should people be educated about environmentally friendly driving techniques?

Please let us know your views by posting your comments below

To read the full article click the link below.
http://www.rac.co.uk/report-on-motor...9/foreward.htm

[smudger]

As far as I know there is no road side test at present for testing drivers for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs?
Until there is, there will be no way of collecting any data on the subject.
As for drunk driving, they have managed, at last, to turn publics attitude against that, where as a few years ago it was, "Ah! bad luck mate" to "serves you right!" and that is a good thing.
Today's youngsters seem to use drugs for recreation, as opposed to us older drivers, who used to use alcohol, in their younger days.
So until a road side test for drugs is in force we will never know the full story.
Cheers, Smudger.

[Rolebama]

I seem to remember an experimental 'breathalyzer' for cannabis smokers, but never heard the outcome. I assume it was scrapped. As for irresponsible younger drivers, I am not sure irresponsible is the right word. That seems to infer that they know what they should be doing, and don't; as opposed to what appears to me to be a lot of misinformed thoughtlessness, as they appear to have no idea of the consequences. I believe that is a bigger problem. This is borne out by some of the threads started on this Forum in terms of questions about clutch control, headlamp use, how accidents are caused (is it my fault?) etc, etc.

[98selitb]

I'm not surprised that drink driving increases with age, as experience breeds complacency and the genuine belief that you are OK to drive even when you are fully aware you are over the limit.

Re: tests for cannabis use...this question may appear stupid, but is cannabis behind the wheel banned simply because of it's illegality or also because it compromises your driving, like alcohol does? I mean, if cannibis were legal, would it still be illegal to smoke it while driving? If so, I don't see why smoking cigarettes why driving is still legal, the dangers of doing so are easy to see on our roads every day.

[Hometune]

This is a complex topic and the survey does not tally with last year's death rate on the roads which was the lowest recorded.
When I was 18 and still at school, only one classmate had his own car and he was restricted by his parents from using it everyday. Today, it seems more and more 17 year olds are able to afford a car. I wonder what proportion of my class would have a car now?
Last night at 11.30pm we were passed in the 20mph speed limit on the town High Street by 3 'boy racers' clearly chasing each other at speed. Each car had 4 young people in it. Incidents like this give rise to irresponsible young drivers.
However, there is a pedestrian crossing on the narrow High Street and close to it is the only cash machine. Time and again drivers park on the zig-zag lines just so they can get some cash. These tend to be older drivers, you know the ones, too bloody idle to walk from the free public car park at the rear of the building society. To me these drivers are just as irresponsible as not only is the crossing compromised, the High Street is reduced to one lane with all the grief that comes from hold ups and giving way.
In my day, drugs were not so readily available but alcohol certainly was. The attitude to drink driving was quite blase then. That attitude has now been turned around but with drugs so easy to obtain, I don't think we are anywhere near making drivers understand the dangers. I am sure those who drug and drive also believe they will be less likely to be detected as there will be no smell on their breath when stopped at the roadside. Until a foolproof test is available I cannot see this changing in the forseeable future.
In summary, I don't think today's drivers are more irresponsible. They are just the same as I was 40 years ago. The only difference now is that there are lots more of them so they have become more noticeable.

[smudger]

Quote 98selitb..... "If so, I don't see why smoking cigarettes why driving is still legal, the dangers of doing so are easy to see on our roads every day."

Geez! don't bring that up, its hard enough finding places where you can smoke as it is?;)

[Rolebama]

Smoking at the wheel came up on another Forum I visiit. It was manifestly obvious that most smokers can manage without taking their eyes off the road, and have their hand off the wheel for less time than some people change gear, check their dials, change their CD, set their air con, and other 'lawful' activities. Unlawful activities were mentioned but discounted.

[Loony]

Originally Posted by smudger879n

As far as I know there is no road side test at present for testing drivers for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs?

There is a sobriety test that is being used now.If you fail it or they beleive you are unfit through drink or drugs they can arrest you and take you to the police station where a doctor could take a blood sample.

[Loony]

Originally Posted by 98selitb

Re: tests for cannabis use...this question may appear stupid, but is cannabis behind the wheel banned simply because of it's illegality or also because it compromises your driving, like alcohol does?.

Its more to do with the effect it could have on your driving. I.e driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

Originally Posted by 98selitb

If so, I don't see why smoking cigarettes while driving is still legal, the dangers of doing so are easy to see on our roads every day.

How are the dangers easy to see?
I use to smoke and did so while driving for 10 years both in my own car and whilst driving the works vehicles.Never once had an accident whilst doing so.

[ficklejade]

Hope the sobriety test doesn't include that darn silly thing of standing on one leg for x seconds - I have a balance problem (medical) - hence not using my pushbike any more and I wobble like mad. ;)

[Loony]

Originally Posted by ficklejade

Hope the sobriety test doesn't include that darn silly thing of standing on one leg for x seconds - I have a balance problem (medical) - hence not using my pushbike any more and I wobble like mad. ;)

It certainly does.That and touching your nose,judging time,pupil size etc.If you had a medical problem and only failed one part of the test i dont think you would have any issues.

[Davie Kerr]

I may be slightly biased against drunk (oops, sorry; "impaired"!) drivers as I'm a retired Policeman, but I'd really like to see a serious clamp-down on ANY driver, irrespective of age, who drives (or even attempts to drive) while impaired by drink or drugs. To the best of my knowledge, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that using drugs, or drinking alcohol, does anyone any good at all when it comes to driving. I really think that impaired driving should be one of those offences where, if there's the slightest suspicion of impairment, the accused should have to prove that (s)he wasn't impaired, instead of the Police having to prove that (s)he was! Mind you, some people will simply never learn. As the old saying goes, "You can't legislate against stupidity!"

[iancrick]

The good, bad and dangerous drivers

Hello,

I have noticed quite a lot of young drivers with other passengers drinking alcohol or smoking drugs in the car, which to me is wrong. It distracts the driver and might make him think about having some drink or in the case of drugs he might as well be somking them himself, as you can sometimes see the smoke coming from the windows.

I learned to drive when I was 20, as my dad used to take us all over and he said before you drive you need to know how a car works, how to fix it (if possible) and mostly you need to know the roads and be able to read a map. I used to help my dad work on his mini & then the ford cortina from a very early age and it paid off well for me, so did reading maps and knowing the roads. He taught me on windy roads like the moors route from Hartlepool to Blackpool, whitby or scarborough. He also always drove with the window slightly open (unless raining) to get fresh air into the car and so you can hear what is happening around you (eg police, engine & tyre noise (you can normally tell if the preasure is correct or type is flat by the road noise). I still do this and check around my motability car every day now (20 years later).

When I did drink in my mid 20's, I would not even drive the car the following day and I only used to either have 1 can or a pint. I do think older drivers are the worst for drink driving, which sometimes their children follow on, as they cannot see a problem.

If the police banned drink drivers and give them a hefty fine (might not be able to buy drink then) and took the drugs and mobile phone off driver caught using them this would be a great deterant (they could send them a printout of there contacts or place all the information from the phone onto a CD).

Yes, I even do an emergency stop once or twice a every year, to see if I can still stop the car in it's own lenght at 30mph (can do it at 35mph). I use a lamppost normally when the roads are really quiet or use a private road.

I take quite a lot of medication for my condition and sometimes it does'nt bother me and others it can make you feel a touch drowsy and in this case I will not drive, as I think of my reactions with other road users and don't think it's worth the risk. Other should be like this and think of others before themselves.

Ian in Hartlepool


In the case of mobile phones, I think young drivers are the most likely to use a bluetooth headset, some middle aged driver also use these, but I always see HGV drivers with phones to their ears. If I can see them nearly everytime I travel on major road, why can't the police.

[Rolebama]

Iancrick asks: 'I can see them nearly everytime I travel on major road, why can't the police.'
I very rarely see a Police car on the road nowadays. I used to see one or two on almost every journey I made, yet now I can go months without seeing one.

[Davie Kerr]

It's the old problem, Rolebama: the Top Brass are trying to get the maximum number of jobs out of the minimum number of Policemen, and, as a result, too many coppers are spending too many hours doing too much superfluous paperwork when they'd be much better employed out on the roads PREVENTING things happening, rather than having to deal with them after they DO happen. I speak from bitter experience here, as I was a Policeman for 36 years!

I'll give you a classic example. I was in a small overseas Police Force (present establishment about 470 to police about 65,000 residents and up to 10,000 visitors in about 22 square miles) for 34 of those 36 years, and we adopted a new shift system back in the early '70s: a full-strength watch in the Traffic Department then consisted of 2 Sgts (one on patrol and one on the Ops Room) and 8 PCs (2 in the Ops Room and 3 double-crewed cars on patrol). 30 years later, so many other little departments and units had sprung up that there were days we couldn't put that many Policemen on patrol for 24 hours, never mind 8! We didn't get much of an increase in establishment, but the number of Policemen actually out on patrol must have diminished by about 40% in those 30 years.

I honestly don't think that things are that much different in any UK Force these days. No matter how man Policemen you have available to go on patrol, let that number equal x, and there will always be at least x+1 extracurricular jobs which absolutely HAVE to be done immediately, if not sooner!

[ficklejade]

I don't know very much about drugs and driving, other than having been given a very graphic illustration of what a certain "non-drowsy" over the counter medicine can result in - so, if I have to take something, I avoid driving or do the driving first and then take it. And the only time I've smoked cannabis (decades ago and in another country) I was so ill, I just wanted to lie down and die!!

Whilst I think some of the observations made are generally accurate - younger drivers having bluetooth mobile equipment for example, whereas the majority of folks I see using their mobiles are older people. I really don't see many younger drivers practising eco-friendly driving though!

[ficklejade]

Originally Posted by Loony

It certainly does.That and touching your nose,judging time,pupil size etc.If you had a medical problem and only failed one part of the test i dont think you would have any issues.

And do you think any pollisman would listen to that? Incidentally, if you have sinusitis (sp?) you can have balance problems as well, plus certain ear infections can have same effect. Great!

[mills705]

Being 20 ill ad my youngsters opinion on this.
Drink- Il never drink or drive. I only drink if im out on a night out and i spend the next day in bed usually recovering and wont go near my car. If im out for a meal, I cant drink alcohol! It just isnt my thing.
Drugs- Dont see the need for them, i get my highs from experiences in life, not something ****.

Phones- Im thankful in that I have 'blue and me' this allows me to have hands free... can control my phone on my steering wheel to pick up and make calls. All with the press of a button. It also doubles as my radio controls so a win with me.
However I think many young people live in fear of the law, they spend hundreds on learning and then thousands on running a car so they want to not spend more money in learning again or their premiums going even higher!

[MK5 GOLF OWNER]

Im 21 today and have been driving just over 2 years, i have never drunk drove nor would i, i think in this day in age, young drivers know the implications of drink driving with accidents, near misses, higher insurance, automatic bans and a criminal record,

back in the day of lets say the 80's there wasnt that many cars on the road so probably less police patrols so older drivers were more inclined to "take the risk" of drink driving and many older drivers today probably still drink drive regularly in comparison to younger drivers.

personally i could never forgive myself if i killed somebody because of the effects of alcohol.

if i have had a skin full the night before i will NOT drive the next day! u may not believe me but i am one of the young ones that really is anti-drink driving, i wont even have a 1/2 of shandy and drive.


in my opinion older drivers are more likely to drink drive than younger ones, and younger ones are probably more inclined to text n drive,

i dont drink drive, use my phone, eat and drive at all so i consider myself rather safe yes :)

[iancrick]

Originally Posted by MK5 GOLF OWNER

Im 21 today and have been driving just over 2 years, i have never drunk drove nor would i, i think in this day in age, young drivers know the implications of drink driving with accidents, near misses, higher insurance, automatic bans and a criminal record,

back in the day of lets say the 80's there wasnt that many cars on the road so probably less police patrols so older drivers were more inclined to "take the risk" of drink driving and many older drivers today probably still drink drive regularly in comparison to younger drivers.

personally i could never forgive myself if i killed somebody because of the effects of alcohol.

if i have had a skin full the night before i will NOT drive the next day! u may not believe me but i am one of the young ones that really is anti-drink driving, i wont even have a 1/2 of shandy and drive.


in my opinion older drivers are more likely to drink drive than younger ones, and younger ones are probably more inclined to text n drive,

i dont drink drive, use my phone, eat and drive at all so i consider myself rather safe yes :)

I am really happy to see someone of your age thinking this way and I would like to thing the vast majority also think the same.

As for texting while driving, I've seen people of all ages doing this and if you see a car driver on a mobile, they always have posh cars like audi, bmw or better. These are the people who can afford the bluetooth fitted to their cars, but cannot even be bothered to purchase a bluetooth headset for £5. I am disabled on benefits and the first thing I got for my bluetooth phone was a headset for £5 and it works fine and means I drive safely (well I hope I do).

You think how I did at your age and I still think the same and I hope you do at 40 (Woops!! did I admit that). I also knew someone who had done Advanced driving and got them to teach me quite a lot, as I could not afford the course at the time and over the years it has paid off well, mainly in winder conditions. I watch cars skidding all over, while I just drive up the roads.

Ish68

[Rolebama]

I do know some of the affects of drug affected drivers. I have been to parties and followed some of them for miles. At 25mph usually. No apparent mirror usage, no indicators, and if tooted, a cheery wave and a smile. Not a care in the world, including their driving.

[smudger]

I must be going to the wrong parties then;)

[baksee]

Distractions / drink and driving

My experiance of younger drivers ( I do come into contact with a lot of younger adults) the findings of the report referred to in Mike Gray's article are bourne out. Younger drivers do seem to have a more responsible attitude to drniking and driving (They don't). There is a minority who flout the law completely but this I suspect is more to do with culture and background rather than age.
Distractions are a different matter. As an experianced older driver I kow that looking away from the road for the shortest of time can be disastrous. Things can happen in the blink of an eye, looking at a mobile phone or Sat Nav for a split second can loose you your no claims bonus - or worse. I have had to really discipline myself not to answer the phone unless I have Bluetooth on. It is not easy - I suspect younger less experianced drivers probably are less aware of how far they can travel even at 30 mph in the time it takes to look at a gadget in your car.(sorry about spelling - I can't find the spell check)

[smudger]

Backsee, I use the Google tool bar, as its got a great spell checker, as well as a good "Auto Fill";)

[baksee]

to Smudge

Thanks for the advice I will use that in future. Baksee

[Snowball]

As with most of these surveys, I take the figures a little tongue in cheek.
For a start, the questioned drivers are a very small percentage for the whole of the UK. There is also the question of whether the answers were always truthful.

If you consider the drivers actually caught, the resultant figures cannot be taken as a benchmark to represent those who do drink/take drugs, because there could be a several times multiplication for the ones who were not caught.