Is 120 hours for learner Drivers really necessary?

[greg444]

i think its too much

[[Tonko]]

Do you honestly believe that too much is a bad thing?
I would prefer to be on the road with someone having 120+ hours, than someone with 5 hours.
Absolutely necessary.

[bob 351]

have alook at the road toll and the average age of those departed 120 not enought they should double it

[Unco]

well, if you're on your L's for 12 months, that's 10 hours a month. is that still too much? what about 2.5 hours a week? is that still too much?

i guess you know what i voted.

[greg444]

too much is never a bad thing, BUT i believe that making the minimum 120 hours is a bit too much. Why not 80?

[HOON69]

would you prefer to just skip the whole licencing system all together?

more hours more "life" experience,i know guys who had their L's for 6 months-12 months etc and would of been lucky to have driven 1-3 months of that time,and these guys have gone through a car each already.

its enough (120hours)

[Falcon Coupe]

Another "Ler" by the looks.

[XR Martin]

I had about 10hours before getting my Ps

[mik]

another vote for should be the minimum.

[[Tonko]]

Who the hell is voting no?

[xr6boy]

its a must, i did over 120 hours before i got my license, ive been in the car with mates who got their license without much experience on their learners and they were very unsure and unsafe on the roads, i think its a good step by the government in making young driver more experienced

[TheSneakiness]

Originally Posted by greg444

too much is never a bad thing, BUT i believe that making the minimum 120 hours is a bit too much. Why not 80?

Minimum 100 hours logbooked just introduced for QLD learners after July 1st. I think it's good, especially after hearing a learner we got at work who thinks giving way isn't necessary.

What's an extra 20 hours gonna hurt?

Far out.

[XCSEDAN]

I am an L plater, and i beleive it should be the BARE MINIMUM,
honestly people dont realise how much of a weapon driving is, or how dangerous it can be,
not to mention you will barely know how to drive after 120 hours, sure you will know the basics but theres a lot that comes with practice and experience.

[Unco]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

I had about 10hours before getting my Ps

but maybe you were more of a 'natural' for driving. i was too. i couldn't wait to get my L's as soon as i turned 16. but some people are not that keen to get their license. they require a LOT more training than you or i. they see a license as an obstacle whereas some of us see it as a means of freedom and joy. those are the drivers that this rule will hopefully help. the ones that are too scared to get on freeways, the ones that are too scared to drive out in the rain, or at night. 2.5 hours a week is not such an inconvenience i don't think.

[Fairlane]

Definant Yes here

Cant say that logbooks are the way, as they can be fudged. But i believe L platers should get as much kays as possible. The afternoon after you pass your test and are on your own is a whole new world and 30hrs is not going to prepare you for the crazy stuff out there on the real roads.

I personally did well over 150hrs i kept specific track of kays not hours on my L's, the more the better was my motto and as a learner i didnt knock back those extra hours in fact i loved them. Your stuck on your l's for 6 months (i think its 12now), you should embrace every chance you get to stack some kays on behind the wheel in as many cars as possible with several teachers if possible.

[Green X]

First off I will say i came in under the original old system I.E No log book or hours, So

All you people who sit hear and say 120hrs isn't enough, Go out and take a learner driver for 120hrs of driving in a reasonable time frame.

It's around 20 trip's to to Kalgoorlie from Perth, I.E allot of Bloody driving.

My brother had to do the 20hr thing and that was hard enough for my parents to do, between working full time and running a house hold.

there is only one way to learn and that is to get out there on your own, cause the second you get out on your own you drive differently to how you drive with a Instructor in a car and this is were your really learn allot.

if you think 120hrs, 200hrs ect is going to stop crashes you are living in fantasy land.

[want-a-coupe]

down here in tassie they are made to do 50 hours and personally I think that all that will happen is that kids will be forced into 50 hours (usually with the one parent) with someone who learnt to drive 20 plus years ago. learning all of their bad habbits.wouldn't it be better that they were to encouraged or required to have a certian number of hours (subsidised out of road accident prevention funding) of professional driving tuition? when I got my licence it was not required to have professional instructions BUT you were guaranteed NOT to pass unless you went with a professional instructor.

[daniel_rossy]

yeah i think its good, teaches young people how to drive, my father (being 17 (vic) ) thinks its an apouling idea that we have 120 hours, he said he doesnt want to sit in a car with a learner driver for that long. But because i got my L's before july 2007 i dont have to, so i told him how do you think it would be letting your own son go on the road with 40hours experiance driving. he lets me drive lots more now lol..

[XCSEDAN]

Originally Posted by Green X

if you think 120hrs, 200hrs ect is going to stop crashes you are living in fantasy land.

it's not going to stop crashes but i beleive it will at least if nothing else, give people more experience in more situations,
hell when a situation arises where you need every single skill you have ever learnt, it comes in handy, before i rote off the BMW i had done well over 200 hours....
its well worth it to do the extra hours, imo anyway.

[Laminge]

Originally Posted by greg444

i think its too much

Why do you think its too much?

[Unco]

Originally Posted by Green X

All you people who sit hear and say 120hrs isn't enough, Go out and take a learner driver for 120hrs of driving in a reasonable time frame.

It's around 20 trip's to to Kalgoorlie from Perth, I.E allot of Bloody driving.

distance does not equal time. obviously, the impact will vary depending on where you live. those living in congested cities such as sydney or melbourne won't have as much of an issue as any trip around town takes about an hour anyway.

we're not talking about 120 first lessons here. once you go through the basics it becomes less of a hassle to let a learner drive.

[greg444]

120 hours is VERY difficult to do, especially when you have parents working full time. Theres not enough time in the day to fit in extra driving hours, especially if everything is local to you. Personally, i just received my P's a few months ago and i managed to clock up 105 hours, but i was pushing to get the.

I just think the Victorian Government should reduce the new laws to come in july 2008 from 120 to something more achievable like 80.

[XR8 Uterous]

I believe more is better in the case of the learner driver, but think about it from the parents view.

My Sister got her L's in December, she has done about 10 hrs driving in that time, why? Not because she doesn't want to drive, but because my Single Father simply hasn't got the time with us 3 kids and also running a business with 50+ employees while also being on the board of another company he owns a share in, while also being being president on the local chamber of commerce and also involved in many other community things which he doesn't get paid for.

Now imagine if she had to do the 120 hours my other sister will have to do in a few years time, he simply wont have the time to do it, 8 of the hours she has driven have been with a driving instructor he has had to pay for because he doesn't have time. At $50 for 30 mins it starts to add up.

What also doesn't help is it only takes about 15 mins pretty much anywhere around where I live

Is it fair on my Dad to find 120 hours he doesn't have to teach my sister to drive?

[XR8-260]

120 hours is a must. Currently it's only 25 in W.A. (which is a joke). When I first got my Ps I was fairly inexperienced - more hours would have been beneficial.

[Ford_V8]

I'm a learner myself, got my permit first thing in the morning on my 16th birthday. Have only been driving a few months but I would think that I would nearly have 120 hours already. I started to keep a log at first but ended up not bothering as it became evident I was easily going to reach the (at that time) reccommended minimum having clocked up a good 10-15 hours in the first couple of weeks. 120 hours isn't really that much to ask for, and I would see it only as beneficial to have even more than 120 hours experience. There is no such thing as too much experience when it comes to driving. There are far too many underqualified drivers on the road and I don't see why you would bother complaining, if you think that accumulating 120 hours over a period of 2 years is such a huge ask for something so empowering as solo driving then you probably aren't mature enough to go for your licence at 18 anyway.

[Green X]

Originally Posted by XCSEDAN

it's not going to stop crashes but i beleive it will at least if nothing else, give people more experience in more situations,
hell when a situation arises where you need every single skill you have ever learnt, it comes in handy, before i rote off the BMW i had done well over 200 hours....
its well worth it to do the extra hours, imo anyway.

How did you write of the BMW??

I tell you the one thing that has thought me more than anything else, That's High speed driving on ball Bearing Gravel, and long hall night driving in the country, and jumping in the car by myself when I first got my P's and just driving around by my self learning.

When i did my First driving test, My instructor said you know how to drive, we just need to teach you to pass the test. I wa told the same thing when i did my truck license

I don't profess to be a ace driver, what I do know is my limits and what I can and can't Pull off in a car, this is where we are failing in driver training

Cheers.

[kocho]

I've had my P's for 6 months. 120 hours should be what every learner does. For their and 'our' safety.

[FlipXW]

Im not against it, as im about to go for my p's anyway after doing 40 hours. But i would be pretty ****ed if i was one of the first groups through to have to do it.

[Outbackjack]

You can get a pilots license in far less time than that. But then again, you aren't sharing the sky with a bunch of shcool children chaufers.

[the_scotsman]

Over in the UK, the whole system is different...

You sit a theory test...once you pass that, and your are 17 years or over, you can sit the driving test whenever you want..no need to fill up any hours in any log book.

And if you pass the driving test, thats it...you have a full license...no P plates or anything...

And I believe the UK does not have the "hoon" or young "boy racer" problem that Australia has...not to such a large extent anyhow...

but i voted yes, I believe 120 is neccessary...