Petition for power restrictions for new car drivers

[Grahamm]

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38877

Currently there is a tiered system for obtaining a full category 'A' motorcycle entitlement for new riders. As of January 2013 those requirements become stricter still, this presumably is intended to reduce the number of 'Killed or Seriously Injured' motorcyclists on UK roads.

In the interest of equality and road safety the same measure should be applied to new car drivers as novice drivers can currently legally drive a motor car of any horsepower. As motorcars are the cheaper and more preferred option for new drivers surely this inconsistency needs to be addressed.

I propose that new drivers have a cap placed on the size of engine/horse power they are permitted to drive  for a minimum probationary period similar to that found with the motorcycle categories. This year has seen the first rise nationally in KSI numbers in over a decade.

I can certainly support this!

[Fatherbiker]

Done!

[His Dudeness]

even with a 33hp restrictor in bikes still have a better power to weight ratio than most cars.

[Dave48]

Great idea-just signed

[t140]

done

[FuZzBoM]

Not so sure on this.. Car insurance is crazy money these days for young drivers. 19 year old at my work has a 1.6 Honda civic and is paying £3000 to insure it!!
he is rather large and wanted something like a vectra or a mondeo but they wanted even more money to insure.
my point is that if young people want a hot hatch they have to really pay for it.. for a laugh he did an on-line quote for my 3.2 litre vectra and it was £9500... to give a comparison i am 33 years young and pay £500.

If anything i find the older generation is worse. they are the ones who pull out in front of me me most of the time. there is also an old bloke down my local who thinks nothing of having 5 or 6 pints and driving home..

Rant over i can see the point but i will be honest i don't really agree. sorry.

[green_rider]

even with a 33hp restrictor in bikes still have a better power to weight ratio than most cars.

That's true but I'd rather put someone in charge of a 150kg machine instead of a 1200kg one that they feel a lot safer in!

[BBROWN1664]

I am in the unfortunate position that my son has just passed both his car and bike test and at 17 1/2 years old, insuring teh ER-5 he bought was a piece of pi$$ compared to the quotes for his Ford Fiesta 1.25 that is 12 years old!

BHP limits on bikes are easy to enforce but I am not sure it would be possible with a car. I would make everyone ride a bike for 12 months before they are allowed in a car rather than go for a BHP limit on cars. Ultimately it will make them better drivers.

[Grahamm]

my point is that if young people want a hot hatch they have to really pay for it..

Or get their parent to illegally "front" for them by claiming that they are the main driver...

[BBROWN1664]

Graham, when I was looking at insuring my sons car, the cost difference between me and him as the main driver was only £100. I wouldnt put me down as the main driver if I wasnt the main driver but do know people that have had issues.
One persons wife drove the car monday-friday and the son drove the car at weekends only. Son did more miles but over less days. Who is the main driver???

[Fazbaz]

In Scotland recently one guy is in a serious condition and three other guys were hospitalized after two Corsa's collided..... I'm not saying they were either one litre or GTI variants but even if restricting young drivers to 20HP per ton and only allowing one passenger this would probably still have happened.

And what if the driver/s had been 24 ? Would they suddenly have become sensible and should be allowed to drive any power limit as per DAS ?

Just my tuppence worth.

Baz 

[Fazerider]

I suspect the only thing that could be described as powerful about the cars driven by the young drivers I was moaning about recently would have been the in-car entertainment systems.

[FuZzBoM]

my point is that if young people want a hot hatch they have to really pay for it..

Or get their parent to illegally "front" for them by claiming that they are the main driver...

Then the parent is to blame... it is a grey area. it needs to be outlined as to what they deem as a main driver and a named driver..
It just seems to me a miserable old person somewhere has it in for young people wanting to have fun.
I would much rather they were out enjoying a car or bike than gatering outside local shops being a nuisance...

There should be driver education before they even get behind a wheel like they have in some parts of America.

[Grahamm]

One persons wife drove the car monday-friday and the son drove the car at weekends only. Son did more miles but over less days. Who is the main driver???

You'd have to ask an insurance company.

But there have been cases of parents claiming to be the "main driver" of a car that is in an entirely different city where their child is a student. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10241769 for instance.

[Grahamm]

I would much rather they were out enjoying a car or bike than gatering outside local shops being a nuisance...

As opposed to being a nuisance (and, worse, a danger) to others by incompetently or recklessly "enjoying" their car or bike?

[Lawrence]

Pretty pointless imo.  As said already the price of insurance for new drivers is mental making having anything powerful prohibitivly expensive.  Having a low power car doesn't stop you driving like a twat either, 75bhp is still enough to get you to 100mph.  Saying that though my last car was 136bhp but had a 0-60 time of 17 seconds and a top speed of 98... is that too powerful for someone in-experienced?  Just for reference it made a Fiat Seicento with it's 55bhp seem fast 

[Lawrence]

As for size of engine... the aforementioned 136bhp car was a 2.5 litre turbo diesel.  The new Mondeo is supposed to have a 175bhp twin turbo 1.0 litre, so that isn't a very good deciding factor either.  You'd also get round it with a bike engined Mini/Westfield 

[FuZzBoM]

I would much rather they were out enjoying a car or bike than gathering outside local shops being a nuisance...

As opposed to being a nuisance (and, worse, a danger) to others by incompetently or recklessly "enjoying" their car or bike?

Having a power restriction does not change the mentality or the ability of these people though does it..

For me personally i can remember being 17 (just) and being really excited about having my own transport. i just don't think power restriction is the answer. if they do like bikes and limit the power depending on age then people will just wait till they are old enough for a full power license. I know 2 people that did the same for their bikes.

[DryRob]

I've signed it but only because of what I see as inequality between bike and car tests. Whether or not it would have an instant effect on insurance is not important as far as I see it, a generation or so of better new drivers could make roads safer and surely that's more important, it might even reduce premiums (probably not though).

[DILLIGAFF]

Good start, but why stop there? I have always believed that a standard licence should only entitle you to drive vehicles up to a certain size or power.
How about a separate test requirement to drive a 4x4 or large SUV ?
Try and drive through Weybridge when all the little Tarquins and Hermiones are being collected from school and you will be surrounded by mums struggling to get their tanks through gaps wide enough for two London buses.

[Lawrence]

Good start, but why stop there? I have always believed that a standard licence should only entitle you to drive vehicles up to a certain size or power.
How about a separate test requirement to drive a 4x4 or large SUV ?
Try and drive through Weybridge when all the little Tarquins and Hermiones are being collected from school and you will be surrounded by mums struggling to get their tanks through gaps wide enough for two London buses.

That's not because they're driving a 4x4, that's because they can't drive.
 
My Mondeo is longer than a Land Rover Discovery, maybe that should be covered too?  Maybe a basic licence should restrict you to one of these until you pass additional tests to cover bigger engine/physical size/number of seats/number of cupholders.
 
 

[Grahamm]

Having a power restriction does not change the mentality or the ability of these people though does it..

No, but if they have to do another test to demonstrate their ability, maybe they'll remember a bit more of what they learned.

[smithfz]

nah

[Lawrence]

Having a power restriction does not change the mentality or the ability of these people though does it..

No, but if they have to do another test to demonstrate their ability, maybe they'll remember a bit more of what they learned.

They've already done one though, if that isn't good enough then that test needs to be changed rather than add another, optional, test.
Fwiw I drove like a bit of a twat when I first passed my test (like a lot of 18 year olds I guess) and only calmed down when I got a speeding ticket three months later.  Having a 70bhp 1.4 litre car didn't stop me from doing 45 in a 30.

[Grahamm]

They've already done one though, if that isn't good enough then that test needs to be changed rather than add another, optional, test.

The first Test simply demonstrates that you've achieved the *bare minimum* standard to be allowed out on the roads in control of a vehicle, that's it.

And for car drivers, that *is* it, when you can show you can do that bare minimum, there's absolutely no requirement to even demonstrate it again unless you do something sufficiently stupid to get yourself banned and have to do a retest, so you can get into all sorts of bad habits (which you're probably not even aware of), let alone even read a copy of the Highway Code again.

Making the first Test harder isn't really going to make people remember anything more once they've done it, the only thing that will is making them have to demonstrate subsequently that they still know it.