License

[brownbox]

Well, as of Thursday, I am now legally allowed to drive a motor vehicle on the road (with a parent in the car aswell ). Tomorow, i will take a place behind the wheel, and practise driving the car back and forth on the lawn and the surrounding paddocks.... I sure hope for my dads sake that he has insurance

6 months, and I will be able to drive all alone...... where the fun begins

[ardypilot]

Getting a driving liscence gives you a lot of freedom and independence. I'm on my restricted at the moment

[pois0n]

Please tell me you're learning in a manual? >.< Automatics seem to breed crapper drivers

[creator2003]

LOL man im 30years and still only have a motorbike licence ,i thought about a month or two back id get my car one ,so i went out brought a BMW and havent driven it since ,
i just hate tests ,now im selling my dearly loved bike, i plan on pushing myself into doing the paper test ... its like only a year for me to my full all together because of age
good luck bb i must get that bit of paper soon,not like i havent been driving for like 20 odd years ,o the good old days on the farm

[Kelburn]

I've decided that I won't get a Drivers license until I have a PPL

[toprob]

LOL man im 30years and still only have a motorbike licence ,i thought about a month or two back id get my car one ,so i went out brought a BMW and havent driven it since ,
i just hate tests ,now im selling my dearly loved bike, i plan on pushing myself into doing the paper test ... its like only a year for me to my full all together because of age
good luck bb i must get that bit of paper soon,not like i havent been driving for like 20 odd years ,o the good old days on the farm

Sounds familiar, except that I didn't learn to drive a car until around 30 -- my wife taught me in her old Morris Minor. She thought the motor bike wasn't suitable when we had our first kid...

[creator2003]

yeah we must be a speical breed of designers ,ian ,yourself and i all have many wonderful free years on bikes ,
nothing beats the freedom of the amount of free passage between cars and parking probs ...
yep it was my kids aswell that really has forced me to let it go ,after pouring $ into over and over ill be very sad to see it go ,but its not like i can fit my mates /family and most most value possesion the puter into the non boot in the bike

i one thing that amazes me the most about alot of these subjects is that alot of us have so much in common other than fsim

[chopper_nut]

Dont want to rain on anybodys parade but the reason that there are as many accidents as there are is because people can drive at 15. I waited till I was 17 to get my learners. Most of my friends got theirs at 15 and all of them have had accidents whereas out of those who waited till later, I think only one has had an accident. Brownbox, I just hope that you learn from somebody who actually has some skill in driving. My old man took me driving on loose metal roads to give me some skid control practice. Its saved my hide a few times now. Advise for new drivers in general, wait till your 17 or older. Just my two cents.

[brownbox]

perhaps for townies this is true, but being on a farm you are around machinery 24/7 which means you are much more familiar with driving

Please tell me you're learning in a manual? >.< Automatics seem to breed crapper drivers

Always a manual Im assuming automatcis are boring, (well atleast they are in racing games...)

Ive just come in for lunch. Just an update, my first attempt resulted in stalling the car and then it rolling 3 metres down the driveway backward....

Ahhh good times

[creator2003]

You have a strong point there ,there is something really wrong in our licencing system here ,at 15 you are aloud to drive a car ,anycar ,any power ,,this is different to the motorcycle ,you are only aloud to ride upto 250cc rating till your on a full licence and there is sperate bits for passengers {pillion or 2up }also you have to prove in the begining that you indeed know would or the basics of riding a bike at a cost of about 150$ before you even do the paper test on the learners ,
a car is just paper- learn and hope you can drive your mums and dads car unless your parents buy you a hyper sport ferrari or worst jap
i think cars licences should be limited to low end cars 1.3ltrs and that the time spent on them should be longer for the younger you are ,
something to do with the frontal lobe not fully grown until 21 and the reaction times and vision of potenchel* hazzards

[brownbox]

brings me back to my speech i did last year about raising the driving age:
Although most people beleive raising the legal driving age to 17, 18 or even 19 is the answer to the high road death toll, think of the inconvenience of this. Imagine, you are 18 years old, about to sit your end of year exams, and your parents have to drive you to school because the driving age was raised to 19. Not a pretty thought...

[ardypilot]

think cars licences should be limited to low end cars 1.3ltrs

You can only get insured in a 2L or under car on your learners I think...

Most of my friends got theirs at 15 and all of them have had accidents

Haha same.

[pois0n]

I got my learners not long after I turned 16, and my restricted not long after turning 17. I really think the defensive driving course should be part of getting your restricted, not after having had your restricted for 6 months. Making people wait till they learn defensive driving is really stupid

I learnt in a 1.3L 1985 Nissan Sunny, it's a beast of a thing 0 - 100kph in what seems like 2 minutes It's pretty good having an old car, it's pretty much invisible to the police

I'd definately support raising the driving age to at least 16, but require you to sit a defensive driving course before getting your learners, and making the first 10 or so hours driving pratice you get be with a qualified instructor. To get the restricted it should be similar, ~2 hours refresher with an instructor and a refresher defensive driving course. I don't think it's just a black and white problem with the driving age, raising the age won't stop stupidity. The only way to fix stupidity is education.

My first 5 driving lessons were with an instructor, and I took 12 months to get my restricted. Unlike most people my age, I've never even come close to having an accident.

Drive safe brownbox

[toprob]

None of my kids have shown any interest in learning to drive, although the youngest has started to talk about it. The oldest decided against it pretty early on, as he always planned to save to go to Europe, and having a car would eat up cash -- I certainly wouldn't give any of them a car. He certainly made the right choice, he was able to save enough in less that 18 months, whereas it might have taken 3 years if he had a car to support.

[ZK-MAT]

I got my car licence when I was 15 in 1985. It was a one off test and theory tick box paper, then straight onto a full licence. There was not the road carnage you get now, however probably in part due to the older, lower powered cars back then. There were no imports, my first car was a Datsun 120Y lol.

My bike licence was a different story. I got my learners in 1996 ... and only recently sat my restricted and full for motorcycles. After 11 years I can now legally ride my 500cc bike

[creator2003]

My bike licence was a different story. I got my learners in 1996 ... and only recently sat my restricted and full for motorcycles. After 11 years I can now legally ride my 500cc

and after all that riding i bet you are a better rider for it too ..i know there is something to this restriction off cc rating to car licences ,it does make alittle sence

[victor_alpha_charlie]

Dont want to rain on anybodys parade but the reason that there are as many accidents as there are is because people can drive at 15. I waited till I was 17 to get my learners. Most of my friends got theirs at 15 and all of them have had accidents whereas out of those who waited till later, I think only one has had an accident. Brownbox, I just hope that you learn from somebody who actually has some skill in driving. My old man took me driving on loose metal roads to give me some skid control practice. Its saved my hide a few times now. Advise for new drivers in general, wait till your 17 or older. Just my two cents. 

This is what I hate about people. Just because I'm 15 and driving a car, It doesn't mean I've done something wrong. It's just those few idiots that have hotted up cars that crash them that ruin it for all of us. I'm on my learners, and as soon as some people see my L (Loser ) plates, they think it gives them the right to pull in front of me, and they still act like it's me who's done something wrong. Just today driving over the Rimutaka hill, I was in a passing lane overtaking a Bike being followed by a corolla, when the corolla pulled out as I was along side them. I tooted at them, Then he had the cheek to give me a one fingered salute! I may have been going faster than them, but the least he could've done was accept he was in the wrong. b*stard It has nothing to do with age, Choppernut, as a few "Learner" drivers prove. All it takes is someone that thinks they are better than they really are to out-drive their ability and lose control. I learned to drive when I was 10-11 in our old Toyota Camry-manual of course- at an area off the road, and reasonably safe. I don't think the driving age should be changed- just maybe the Govt should provide a place for new drivers to learn to drive- off the road. That's what I did, and now my parents are confident in me driving their Merc ML270 CDi/Fiat Stilo Abarth on the road, because I've got far more experience than most kids with parents that won't even let them touch a car until they get they get their license. What would you prefer- A 15/16/17 year old with 0 experience driving on the road, or a 15 year old gaining experience where they can't harm themselves or others. In this case, age has absolutely no effect on driving ability. Meh- never gonna happen is it?


On a more positive note, enjoy your license BB- It's a fantastic thing to have. Just remember- you most probably will never be as good as you think you are- be careful
.


Oh goodness- I sound old..

[victor_alpha_charlie]

think cars licences should be limited to low end cars 1.3ltrs

You can only get insured in a 2L or under car on your learners I think...

Erm- no sorry Trolly. I was driving a 5.7 and I was fully insured. We sold that- I'm down to a 2.7 diesel now

[chopper_nut]

Dont want to rain on anybodys parade but the reason that there are as many accidents as there are is because people can drive at 15. I waited till I was 17 to get my learners. Most of my friends got theirs at 15 and all of them have had accidents whereas out of those who waited till later, I think only one has had an accident. Brownbox, I just hope that you learn from somebody who actually has some skill in driving. My old man took me driving on loose metal roads to give me some skid control practice. Its saved my hide a few times now. Advise for new drivers in general, wait till your 17 or older. Just my two cents. 

This is what I hate about people. Just because I'm 15 and driving a car, It doesn't mean I've done something wrong. It's just those few idiots that have hotted up cars that crash them that ruin it for all of us. I'm on my learners, and as soon as some people see my L (Loser ) plates, they think it gives them the right to pull in front of me, and they still act like it's me who's done something wrong. Just today driving over the Rimutaka hill, I was in a passing lane overtaking a Bike being followed by a corolla, when the corolla pulled out as I was along side them. I tooted at them, Then he had the cheek to give me a one fingered salute! I may have been going faster than them, but the least he could've done was accept he was in the wrong. b*stard It has nothing to do with age, Choppernut, as a few "Learner" drivers prove. All it takes is someone that thinks they are better than they really are to out-drive their ability and lose control. I learned to drive when I was 10-11 in our old Toyota Camry-manual of course- at an area off the road, and reasonably safe. I don't think the driving age should be changed- just maybe the Govt should provide a place for new drivers to learn to drive- off the road. That's what I did, and now my parents are confident in me driving their Merc ML270 CDi/Fiat Stilo Abarth on the road, because I've got far more experience than most kids with parents that won't even let them touch a car until they get they get their license. What would you prefer- A 15/16/17 year old with 0 experience driving on the road, or a 15 year old gaining experience where they can't harm themselves or others. In this case, age has absolutely no effect on driving ability. Meh- never gonna happen is it?


On a more positive note, enjoy your license BB- It's a fantastic thing to have. Just remember- you most probably will never be as good as you think you are- be careful
.


Oh goodness- I sound old..

I think you missed the point of what I was saying. 15 year olds, in general, lack the maturity and intuition to make safe driving decisions. People seem to think that driving is a right they somehow have, its not. It isnt just the hoons in hotted up cars that are causing accidents, true they tend to get the publicity. The hoon issue is a completely different one from the driving age issue. Learner drivers who are 17 or over, in general, are more mature. Sure, they still dont have the experience to be totally safe drivers but they have a bit more intuition, which is a VERY important part of driving. 15 year olds dont have the life experience to have that sort of voice in their head telling them when things may start to go wrong, they use visual cues and by then, in a lot of cases, its too late to correct. You think people are a**holes to you just because you have learner plates on, jeeze, you should see some of the things that I have seen driving around this country. NZ drivers are some of the worst that I have seen, and part of it is down to our low driving age and also the lack of advanced driver training.

[brownbox]

I did it! I went driving! It was very very easy. Within 5 minutes of driving forward on the lawn, backing up, driving forward again, etc. I was ready for driving on the road. It was amazing....

Im going to have lots of fun- once i get some L plates