Ontario governenment is screwing drivers once again

[Ryan]

I guess I agree, there's enough s--- heads out there to out weighs the responsible ones.... But we all have to suffer because the barrel is mostly bad apples? Still sucks.

My risky driving habits? Testing my limits.
I do it alone, with no one on the roads.
I never drive like an idiot in town.
I test things on gravel, on deserted streets, and such... I'm teaching myself some things. I don't speed
I don't run lights
I DO roll stops (but I live in MB, I can see several miles in every direction)
I don't get egged on by others
I don't drink
I do tend to underestimate situations, but I haven't paid for it yet. I've parked cars at Mazda for nearly a year now and still have never even scraped anything. (says more than my buddy that nearly wrote off a car while parking it) I have seen only a few close calls.
I don't overestimate my abilites, but I don't underestimate them either. This is why I experiment, to see exactly what I can and can't do.
I absolutely always wear my seatbelt (I drive across a parking lot from Mazda to get gas)
I have a habit of hovering over the brake while clutching.
I feel my skills are adequate... Time will judge that.

The only stereotype I agree with, is experience. Which leaves me at a disadvantage when it comes to risk perception (maybe) and the hazard detection one.

I think we could argue about this all week, but the bottom line is, I think, that there are MORE bad teen drivers out there than good ones, and even the good ones aren't perfect. Older risky (maybe overconfident with their experience?) drivers are mainly ignored.

I wonder, if, say, teens are 60% of the problem. It seems they focus 100% of their energy on 60% of the problem. I'm sure these statistics are per capita, meaning that for all the drivers between 16-20, they are 75% dangerous, while for the rest of the driving population, say, 20-70 year olds (in the middle of the baby boomers, yet, too) are 35% dangerous. On a non-percent basis, would it be a stretch to think that there are numerically more dangerous adults, as the age range is greater? (Not to mention many got licenses by handing a 20 to the instructor)

Maybe I'm just bitter.

[Mad Cow]

wytbishop, there's one glaring oversight to that data, where are the same statistics for all other drivers? I don't feel like researching it more, but that fact that they don't have any comparisons seems fishy.

And Ryan, I completely forgot about that point. The Ontario government is guilty of this. Just like how they used pretty much all of their available resources to crack down on street racing, which as it turns out caused somewhere around 10% (if not that, then still a really low number) of total deaths and crashes. Now when two cars are beside each other going faster than everyone else they can both get charged with street racing. So they make incredibly unfair and strict laws to combat something that isn't even a big problem in the first place.

I would think that there actually are more dangerous adults simply because of their numbers, but hey, it's much easier to target teens.

[Ryan]

Maybe intimidation is thier plan? Keep is in check by scaring us. I know cops are guilty of that.

I do agree its a good idea to target teens, since you can't teach old dogs new tricks Just I wish they did it differently...

[wytbishop]

From the site I referenced...

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/more_btn6 ... raffic.htm#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

statistically, teen drivers have more accidents and are cited more often than the average of all drivers. If you read a little more on that page, you'll get the jist of it.

[Mad Cow]

Even if they are right about the problem, which I still feel they are not, I think that their method is idiotic. If teen g2 drivers aren't allowed more than 1 passenger, they'll drive much less often, sometimes even rarely (some of my friends pretty much only drive when they're taking us somewhere). If they want teen drivers to have more experience, let them drive without some crazy restrictions. And another thing I don't understand is why this 1 passenger limit is only applied to teen drivers, if passengers are a distraction, then what difference does age make if experience is still the same? In my opinion, this proposal is full of holes, just like the rest of the HTA.

[tehbrookzorz]

So give me your solution, let's say you are the governing body, you face public outcry from citizens concerned about the safety of themselves and loved ones threatened by dangerous drivers. What do you do?

[Mad Cow]

I'm no government official obviously, and I can't think up of a solution right on the spot anyway. But I would probably tell them to get stuffed, kindly. There's nothing that fair and non-discriminatory laws and legislation can do to prevent people from being idiots. I would probably spend money into educating youths about the dangers of drinking, speeding, etc, instead of making them targets and deterring them by intimidation.

And the more I read about this, the more ridiculous it gets, apparently, according to a few news sources, this legislation was spurned by 2 individuals. One of them, a father, had a teenage son with a few tickets under his belt, who sadly died in a car accident. The father blamed this on the government, saying that his son wouldn't have been able to drive, and consequently crash, if he had his license suspended from speeding multiple times. Because it's clear that the government should be taking care of his son, not him, just because he's a father doesn't mean that he has to control his son, and obviously nobody drives with a suspended license anyway.

The other one is also a father of a teenager that died in a car accident. Except this time the teen was driving with 3 friends at night, during a snowstorm, drunk, and crashed. The father blamed this on the fact that he had passengers. Of course it doesn't matter that the driver was drunk and probably couldn't even see where he was going.

Ok, I think I'm done with the sarcasm, you all probably get my point by now.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Damn this thread exploded!

Politically speaking...As I said earlier, I'm sure you are a good driver, but the current teenage generation as a whole is showing me every day that they don't have enough respect for themselves or most anyone else. That has nothing to do with driving. I'm talking about basic everyday courtesy and common sense. Again I'm not talking about you...I'm talking about the 13 - 18 year old population as a whole. Now I'm pretty forgiving...being as I'm such a cool guy...but you get into the age group of those who control the making of laws and yeah, you're really pissing some people off. They retaliate by exercising their law making powers. That's the way the world has and will always work.

Ya, I compeltely agree! This new generation really has a problem.

And the more I read about this, the more ridiculous it gets, apparently, according to a few news sources, this legislation was spurned by 2 individuals. One of them, a father, had a teenage son with a few tickets under his belt, who sadly died in a car accident. The father blamed this on the government, saying that his son wouldn't have been able to drive, and consequently crash, if he had his license suspended from speeding multiple times. Because it's clear that the government should be taking care of his son, not him, just because he's a father doesn't mean that he has to control his son, and obviously nobody drives with a suspended license anyway.

The other one is also a father of a teenager that died in a car accident. Except this time the teen was driving with 3 friends at night, during a snowstorm, drunk, and crashed. The father blamed this on the fact that he had passengers. Of course it doesn't matter that the driver was drunk and probably couldn't even see where he was going.

Ok, I think I'm done with the sarcasm, you all probably get my point by now.

You're right on that too. It seems most parents don't want to be responsible nor control their kids. It's sad, but kids are out of control, they think they can do whatever they want and aren't accountable for their actions. And than you've got the parents, who've raised these kids with that attitude, and even the parents don't want to be responsible OR accountable for the actions of their own kids...you know, actual do what they refer to as parenting. So with both the parents and kids out of control, the only real thing to actually make sure things are being done right, is for the government to step in and make laws to keep them in line, since they can't take care of themselves.

[tehbrookzorz]

Sounds like we all need to watch Mary Poppins again and absorb the message.

[Nd4SpdSe]

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?

[Ryan]

I was thinking "Just a teaspoon of sugar..."

[Mad Cow]

Damn this thread exploded!

Politically speaking...As I said earlier, I'm sure you are a good driver, but the current teenage generation as a whole is showing me every day that they don't have enough respect for themselves or most anyone else. That has nothing to do with driving. I'm talking about basic everyday courtesy and common sense. Again I'm not talking about you...I'm talking about the 13 - 18 year old population as a whole. Now I'm pretty forgiving...being as I'm such a cool guy...but you get into the age group of those who control the making of laws and yeah, you're really pissing some people off. They retaliate by exercising their law making powers. That's the way the world has and will always work.

Ya, I compeltely agree! This new generation really has a problem.

And the more I read about this, the more ridiculous it gets, apparently, according to a few news sources, this legislation was spurned by 2 individuals. One of them, a father, had a teenage son with a few tickets under his belt, who sadly died in a car accident. The father blamed this on the government, saying that his son wouldn't have been able to drive, and consequently crash, if he had his license suspended from speeding multiple times. Because it's clear that the government should be taking care of his son, not him, just because he's a father doesn't mean that he has to control his son, and obviously nobody drives with a suspended license anyway.

The other one is also a father of a teenager that died in a car accident. Except this time the teen was driving with 3 friends at night, during a snowstorm, drunk, and crashed. The father blamed this on the fact that he had passengers. Of course it doesn't matter that the driver was drunk and probably couldn't even see where he was going.

Ok, I think I'm done with the sarcasm, you all probably get my point by now.

You're right on that too. It seems most parents don't want to be responsible nor control their kids. It's sad, but kids are out of control, they think they can do whatever they want and aren't accountable for their actions. And than you've got the parents, who've raised these kids with that attitude, and even the parents don't want to be responsible OR accountable for the actions of their own kids...you know, actual do what they refer to as parenting. So with both the parents and kids out of control, the only real thing to actually make sure things are being done right, is for the government to step in and make laws to keep them in line, since they can't take care of themselves.

I agree with everything but government intervention, it's just incredibly unfair for everybody else. Laws are supposed to be just and fair, these are not.

I know this probably sounds really weird, but I hate the average teenager. Almost all of them need to grow up and learn some respect and common sense.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I agree with everything but government intervention, it's just incredibly unfair for everybody else. Laws are supposed to be just and fair, these are not.

I know this probably sounds really weird, but I hate the average teenager. Almost all of them need to grow up and learn some respect and common sense.

You kinda just contradicted yourself there, but in a sence you are right, laws are suppose to be just and fair, however, being fair take a back-seat when it comes to public safety.

Yes, teenagers and young adults all over Ontario will b---- and complain about those laws, and they are a bit strict, but when they grow up and MAYBE get a head on their shoulders, they'll see it's for the best

[Mad Cow]

I don't like how they act, but I don't believe they're as big of a problem as most believe. I'm fine with everything but the passenger and 3 strike limit. Is it really fair that you get your license suspended for 30 days if you get stopped doing 120 on the freeway like everybody else? The government is giving cops too much power, while some cops will still be fair, others will abuse it. That's what I don't like most of all.

[Ryan]

Mad Cow, I hate to tell you this, but you are comming off a little too strong for any of these guys to respect you.