‘She was using a hair straightener while driving’

I FEAR for my teenage son, who will soon be learning how to drive. Not because of his skill, but because he will be at the mercy at badly behaved older road users, writes Louise Roberts.

YOUNG drivers have always attracted bad press, even back when I was one myself zipping around the ‘burbs in my white hatchback with sheepskin seat covers.

It used to be that older, more experienced motorists traditionally gave P-platers a wide berth, such was the anticipation of them executing a crazy traffic manoeuvre and causing a pile up.

But midlife road rage is the new game being played on our roads with recent research saying that abusing and tailgating inexperienced but law abiding drivers is our new normal.

If we’re not worried enough about drug-soaked music festivals and social media shredding their personalities, there’s the older drivers on the road for our kids to contend with.

A recent NRMA survey revealed 94 per cent of young drivers claim they have been dangerously overtaken and cut off by other motorists driving right behind them.

And this has been while the junior motorists have been behind the wheel at their restricted speed limit. Half said they had been abused, bullied and yelled at for displaying their Ps and sticking to a top speed of 90km/h.

P for picked on.

P-plate drivers report feeling bullied on the roads. Picture: AAP

With this has come calls for a review of learner drivers and P-plater restricted speed limits. In NSW, P1 and learner drivers have a max speed limit of 90km/h which increases to 100km/h when they move up to a P2 licence.

Nearly half of drivers surveyed want them to drive at the posted road speed limit — 100, 110km/h and so on — so they can keep up with the traffic and reduce unsafe overtaking.

But isn’t that the point of restrictive speed limits — giving these kids a chance to get used to driving without feeling like they have to keep up with everyone else?

Sure, it should be expected that they have the necessary skills to pass a driving test but there has to be some concession to the fact that experience only comes with time, practice, and unfortunately, mistakes.

Soon enough my 14-year-old son will be old enough to take the test for his learner driver’s licence.

It occurred to me that he is probably, like most of his pals, already counting the days. So I counted them for myself. And my blood ran cold.

Not because I fear he won’t be a safe, respectful and good driver given the right instruction but because in about 500 days from today he will be at the mercy of the rest of our road users. Suddenly it doesn’t seem nearly long enough.

If, like me, you have to drive to work each morning, then you’ve seen some corkers from older drivers.

In front of me recently was a motorist in a new car, I would gauge 50-plus-years, with her left arm moving continually at awkward angle.

It was 8.15am weekday traffic and stop-start all the way to the Harbour Bridge.

Eventually I realised what she was up to — straightening her locks with a plug-in hair iron, smooth cuticles more important than consideration for her fellow drivers.

According to the stats from the Australian Road Deaths database, in the 12 months to August 2018 the highest rate of road deaths was the 40-64 age group with a figure of 405 followed by 248 deaths in 26-39 years group. The 17-25 age group has a figure of 231 deaths.

L-plates seem to be a beacon for aggression from other drivers on the roads. Picture: iStock

A friend of mine has taught both of her children to drive and witnessed plenty of impatient and aggressive driving as she sat in the passenger seat instructing them. But she was unprepared for just how stupid and dangerous other drivers can be when they see a shiny new L-plate.

It wasn’t long after her eldest got his learner’s permit that they were driving home one night. It was winter, dark and raining and then they came to a very windy part of the road.

Minimal street lights, high rock on one side and a sheer cliff face on the other. There was barely enough room for the two lanes of traffic, one each way.

Out of nowhere came a dark sedan. The driver tailgated her son for a few seconds, flashing his high beams constantly. She reassured her son but the driver pulled out on to the wrong side of the road on a blind corner, crossing double lines to overtake him.

The only saving grace, if you could call it that, was that if things had gone wrong instead of going over the cliff they would have been pushed head-on into a rock wall.

Either way, it was a mindless act of stupidity. It shook them both up, and by the time they limped home, her son was in a state of shock. It took him a long time to feel confident behind the wheel. Six months in fact. He is still on his L-plates and he is almost 20.

We are all road users — and we were all learners once. Those people who are unable to be responsible and patient around young drivers should remember that.

And yes, it is important to recognise that not young drivers are far from perfect.

So when you hit the road today, take a moment to remember that you were once a learner driver yourself. Have some patience, give young drivers the space to build their experience and skills without the pressure of tailgating them, hurling abuse or whizzing past them.

@whatlouthinks

Originally published as ‘She was using a hair straightener while driving’