34 replies to this topic

[tborvr]

How old was he? What sort of car was he driving? Driver inattention?

I think he was 24. He was in a Toyota Hilux (newish) and he worked for John Holland. Why?

[BMGTZ]

no, no, NO! Get them an old car that's slow and noisy, Teach them to look further ahead than just in front of the bonnet, teach them to cadence brake, teach them to rely on themselves and give them the skills to drive defensively, not to rely on the car to keep them safe!

Look at suv drivers, almost without exception they are terrible, no concept of what is going on around them, or the risk they pose to themselves and others, that cocoon of safety and sound deadening allows them to forget that they are piloting two tonnes of steel. You wouldn't sky dive without checking your equipment, but I'll bet many people (even some on here, who should know better) will just jump in their car without even a glance at the tires. Only when they are halfway down the road might they notice that it "feels odd" because the left rear has gone completely flat whilst they were at the movies (for example).

Ideally give your kids and old rwd car with a tiny gutless engine, no stereo and only one seat. Boys (and some girls) WILL try and spin the wheels, slide the car, push the limits of what it can do - this is ingrained, built in, primeval maybe. When the car loses grip on a bend in the wet, kid A in the old corolla on 175's will be doing ~70km/h, kid B in the "safe" new AWD suv will be doing 120+km/h - who's going to scare themselves and learn a lesson, and who's going to find that the safest car in the world is no match for a tree?

trust me mate i have taught mine to "drive".......my qualification to do so comes from winning 1991 WA drivers championship in WA rallying and 1992 WA class 1 state rally championship. 2nd in WA super-kart 125cc championship......and more but that is not important. what is important is that I have passed on every thing I can about defensive driving and car control. Now the older daughter drives drives a gsr and loves it because...because it is a safe car. Oh and btw champ a corolla will still do 120k into the same corner as you compare above with the suv. Its the will of the person behind the wheel that determines the entry speed not always the the year of the car.

how do i know a rwd corolla will do that.......I won my state rally championship in one

the younger daughter also drives a corolla......very sensibly. her next car will be an AWD with abs and 4 wheel discs. so that she too can have every opportunity I can give her to avoid someone's accident.

there is however a point in your post I 100% agree with...bloody stereo!! they should be made to switch off as soon as the car starts to move. distracted drivers are unsafe.

[AUSVR4]

Teach them to look further ahead than just in front of the bonnet, teach them to cadence brake, teach them to rely on themselves and give them the skills to drive defensively, not to rely on the car to keep them safe!

If the majority of drivers just learned to do the first one, road crashes would plummet!

[jase]

I think he was 24. He was in a Toyota Hilux (newish) and he worked for John Holland. Why?

It's just worth asking, because in this situation, the P plate laws wouldn't have affected sh*t. There has been no government initiative that would have stopped this dude's death. Sad. Instead they just spend loads of money on misdirected laws and advertising campaigns.

If the majority of drivers just learned to do the first one, road crashes would plummet!

Yep, instead we are forced to stare at our speedo all the time, for fear of being pinged for doing "about 60".

[Qik-1.8]

wow i'm speechless

[D3bb4]

how bout people knowing/following the road rules too?

some guy pulled out of a side street and almost collected the car infront of me this morning, even though he had no right of way at all! thank god I didn't go past, coz 2mins later later, sitting in traffic, the retard was stuffing around in his automatic car, took his foot off the brake, and gradually rolled into the car infront!!!!!!!!!!

Some people are just too dumb to be on the road.

[AUSVR4]

True Jase but if you're looking ahead enough you'd see the camera car and then be able to adjust the speed accordingly

[D3bb4]

not if you're in traffic, or if they're hidden on the side amoungst trees as they often are.

[jase]

True Jase but if you're looking ahead enough you'd see the camera car and then be able to adjust the speed accordingly

I think the whole mindset has just changed. Speed limits used to be a guideline. If you were blatantly speeding, you'd get done, but the whole idea was to remind people that they shouldn't be going too fast (or that they can go fast) on that road.

Now it's a hard rule, meaning people have lost that ability to think for themselves and make their own decision on how fast they can go.

So when it's pissing down with rain and there is a cyclist on the left, a wide load semi trailer in the right lane and a roundabout coming up, yet the sign says 60, they will be sitting on 60, not realising that they almost clipped the cyclist and that the truck now has 3 metres less stopping space before the roundabout.

The common sense has gone. It went with the addition of more rules. The more you add rules, the less people are able to make logical decisions for themselves.. They don't have to anymore - they have the rules to tell them from right and wrong.

[Jonson]

^^ good post.

[something_wild]

dang.....that's intense as!!

Really makes you sit back and think that every dollar we spend on our cars to make them that bit better all amounts to nothing if we don't take care when we get back behind the wheel of them, especially if we are inclined to 'test' them on the road......

I certainly won't be pushing things too much after seeing this.

[VR42LT]

I certainly won't be pushing things too much after seeing this.

+1

Very good post.

[tritondan]

I could only do the first 25 seconds, with little kids in it and all.

Just a good reality check.

[JiMi]

good post.. makes you feel queasy...

having lost 2 friends to car accidents i am already aware of the horror of the road but this would do wonders for the peole with the "it cant happen to me attitude"

j

[Entaran]

Sorry for the seriously graphic nature, i just thought that the video was so intense that it really needed to be circulated. If all it stops is one guy losing his life to a stupid moment (like pulling out blind from behind a truck) then linking it is worth it.

Of course you can never prove it happened because nobody can see the future but it's possible and therefore worth trying for.