As you can imagine, the proposals being considered restricting the carrying of passengers by new drivers has got a few feathers ruffled. Here’s a sample from a forum frequented by the very people the restriction is aimed at.
They better not consider such a stupid proposal………..what if I need to take a passenger who isn’t family, plus who is considered family as mine is extensive or how would they even check
Well, there goes my car sharing plan for uni… it’s a ridiculous idea and unless they have everyone’s family trees or something then I’ll just gain a few extra cousins every time I need to go somewhere
Absolutely retarded. How are they even going to enforce this? Stop every driver who looks under 25 and who is carrying a ‘person that doesn’t seem like their family member’?
What an incredibly stupid idea. Some drivers (of any age) will drive badly whether they have passengers or not… Some may even drive better with passengers. What’s to stop young drivers meeting up in separate cars?
To me, it just seems like another excuse for insurers to not pay out.
My thoughts exactly.. if young drivers were THAT bad then surely it’d be better to just increase the driving age?
I’ve noticed that every time one of these stupid laws is thought up, it’s always the idea of the insurers. They only want these laws so that they have more reasons to not pay out.
You see what I mean about modern youth being so readily prepared to break the Law by lying if it suits them?
It is not an excuse for insurers not to pay out – if you’re insured and driving legally, they will pay. Premiums for young drivers are currently so bloody high because insurers are paying out too much and too often – and ever more frequently paying out to the next of kin while the insured driver (and his or her passengers) lies in a morgue somewhere.
If such a ban were imposed, and you flaunted it – that is, broke the Law – then they wouldn’t pay, and it would serve you right. But a significant number of people would abide by the new law, so there would be a benefit that isn’t there at the moment, and that would lead to lower premiums in the longer term.
None of these people ever stops to consider that young drivers often do have the wrong attitude, and this does lead to accidents, many of which are fatal, which does push premiums up. None of them can accept that the most common accidents involve young males, with passengers, at night, on quiet roads, where distraction and arrogance combined with inexperience are the causal factors. None of them can accept this, in spite of the facts.
And finally, the restriction would only be in place for a period of time during which experience would be gained. Unfortunately, whereas inexperience can be fixed in time, arrogance cannot.
If the Law were changed, it would almost certainly not apply to anyone who passed their test even as recently as today! The only people who should be concerned are those who pass once the Law has changed – and there’s no guarantee it will. It’s all just talk at the moment.