To All,
Do any of you think that the problem may be the nut behind the wheel not rules with more regulation.

R10, I agree.

I'm sure you have all seen this picture before.

A line of youths sitting in a row racing each other on those 'in line' car-racing machines.

They handle almost like the real thing, only, if they go off the track they may crash and loose a few places, but they don't get hurt. No worries they say, cause the guys in front may crash to so I can still win.

Now while this may be lots of fun, the problem is many young drivers today think they know how to handle a car simply because they are 'ace' at these car games or the Xbox or PS.

They then take this newfound talent onto the roads but don't realise, they often start out, not in a 'race car', but rather 'the best car they could afford at the time'.

The result is often serious injury to both themselves and their passengers, or even death.

Now when I was a kid learning to drive, back in the 70's, we drove the best car we could afford, but didn't just assume we could drive. The car racing machines were very poor as well.

I feel there is a definite link between these games and young drivers accident rates.

All......
Foxy, What ?! You mean you lied to me? You're not a Goddess?
I'm shocked and disappointed :-o & :-(

In that case...GO TO YOUR ROOM !

Richie10 Hooray! That's my point ….the question is how do change the attitudes.
Education yep but people ignore that.

My solution by toughening up the enforcement of existing laws and the addition of tachometers on offenders cars for 12 months MIGHT help reprogram for better habits.
Psychology teaches that if a person can practice for 45-60 day on a new (positive) action it can remap the brain create a new automatic habit. This is the basis of much of cognitive behaviour modification techniques.

NASA retrain their astronauts brains to cope with multi tasking by simple exercises which require the subject to read a coded columned instruction/translate it to defined physical and verbal actions.
i.e. A list of jumbled letters which the subject says the letter and simultaneously making leg /arm movements in accordance with the code
e.g

C …... L...... R the subject says “ C “ simultaneously saying raises left leg and right arm

Z...........-........L the subject says “Z” simultaneously saying raises left arm only

K.........L....... - the subject says “K” simultaneously saying raises left leg only etc.
BTW it can be a hoot at parties trying the exercises.

The list repeats all instructions randomly and can be 60 lines long. Once the subject can do these seamlessly for 45-60 days, tests shows that their multitasking skill (reading several dials etc. simultaneously) have increased by up to 60%. and has become an automatic “instinctive” reaction.

My idea is to force miscreants to retrain out of bad habits to new good ones. The key fact here is the longer the training time the stronger is the reprogramming.

Aside: this tends to call into serious doubt the primacy of Yabby's chemical fixed brain instincts(deterministic) argument.

Dear Examanty,

" I come from a tribe of nature worshippers,
pantheists, believers in faeries, forest sprites,
and wood nymphs ... I grow nervous in rooms and
must step outside and touch a tree, or sink my toes
in the dirt, or watch the birds fly by ..."
(Borrowed from the poetry of Al Zolynas).

I don't lie - but I do have a mischievous streak...

Your solutions for mobile traffic violations sounded
a bit complicated - that's why I playfully suggested
going back to the bygone days of the horse and cart.

However, as I stated in my other post - it should
all really begin with better driver education
programmes, regular license testing (at least every
three years for good drivers, and every year for 'bad,'
drivers). 4W-drives in city areas are a nuisance and
an invitation for accidents. It's hard enough for
essential commercial vehicles on the roads - without the
added unnecessary 4W - drives, whose place belongs on
the farm.

I find that most of what is written on this page is absolute garbage and the writers have no idea about road safety. Its pathetic.

The way I see it, if the powers that be insist on handing out licences to all, based on the criteria currently required in all Licence Handbooks, then you all can do nothing but cop it sweet.
Either that, or migrate to the heaviest vehicle you can find and drive like an 18yo and know that you will not be responsible for anything.

Remember that a fair majority of road users have self determined that driving is a right, not a privelige.
Until that attitude changes along with licensing credibility, I wish you all well.

PS. as for the revenue bit.....hello!! Registration and fuel tax was supposed to add to coffers for road maintenance!!

NT

NTeyeball,
I agree it is an attitudinal one now What is your solution to solving the problem?