Advanced Driver Training?

[Datafunk]

should advanced driver training be enforced?

should it be harder to get your P's/L's?


i think there really is a problem with our drivers...

Dr Mellinghoff, who is on his first visit to Australia, said while the quality of roads here was comparable with those in Germany, the drivers were not.

full article...

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/1 ... 16fer.html


this kind of came up as a result of a talk with a friend who thinks speeding is the blame, where as i think bad driving is, i think of it like this, speeding is a sub heading, where as bad driving is the main heading.

[BarneyGumball]

What do you mean, "harder to get your Ls/Ps"?

[Nimbot2506]

Assuming you need to pass the advanced driver training course then yes it will be harder.

I'm for it.

As cars get faster I believe it should be necassary.

=]

[Scarface.au]

Its already hard enough to get your P's in NSW imo.. Enforced advanced driver training is the way to go Just look at what they do in Finland to get their license

[Mekon]

He said Australian roads also needed to be better managed to introduce a European-style system where slow-moving traffic - including trucks - was confined to the left lane on freeways, freeing up the right lane for high-speed traffic.

''In Germany, it is not allowed for cars to pass on both sides (of slow-moving traffic),'' he said. ''This divides the traffic more or less, with faster driving on the left side and the slower-driving cars on the right side.

''I think there is no difference here. A system that works in Germany will work in Australia the same way.

What, like the existing "Keep Left Unless Overtaking" rule that applies on most freeway/motorways (essentially anywhere the speed limit is 80km/h or over)? The rules already exists - it just needs to be enforced/adhered to more.

Dr Mellinghoff said Australia could also improve its road safety record by lowering all suburban speed limits to 60km/h

I'd like to know what he means by suburban... most built-up areas already have 60km/h speed limits and 50km/h in the suburbs.

''I was very surprised to read on the highway that cyclists have to use the parking shoulder,'' he said.

''In Germany, it is absolutely forbidden for the bicycle to go on the highway. We try to divide the different people, the different partners in the traffic, and it makes it much safer.''

Last I checked, bicycles weren't allowed on freeways/motorways and when they are, they tend to have a bike path. We don't have real "highways" in this country - those roads denoted as "highways" are usually just normal roads.

Did he bother asking anyone before giving an opinion?

Nevermind that fact that Australian road quality is absolute **** compared to German motorways - the road surface here is woeful, we have far fewer lanes than they do (it's fine having people burning up a motorway at 200+ km/h when there are 4-5 lanes... less so when you only have 2-3).

[lanklock]

I'm for them making it compulsory for ALL drivers, not just L's and P's to complete within say, 18 months of the scheme being introduced, and naturally, subsidized.
Pretty much every close call I've had is with people who aren't provisional drivers. Just clowns not paying attention to the road or thinking they can use both lanes of a round-a-bout or freeway at their convenience regardless of what is going on around them.
Hell yes for advanced driver training, and while they are at it make people actually LOOK when they change lanes ffs.

This 'doctor' whilst I agree that we need better driver education I wonder what roads they showed him... Don't think we have many roads that compare to the German Autobahns.

[Tommy Flameseeker]

why not a mandatory advanced driver course for everyone not on their L's/P's?

We may be inexperienced, but we have learned the road rules, which is more than you can say about a lot of drivers on the roads.

Everyone just picks on the easy target. Not saying provisional drivers are perfect, I just see a lot more licensed drivers breaking rules that I do provisional drivers.

[migraine09]

wouldn't speeding be considered bad driving?

[BarneyGumball]

That guy should check out some of the roads around smaller towns. Some of that stuff is absolute trash.

[Scarface.au]

That guy should check out some of the roads around smaller towns. Some of that stuff is absolute trash.

If you saw some of the roads around where I live, you'd be shocked.. Trust me. Not safe for doing more than 80km/h on , yet they have 100km/h limits & people don't know how to DRIVE TO THE CONDITIONS!

[Jeatalong]

Getting a license should involve less log book hours, and more advanced driver training courses, and it should be more expensive to get the license as well. And if you lose your license you have to start from square one again with respect to costs.

Additionally, new car prices need to be reduced to get the unsafe clunkers off the road. There is no need for a car that costs $40k in Europe/US/Japan to cost over $70k here.

After ten years when both of these changes have had time to affect the demographics of the people driving on the road, we should consider raising the limits of some of the major highways.

[steve_rogers42]

Jeats has it right.

Really driver training here isnt too bad, but i'd still wouldnt mind it being compulsory to have to have 48 hours with a certified driving instructor, along with 4-6hrs required to drive at night.

even if it was reduced to 80 or 100 hours (as it was irc) thats plenty to get accustomed and acclimatized to the vehicle.

What is the main killer is the vehicle. Having been in a few cars with mates and the like i have a large dislike toward getting into a car without safety features.

I really dont think they let this dude out of canberra or the middle of sydney, because if he'd driven the length of the GWH, he'd rethink what a 'highway' is in Aus, there is probably better examples, but since its the main thoroughfare from sydney to everything west of the mountains and still has 40-60 zones and not a single normalized speed zone from penrith to lithgow, let alone the fact its two lanes for the majority across the top...
/rant man i hate that road

If anything, i think if you wanted to progress from the car you had to a larger 'restricted' car as such going from red to greens i believe that either ADT or Defensive Driver training should be under taken. Some of the places i have worked had to fight with the RTA inorder to get the restrictions on p-platers lifted due to the vehicles available at where i used to work, (including me)

If they made it an option that a red p-plater could fork out for the driver training along with the costs for the license they could upgrade or obtain a license for a higher powered vehicle, having said this, they would need to prove they could handle the vehicle and pass the courses,
i believe this would lead to safer practices once p-platers move off provisionals and onto full licenses, i've known of three mates that have gotten to full's bought the car they dreamed of and written it off, due mainly to coming unstuck in crazy situations, but considering the difference in cars they moved from/to it was no surprise (one mate went from a 1st gen celica to an XR8 falcon ute... ute is now in two separate pieces...)

i really do believe that for a p-plater there should be a subsidy to purchase a vehicle that meets safety requirements. I think this should be a prerogative, even if it means upping the price of acquiring a license.

[Skorpion]

If you don't have to pay exorbitant amounts of money, then sure, it should be mandatory. Otherwise, no.

[BarneyGumball]

That guy should check out some of the roads around smaller towns. Some of that stuff is absolute trash.

If you saw some of the roads around where I live, you'd be shocked.. Trust me. Not safe for doing more than 80km/h on , yet they have 100km/h limits & people don't know how to DRIVE TO THE CONDITIONS!

I really wish I would be. Outside of my hometown, the highway is littered with potholes and filled potholes (and I don't mean 1 or 2, I mean entire stretches of road that are completely warped out of shape). I don't take my parents Van over 70km/h on that road, it'd probably come loose and roll if it was a windy day.

[Scarface.au]

I really wish I would be. Outside of my hometown, the highway is littered with potholes and filled potholes (and I don't mean 1 or 2, I mean entire stretches of road that are completely warped out of shape). I don't take my parents Van over 70km/h on that road, it'd probably come loose and roll if it was a windy day.

Ah but around here, there are 30-40km stretches of road as you just described. Our council is broke, so no roads are to be fixed any time soon either. Narrow, winding, potholed and completely warped are some words used to describe the road, and also it has a 60km/h stretch which is particularly bad.. not even near a town or anything.

Roads need to be fixed, this German bloke probably only was shown around a city.. where the roads are actually alright