Reducing Road Deaths

With so many youngsters dying and being horribly injured in car crashes, mostly down to inexperience, over confidence and I suppose the ‘it couldn’t happen to me’ factor; surely television could do more to reduce the dreadful toll.

 Aren´t they doing some scheme where kids get lower insurance if there is CCTV in the car so their parents can check their driving?

The drawback with the competition idea is that they all presumably know how to drive safely, otherwise they wouldn't have passed their test.  It's getting them to drive like that all the time that's the problem!

On Spanish TV news they show the mangled bodies of accident victims on the highway.  They should do that in the UK too.

If my parents had been able to see what went on in my 1968 Triumph Herald at weekends, they would have had a heart attack. And nothing to do with my boy-racer driving

I am still not sure which was the most risky and potentially expensive; the front or the back seat. Rather reminds me of the young lady who asked her doctor which was the best position to adopt when giving birth. He replied; the same as you adopted when you conceived. She asked: "Will I have to have one foot outside of each window then too?'

 Well, I'm doing my best to keep death off the roads.  I've stopped the missus from driving!

i think its a good idea that you cant hire a car in spain till your 21. i dont know anything about young spanish drivers but my 18 year old son when he passed his test in order to get insurance at 2,700 pounds, had to comit to having a trakker in his car fitted so if he moves the car between 11pm and 5am my bank card is charged 60 pounds! and he also had to take his pass plus 6 more hours in a car up and down the m6 into birmingham and back at a cost of 120 pounds. i think this is a good idea it gives them more skills. i wouldnt have been so eager for him to drive so young but he got a fantastic apprenticeship offer at a place where there is no public transport to, so he had to learn.

quote...You could have boys against girls; different age groups, students against students, mums against dads; professionals. Cities could compete against cities, a bit like University Challenge...

Nope, I don't think it would work. As soon as you intrduce an element of competition, all the rules go out of the window. Human nature; I've got to do better than he / she did, oh... bloody hell where did that bus come from...screech of brakes... KERUNCH.

quote...they all presumably know how to drive safely, otherwise they wouldn't have passed their test...

No again unfortunately; they have been taught how to pass the test which is a different thing altogether.

quote...With so many youngsters dying and being horribly injured in car crashes, mostly down to inexperience, over confidence and I suppose the ‘it couldn’t happen to me’ factor; surely television could do more to reduce the dreadful toll...

quote...On Spanish TV news they show the mangled bodies of accident victims on the highway.  They should do that in the UK too...

Totally agree, but wasnt that RoSPA Hard Hitting road safety film made about 5 years ago in Wales banned in the UK because the PC brigade thought it too gory and realistic?

The biggest killer on the road is Complacency;   I'm sure we've all done it at some point, particularly long haul commuters like myself. You drive the same route every day for 15 years, to and from work, 65-70 miles each way (although the distance isnt too relevant) and you arrive at your destination and think I don't remember passing such and such a landmark or waypoint on that trip...and the thought comes into your head  'What was I doing?'

When you mix complacency with inexperience then you have a recipe for disaster, literally 'An accident looking for somewhere to Happen'

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