I wonder just how many Octavia RS have been imported / sold in Australia???

**Mysticality** · 27-12-2012, 08:55 PM

A Valium?
Very happy new year!

**zei20t** · 02-01-2013, 09:01 AM

I don't understand, most of us were P platers at one stage in our lives. I guess that depends on age........

**brad** · 02-01-2013, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by zei20t

I don't understand, most of us were P platers at one stage in our lives. I guess that depends on age........

Different times.
When I had my Ps in the late 70s we never would have done half the stuff that P-Platers do now because there were a lot less people & the coppers knew our cars / us & they'd either pull us over & belt us or tell our parents & our parents would belt us.

Cars were slower, much more expensive & the traffic density was much less. Despite the cars being significantly less safe, our level of risk was probably lower than what new drivers face now. My first car had a top speed of 130kph & had razor-blade thin cross-plys on it. I could get it to slide on dry bitumen at 45kph - it was so slow that it was easily corrected.

I never would have contemplated driving with a non-matching tyre on my car like Mysticality did but thought nothing of driving with a belly full of booze.

I find P_Platers are now a lot more aggressive than thety were then

**Rooboy** · 02-01-2013, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by zei20t

I guess that depends on age........

The older we become the better we were...

But seriously, most of what Brad has said is on the mark. The cars were slower, much less safer (even though the speed limits are still the same) and there were far fewer on the roads. As a kid, we could play street cricket without many interruptions but now there are cars on that same street every minute or so even though the number of houses in it hasn't changed much. If P Platers are more aggressive now maybe its just a reflection of the change in general driving habits.

**zei20t** · 02-01-2013, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by Rooboy

The older we become the better we were....

i have to disagree there. you also used present and past tense

i know PLENTY of drivers of middle-age and older that really shouldn't be driving. not because of their age etc, but purely because they are **** drivers.

doesn't matter what age you are, if you're a bad driver, you'll remain a bad driver.

**brad** · 02-01-2013, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by zei20t

i have to disagree there. you also used present and past tense

i know PLENTY of drivers of middle-age and older that really shouldn't be driving. not because of their age etc, but purely because they are **** drivers.

doesn't matter what age you are, if you're a bad driver, you'll remain a bad driver.

Read it again. The use of present & past tense is quite deliberate.

I guess the difference is that us old blokes can quite happily take the p!ss out of ourselves where-as many (not all) young folk are "very, very serious".

**The Speedfighter** · 03-01-2013, 12:00 AM

Just my thoughts here so don't blame me for being honest.

If I see the driving training here compared to what I had to go through back in Holland is just amazing. L-plates?? Is this country serious??? Put every single person in a proper driving school for a minimum of 30 hours (depending on skills).

P-Plates?? Come-on what a joke. If you have done your time in a driving school these rules don't even need to be there.

At the end of the day most (please read carefully here), again MOST (which means not everyone) of the L/P-plates learn their bad driving habits from their parents/care-takers. So obviously they won't know any better then that. What daddy does is what I do attitude.

When I just observe how the majority of the L/P-platers (mostly P) drive its just disgraceful. They have no idea what the impact can be driving 110km/h and suddenly have to brake simply because they didn't learn how to.

My opinion, give everyone the same training as Euro's and the world of driving here will be a lot safer, as proven by a German scientist.

Again, this is just my opinion so please don't go Kiwi on me if I have offended anyone

**brad** · 03-01-2013, 08:35 AM

Speedfighter, fully agree. The level of training & testing in Australia is pretty woeful compared to Northern European countries.

Semi-agree about where people get their bad habits from. I work with a 25yo who only had training from a driving school & he is the scariest driver I've ever had the displeasure to be a passenger with. Keep in mind that driving schools no longer advertise that they teach driving, they now advertise that they will teach you to "pass the test".

My employer sent this guy to a defensive driving course after I refused to go in a vehicle with him & he scored 2 out of 10 at the end of the day - I have no idea what they were scoring but this sounds pretty bad.

On my daily commute on the M5 the majority of nose to tail accidents have an unfortunate p-plater at the rear. They drive too close, don't look far enough up the road (for brakelights) & don't seem to realise that a newish Falcadore or japanese ute will stop a lot quicker than their 15 year old Lancer. I feel sorry for these guys/girls as I assume the car only has TPP insurance & not comprehensive & the car is generally pretty badly damaged.

**zei20t** · 04-01-2013, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by brad

The level of training & testing in Australia is pretty woeful compared to Northern European countries.

if they didn't give a licence to anyone who asked, they wouldn't make as much money, registrations would be down, insurance and green slips would be affected. the government would then have less money to throw around and waste.

im in an area of Sydney where the average driver didn't obtain their licence in Australia, and im not talking about Europe. however, they get them without testing or being able to speak or read English. weird huh?

anyway, why are we talking about this?