[Newsbot]

Title: 106 teen car crash deaths prompt B.C. coroner to call for licensing review
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2015-02-11 20:26:44
Canadian

[Canadian_Mind]

106 in 10 years really isn't a huge number. infact I'd argue that we should be happy it's that low.

That said, it would be nice to have more formal drivers training. A parent who isn't a good driver isn't going to properly train their children to be a good driver. Make it a part of the school system so that a defensive driver course is required credits.

[andyt]

Agreed. We should copy a country like Germany. Have to be 18 to get a license, and the test is very comprehensive. It includes a freeway portion and being able to demonstrate some knowledge of how a car works. Most parents, even if they're good drivers themselves, aren't going to be good at teaching it. Plus those driver ed cars with the double steering wheels and controls help.

But also, adults should be re-tested periodically. We all pick up bad habits. Or just test those who have many accidents that are judged to be their fault.

[Brenda]

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

106 in 10 years really isn't a huge number. infact I'd argue that we should be happy it's that low.

That said, it would be nice to have more formal drivers training. A parent who isn't a good driver isn't going to properly train their children to be a good driver. Make it a part of the school system so that a defensive driver course is required credits.

I personally think it is the stupidest idea to teach your child yourself, for that reason, but also because children and parents do not really get along at the age of 16, usually.

106 in 10 years is really not that many. But a school program would be good, I think.

$1:

the double steering wheels and controls

Double pedals, right. Double steering wheels... Maybe in Germany, but not in the Netherlands.

[andyt]

I was talking about Canada. Learned in a VW with double wheel. The instructor once used it when I was going to make an unsafe lane change.

[Xort]

The only reform to driving testing and licencing I will support is one that forces all drivers to take and pass to the new standard. I'd be fair, any current driver could challenge the tests but they would need to score 95% or higher on the practical and written tests, or else be required to enter the system at the level of a new driver. After the how ever many year of being a new driver can then go on to try and pass with the more standard 70%.

BC's graduated system of driving licencing is already far too much of a hassle for the quality of drivers it makes.

[ShepherdsDog]

Unlike most kids who grow up in the city, rural kids start learning how to operate motor vehicles at a young age, so by the time they are 16 and going for a driving test, they are a little more familiar with the operation of a vehicle. When I was 13 I was driving(with supervision) a 1 ton grain truck, taking loads from the field back to the farm. I was also using front end loaders, swathers and other farm equipment on my own. I always enjoyed summer vacations when I was younger because I spent them on the family farm. At age 8 and 9 I was being taught how to drive a tractor. By age 10 I was driving the tractor when we were picking up bales....the small square ones were still the norm then.

I also had my own dirt bike and snow machine from age 12. This was the norm for most kids who grew up on farms and in the country.

[Regina]

I learned to drive standard on a 49 Harvester truck on grandpa's farm. I was probably 12 or 13 at the time. No power steering either!
Didn't Saskatchewan (or still do) have a licence that allowed kids to drive at around 14 years old?

[QBall]

You can't can't legislate a ban on stupidity. Some kids are going to do stupid things behind the wheel regardless of the number of PSA's and restrictions you implement. There is no foolproof system. The questions we have to ask is what is in place now reasonable and would the cost to add anything else worth it.

[martin14]

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

106 in 10 years really isn't a huge number. infact I'd argue that we should be happy it's that low.

That said, it would be nice to have more formal drivers training. A parent who isn't a good driver isn't going to properly train their children to be a good driver. Make it a part of the school system so that a defensive driver course is required credits.

All Euro countries are 18 with mandatory course.

Some kids are just stupid.



I learned the best way possible...... on a motorcycle !

After that, driving a car is easy.

Dad put me in the parking lot covered with 4 inches of ice, told me to drive for 3 hours.

Next week went for the test.



I would make all kids spend 2 years on a scooter first, with extra testing.

[Canadian_Mind]

I think 18 is high too start. Frankly, given the geography of this country I think it's important for everyone to be fully able to drive on their own by the time they are 18. I prefer 17 because that gives everyone a year or two to act stupid before alcohol becomes a factor. I know people don't just automatically stop being stupid, some are more dumb than others.

So far as I know, here in Alberta you can still start as a learner at 14, but no matter what you have to do 2 years for your learners until you hit 15. Once you start your learners between 15 and 16, you only have to wait until you are 17 to get your GDL. If you start your learners at your 16th birthday or later, it's 1 year for the learners and 2 years for the GDL. Like I said, I could be wrong. I started my learners process way out in BC, got the "N"/"GDL" equivalent in BC, and finally got my full class 5 in Alberta not to long ago.

Age limits aside, I think having a driver instructor as a paid teacher at the school would be the best plan. It would allow for professional driver training to become accessible to all (costs absorbed by the school system), and the requirement for graduation would ensure that we have competent drivers on the road. You don't pass your driving school, you don't graduate, nor do you get your licence.

I like the idea above of starting kids out on a scooter. Make it an optional summer time "prep" course that ends in kids having their motorcycle licence. Scooters in winter aren't always a great idea.

[Zipperfish]

Globe and Mail Globe and Mail:

The rate in 2013 was 2.9 driver deaths aged 16 to 18 per 100,000 licences compared to 15.5 in the same age range in 2008.

So let me get thois straight: huge drop in teenage lives lost in car crashes, therefore we need massive state intervention?

[Canadian_Mind]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Globe and Mail Globe and Mail:

The rate in 2013 was 2.9 driver deaths aged 16 to 18 per 100,000 licences compared to 15.5 in the same age range in 2008.

So let me get thois straight: huge drop in teenage lives lost in car crashes, therefore we need massive state intervention?

It really feels like the people in question are steering the course towards an outcome where teenage fatalities must be stopped at all cost. I fear this will lead to a situation where people simply aren't allowed a licence anymore.

[Freakinoldguy]

Regina Regina:

I learned to drive standard on a 49 Harvester truck on grandpa's farm. I was probably 12 or 13 at the time. No power steering either!
Didn't Saskatchewan (or still do) have a licence that allowed kids to drive at around 14 years old?

Saskatchewan didn't but Alberta did and it used to piss us off to no end because the kids living there used to rub our faces in it.

It was a learners license and pretty restrictive about where and how you could drive, but still.

Shit I just did a check and they've still got it.

$1:

Class 5 Licence

Permits an operator to drive:


◾A two axle single motor vehicle, excluding a motorcycle

◾A two axle motor vehicle towing a trailer with one or more axles, if the trailer is not equipped with airbrakes

◾A recreational vehicle or any combination of a recreational vehicle and a trailer, if the trailer has not more than two axles and is not equipped with airbrakes

◾A moped

◾Class 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 type vehicles, for learning only

No holder of a Class 5 operator's licence shall operate a motor vehicle:
◾That has a seating capacity of more than 15, while that vehicle is transporting any person in addition to the operator

◾To transport passengers for hire

The minimum learning age is 14.

The minimum licensing age is 16.

Requirements: road test.

Vehicle for road test: any two axle motor vehicle excluding a motorcycle.