Getting your L’s…
May 6, 2008 12:43 am Dicker, General
Getting your driver’s licence used to be such a straight forward affair…
You read your learner’s booklet from the RTA. You turn up, pay $15.00 and do your knowledge test. You pass and book in your P’s test for 6 months later… 6 months goes by, you pass your driving test. A year goes by after that and hey presto! You’re on your blacks and the world is your oyster… if you can get the car off your parents…
But nowadays it just aint that simple anymore…
First it was the log book. Do 50 hours driving in different conditions. OK.
Then there was the 3 different levels of P plates… And now do 70 hours recorded driving. OK.
Then it just got stupid. 120 hours of recorded driving in your log book, and there’s talk of 150!!
Really, this doesn’t effect me that much because I got my licence when you just had to turn up to the RTA and if you didn’t trip over the mat at the front door they gave you a licence…
But I am involved in youth ministry in the inner west, and some of my youth group kids are going for their L’s.
This is particularly a hassle for kids in the inner west and I feel their pain…
The average car trip in the inner west is probably only 5-15 minutes, and yet these kids have to somehow work up 120 hours of driving! And unless you organise a car trip to Perth with a learner driving at 80kph for 3 weeks it’s gonna take like 20 years!
And so there’s 2 options: Do it the right way - fill in the log book truthfully, do the hours, and get on the road 2 years later than everyone else.
OR…
Do it the easy way - drive when you can, and make up the hours in your log book so that it looks like you did the hours. It’s my guess that all the honest drivers who will obey the speed limits will go through the whole system and get on the road when they’re 20 years old. While all the hoons who flaunt the speed limits, drive recklessly, and are really the ones who are responsible for the new driving laws, will probably lie about their driving hours and be on the road sooner than the law-abiding drivers…
Does anyone else see a problem here?
Richard :
Date: May 9, 2008 @ 10:52 am
Totally agree with you here - you should also then try living in the country where the maximum amount for a trip is 5 minutes - no chance of a 15 minute trip unless you go around in circles a couple of times.
I suppose there is the advantage of those longer trips to visit family and friends, but at 80km/h it indeed takes a longer period of time.
If only there was an easier solution. Only other thoughts could be to instead of having study camps, we have driving camps and all go for long drives each day??
Dicker :
Date: May 9, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
radar that’s a brilliant idea!!!
Driving camps!
we should really look into this… there’s probably a bit of insurance and legal stuff to work out, but I think it’s a cracker of an idea.