Onan The Barbarian

Just reading about the fatal crash in Colchester

Some of the comments below suggest that the combination of powerful car and inexperience could be partly to blame

Do you think you can be too young to drive a Scoob?

ice maiden

I have an 18 year old son, and we insured him on the car for 1 day for his 18th....

he said it was far to powerful and he would deffo lose control of it.....now this is from a lad who has a 1.4si corsa fully body kitted who loves speed.

so my feelings are yes.....youngsters deffo shouldnt have them

GC8

You can lack the required ability, experience and the maturity: age isnt necessarily a factor.

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

You can be too young to drive any car if you're irresponsible where speed and attitude towards other road users is concerned. A 200+ BHP car will exaggerate any deficiencies in that driver.

samcowrx

i believe that you definately have to be a mature driver, not just in driving attitude, but in respect for others, and not too reckless which does come with younger age, it does not matter how well these cars handle you can lose it quite easily if you dont know what you are doing.

Kennyf

I think its a common sense thing , its like going form a fwd to rwd , you need to learn and adjust to that style of driving , its the same with "big" power . That said tho , I doubt when I was 18 (back in nam) I would have had the patience and the ego factor would have come into play but thats not say a more mature 18 would be the same.

In short I think it depends on the individual concerned and the're level of maturity.

easyscoob

shut up dads
ive seen old people in beemers and mercs driving like n o b s prob a lot worse than what we do it's like saying young people cant handle drink or are more likely to do drugs etc etc ive worked hard for my 54 wrx and 06 sti so i do what i like

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

Not saying i am safe now , but....


If i had, had my car when i was 18/19/20. either myself or someone else would prob have been killed.

Not saying that there are not ANY kids of that age that would be be sensible enough, but most would not im afraid.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

How old are you?

~DrEaM~

agree with that
not all ''yong drivers'' gives bad name. its all about experience and respect for others on the road.

i have had scoobies since i was 19.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

ive been driving 9 months, and had three scoobs, and a runaround pug, which im selling. ive had to mature very quickly to the fact i drive a car capable of beating and out handling most others in a reasonable price catagory, but thats not to say the guy behind the wheel has the ability to match the cars. hence if i do let go and give her some grunt, its usually dry, in a straight line, with a well assessed look around and clean road. if you get where im coming from.

i wouldnt be without my scoob now, when i went nearly two months without one, my overall mood changed, and i wasnt anywhere near as happy as usual. everybody around me noticed this, and commemnted that there was that "spark" not shining on me, until i got my current car.

pslewis

35 years and above .... there should be a law against kiddies who are younger having these cars - they simply cannot handle them!

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I'm not going to comment on the accident as I don't have the facts at my disposal. My condolences to those affected.

I will, however, simply say that I know 40 year olds that are "too young" to drive a high performance car. It's about temprement, attitude, maturity and sound judgement.

Unfortunately, there are more folks, men in particular, who simply do not have the above qualities at 18 than there are at 38.

IMHO You should not be eligble to drive a high perfomance car before you've gained some good experience in a less powerful car and proved you can be trusted.

Ns04

ru'

I think this is probably true though, statistically... It doesn't mean that old people can handle their booze or are not likely to do drugs at all however.

Don't feel bad 'cos you're young; you'll get old soon enough!

Onan The Barbarian

You silly auld trout

redragon

gotta agree with that

speedymonkey

i satarted with a 1.2 nova, then a 1.4 306, to a 1.8 sxi 16v, then to a scoob, and im still getting to grips with it

I believe if i would of had this sort of power when i was younger, i would probably of rapped it round a tree if not killing myself first.

I think its important to progress slowely and build experience and confidence over years of driving. I had a couple of bumps, and some silly moments behind the wheel when 18-19, when constantly battering the poor car for every bit of bhp

As ive got older i realise i dont need to drive like that anymore cos the power is there if and when i need it, so 99% of the time i actually drive safely and with care and attention, dont get me wrong tho i still like to push it occasionally, but only when its safe to do so and theres no one else in the car/ near me on the road, where as if i was 18 i think i'd of pushed it past its limit daily

sandycam

iTrader: (1)

all down to the individual imho. Just cause they have a fast car when their young doesn't make them a "racer" maybe they just enjoy driving even in this day and age of everyone trying to put them off (politics, taxes, green pee-ce )?
I had a scoob when i was 19 and never wrapped it but had plenty of mates that had 1.0l corsas and the like and still managed to write them off. Just because you have the eqipment doesn't mean you'll do the job? Heard a joke yesterday and the jist of it was..
woman tells man your giving them a gun, your equipping them for murder,
man says your equipped with attractive bits but your not a hooker!

Blueblaster

This quote answers the question perfectly. The idiot who made it probably still lives with his parents and therefore doesn't have real world living costs. High insurance premiums make no difference to him. His response to the original question was basically, "I can afford it, there are lots of older bad drivers on the road so I should be able to do what I f£$%ing well like". Well that's great. I bet every one of us on this site has realised that as we have gotten older and more experienced we have, in the past, done some pretty stupid things in our cars. Fortunately, we have got away with them. For many of us this was probably down to the fact we were driving a low powered car and therefore weren't travelling very fast.

I can therefore see three solutions.
1. Introduce an extra test which you have to pass in order to own a powerful vehicle.
2. Restrict the amount of power you are allowed until you have had your licence for a certain amount of time.
3. Continue the status quo and hope that idiots like easyscoob don't run out of luck before their maturity rises to the level of a chimpanzee.

scoobywrxuk300

Did they put an age restriction on the Mini Cooper S years ago? im sure there was.
I personally think there should be some kind of restriction through age, like the motor bike age requirements, such as the direct access scheme.
I think at 17, + 18 y o, drivers are to influenced by others around them,
Although having said this, they can drive down most streets at 80mph crash, even worse kill, in any car..! The only difference is a scooby gets to these speeds quicker..

Bug Eyed Peas

Should we increase the age limit of learning to drive, say 21? Or as previously said have a probation period, like new drivers do these days. 6 points in your first 2 years and you have to re-apply for your licence and resit the practical test.
Like not going over say a 1.2l for the first couple of years say. Then increase the engine size accordingly to your driving experience in yearly terms.
Just a mere thought.
Anthony

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

I don't think age is a huge factor i think how mature the person is driving the car. I'm sure there's plenty of youngsters out there who are perfectly capable of driving a powerfull car, Impreza or not.

I'm sure we've all had the experience of some young driving sittin on out *****, wanting to race us in they're maxxed up Nova's Saxo's etc etc, put that sort of inexperienced driver behind the wheel of ANY powerfull car and you've got a recipe for disaster.

None of us know the facts about the Colchester crash, but i for one can draw my own conclusions about a 20 year old driving a car with 2 young girls and a younger lad as passengers. I've seen it and i'm sure 99% of people on here have seen it hundreds of times. It's the Jack the lad senario, look @ me in my Impreza, i'm king of the road and totally untouchable. Thats until the limited talent most 20 year olds have runs out, as we've seen this time the results can be totally devestating.

Sweepickit

I don't think it's an age thing at all. It's training and experience that will create drivers able to handle powerful cars. A 40 year old who is used to a 1.0 60bhp small hatch is possibly going to be just as much a menace in a 300bhp scoob as someone a lot younger. Proper obligatory training before someone can drive such a car would be a good idea.

Message to Pete... How old are most F1 drivers, WRC drivers... in fact any motor sport drivers... My guess 85% are under 35, and as they are trained can handle the power very well.

ScoobyDoo69

iTrader: (17)

Depends on the person, I let my 18year old son drive mine all the time, I have done since the day he passed his test. He drives an Impreza Sport btw.
I have left him with the car for a full day at a time (to get the clutch changed, servicing, MOT, suspension etc) and each time not a mark on it. Even though I know he's having fun with it where appropriate

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

Its all about attitude and level of training.
Young and Older drivers tend to be the worse on the road and are the groups that need to improve.

But thats one big generalisation.

You can get a lad of 20 who has karted all his life and who´s old man has also show him car control in an old banger. He has also done a defensive driving course. He still has a lot to learn but is a hell of alot safer that most road users. Especialy that 70 year old coming towards him in his volvo V70 trying to tune his radio whislt in the middle of the road.

As a rule younger drivers TEND to be worse, due to lack of experience and no sense of their own mortality.

But it is down to attitude and training - and you can choose to gain those attributes at any age.

Steve

scooter(WRX03 PPP)

Everybody seems to think that maturity is linked to a number (18 etc,...). Crazy!. There are many good racing drivers that have been better at handling cars than most on here at the age of 14. Everybody's experiences are different. Better not to focus on age, but instead to ask how many years of experience behind a wheel are required. There is however the "stupid factor" which always seems to be linked to the majority of teenagers.

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

agree with the post above, being 22 with a new 06 WRX which is one hell of a step up from a 1.6 seat Leon and have had no problems with the extra power because I have spent so much and worked so hard to get it I am paranoid about doing any damage + plus my excess is way to big to claim if I did so therefore I only play when its safe to do so….

Do you think part of the issue is cheap Scooby’s which are more excess able to younger drivers. Same levels of power but without the same level of financial implications of crashing it ????

biglad1

maybe they should have a test like on bikes i had to do a direct access to go to 600cc or more to show i could handle it if not i would'nt be able to ride it

LegacySTi

iTrader: (13)

The country is a nanny state enough without any more crap, Yes i do agree that some 18 year olds should not own a high power car but you can't inflict one rule for all and have other mature people suffer. Its the same as anything. Drink being an obvious one. Some 18 year olds can have a few fine. Some have a few and go assualt and vandalise. Does this mean because of these few we should go raise drink age to 25. I'm 24 and since 17 always usually had 2 performance cars at once which i worked seriously hard for.
17 to 24 incl GTi corrola, e30 325i sport, e36 325i, e34 525i sport, volvo 850t5, Legacy turbo, Impreza Turbo Wagon, E34 M5, 03 STi Spec C. And i have'nt killed anyone.So because some chav can't drive and has no respect i should be getting out of my micra now and going up through proven levels of experience and at 30 hopefully get into a high powered car???

Bug Eyed Peas

So what you are saying is, it is all down to the individual person then Legacy STi? I do agree with your point regarding you are only 24 and have had a collection of cars that some on here would love to have owned at your age, you are one of the more sensible ones.
I think this thread could go full circle as people have their own views on this topic.
Lets face it, young or old(er) drivers in many cases can be as bad as eachother.
Anthony