Dale on the BBC

[Quigonjay]

just heard it on the radio

[MrLuke]

Sorry, don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting for one second that limiting young people is the way forward. I used to drive a 1.3 Astra in my teens, and like you I drove with my foot to the floor everywhere. It wasn't until I'd graduated to my 16v GTE that I understood that you could get a sore ankle when driving for a long time (as with the pedal fully down I'd be over 100 in no time).

I'm completely against any ideas to limit young drivers on what cars they drive, I reckon the problem is bad drivers (of any age). Only problem is, the figures don't lie and young male drivers are in more accidents than any other age group (or so the media will have us believe).

Starting in a small car definitely taught me how to drive, but I reckon I am a much safer driver in a faster car as you don't need to push it all the time.

Some people just have no appreciation of physics and for many, the first time they loose control of their car is on a busy road into oncoming traffic. Learners should have to demonstrate a semblance of car control on a skid pan before being given their licence. No i dont think people should all be drifting everywhere, the point is everybody is going to loose control of their car sooner or later, hence the problem with young drivers, they have no idea where the limits are or what the car will do when they are crossed. Thats why the biggest statistic is not young drivers, but new drivers.

[jrleech]

First of all, good work getting an MR2 on the TV

As for the AA, as someone has already mentioned, there is already a system in place to prevent young drivers putting high performance mods on their cars, or even buying high performance cars.... it's called the insurance premium.

I'm pretty certain that a 1.2 Corsa, with a 100bhp Nitrous kit, alloys, bodykit, exhaust, intake etc.. is completely un-insurable for anyone under 25.

The problem is that probably 9 out of 10 of the 'problem cars' that they are referring to, will be insured as a stock car, with no modifications.

If modified cars are such a problem, then the police should check insurance policy details with what is on the car, and if they don't match (within reason), seize the car.

[Steve Horrocks]

First of all, good work getting an MR2 on the TV

As for the AA, as someone has already mentioned, there is already a system in place to prevent young drivers putting high performance mods on their cars, or even buying high performance cars.... it's called the insurance premium.

I'm pretty certain that a 1.2 Corsa, with a 100bhp Nitrous kit, alloys, bodykit, exhaust, intake etc.. is completely un-insurable for anyone under 25.

The problem is that probably 9 out of 10 of the 'problem cars' that they are referring to, will be insured as a stock car, with no modifications.

If modified cars are such a problem, then the police should check insurance policy details with what is on the car, and if they don't match (within reason), seize the car.

Hell yeah! That's my really big gripe, sooooo many people not having proper declared insurance & we all get skanked for being legit & honest.

[Mike 'MR2' McHugh]

lol.....ive had alot of people ask me today " Did you see that MR2 on the news earlier ? ".......not something you get asked every day !!!

[chrisrev2gt]

if there so bothered about young people getting hurt why dont they have an engine size limit for young people who have just past there test. Saying that still wont stop people driving like idiots but might stop some of these chavs trying to race you at the lights

[vinnyninja]

First of all, good work getting an MR2 on the TV

As for the AA, as someone has already mentioned, there is already a system in place to prevent young drivers putting high performance mods on their cars, or even buying high performance cars.... it's called the insurance premium.

I'm pretty certain that a 1.2 Corsa, with a 100bhp Nitrous kit, alloys, bodykit, exhaust, intake etc.. is completely un-insurable for anyone under 25.

The problem is that probably 9 out of 10 of the 'problem cars' that they are referring to, will be insured as a stock car, with no modifications.

If modified cars are such a problem, then the police should check insurance policy details with what is on the car, and if they don't match (within reason), seize the car.

excacly that y there is insurance ...im 22 and pay £750 fcomp for my tubby ..and love her to bits ...and its still scruff and ive spent £5000 on her ...at the end of the day a teenager ist going to afford fast let alone insure Fast cars ... bad publicity for honist modders in my view ...( as for limmiting modding to over 21's or 25's ...what a load of B*****S who would i be to tell you what you can and cant do to Your car ...WE pay the price of moddin on our insurance premeiam ....thats y when i was 18 in a 1.4 rusty old astra i was paying £1400 its the price you pay for being young so the insurance company got there money from me...(and ive never had an accedent on the road) for what ? me being a good driver

[Kongaroo]

Heard this on the radio all day yesterday but only just got round to viewing it online. Mr AA chairman spouting a load of BS there really. As people have pointed out young drivers are naturally limited to lower power unmodified cars because of insurance and the cost to actually get and insure a half decent one.

Besides loads of the accidents caused by said young drivers racing about would would happen whether they were in a nitrous equipped car or a low power hatch with sporty exhaust, because the driver is being an idiot.

If anything people that put a lot of time and money into their car have a vested interest in keeping it one piece so they might drive the car hard but within the limits.

If the AA continue spouting rubbish like this I think car drivers should put their money where their mouth is and join the RAC instead

[christiantimms]

The point they're making here about modified cars is about power increases and specifically about inexperienced drivers being released in them.

I absolutely agree that inexperienced drivers shouldn't be driving cars with such power. My cars (Tubby/GT4) surprise and still impress me with how quick they are - mine are practically stock! To hand them over to someone with little experience to drive quickly would be irresponsible.

As has been pointed out here, stock fast cars like the Tubby are difficult to insure for inexperienced young drivers so there already exists an element of control. Inexperienced older drivers are generally more sensible and risk aware.

Let's be clear here, regardless of what the younger crowd will tell us (as a general rule - present company excepted, of course), statistics show - and common sense suggests - that young new drivers (all young drivers are inexperienced) are more prone to accidents... and let's be honest... sillyness. Older inexperienced drivers are likely to be disinterested in cars anyway, but have calmed down some by the time they get behind the wheel.

Therefore, the idea of controlling the power of cars available to younger drivers makes sense. In this sense, Mr AA man is right - the modified (for power) cars are the problem - specifically for young drivers. They are the most likely to slip through the insurance controls by power modifying cheap cars.

The question remains: how to manage this. I think the suggested police comparing of car against insurance is a good idea, but would the police know what they are looking at. Perhaps including an insurance declaration cross-reference as part of the MOT would help.

[Tsunami]

The problem to me isn't that they want to stop young inexperienced drivers modding their cars up to dangerous (for them at least) horsepower, it's the way they seem to want to do it.
Blanket banning of NOS systems will hurt more people than just the young 'uns.
God forbid we ever get like Spain where it is illegal to modify your car's engine in any way, but that is the direction the AA seem to want to move in

[Kongaroo]

As has been pointed out here, stock fast cars like the Tubby are difficult to insure for inexperienced young drivers so there already exists an element of control.

It is widely accepted new drivers have poorer car control which is why it's already factored into their insurance cost. I think the real issue car enthusiasts have with his nationwide broadcast is the likelihood it'll get blown out of proportion and turn into yet another stealth tax for motorists

[jrleech]

Once they've crushed a few peoples pride and joys, the rest will probably get the message.... I'm not suggesting that an un-disclosed steering wheel should get your car crushed, but if someones done an engine swap with a turbo, or a 2.0 in a Corsa, Nitrous, or other serious mods, and they've clearly deceived the insurance, then it's crushing time

Everyone drives faster as a young driver.... all the "what if's" haven't quite registered yet.... adding power just makes it worse when it does go wrong.

[christiantimms]

Jon - have you declared that gear knob of yours?

Crushing Time!!!

[Tiny]

Me at 18 I was in the forces sharing a block with a chap same age same occupation same postcode He had a 1.6 Saxo with all the wheels, exhaust tuning, superchip, basically your standard stage 2 chav upgrades. I had a MA70 turbo supra stock nothing modified at all. I could get insurance for the supra where as i couldnt get insurance for his saxo with all the mods declared.

[matt_mr2t]

An old mate of mine had a Nova with a 2.0 16v turbo engine running aprox 285bhp. It was till declared as the original 1.5d engine.

It wouldnt take much for the police to pull over an obviously modified car and get an independent inspector to cross reference it with his policy documents.

Hell, it could even be a way to create jobs

Doing it at the MOT time is not a very good idea as most of them will just whip off a lot of the mods before taking it in. Needs to be random checks to work.

[Timsmr2]

To be honest i think that this sort of stuff all detracts from the fact that modified cars dont cause crashes its the drivers.

I think if they want to reduce road traffic accidents then they should be targeting people that do stupid things like tailgating as this is one of the major causes of crashes.

In my experience most of the drivers that I see tailgating dont have modified cars. It doesnt matter what you have done (or not) to your car, sitting a couple of meters behind another car doing motorway speeds is asking for trouble and the tossers that do it should get banned before they kill someone.

[Shmed]

And middle lane hogs should be banned instantly!!!

[Turbo97]

What an absolute load of toss to be honest! 1.0 litre cars can still break driving laws just as easily as performance cars, the only diffference is if your regarding with speeding, it takes longer to get there!

I 100% disagree with that report and feel genuine and honest modifiers have been poorly and unfairly labelled here!

i'm slightly undecided on the laws of brand new drivers being limited to a certain sized engine or certain power. because, with first time young bike drivers, they are limited arent they??

I started with a 1.0litre polo which got written off(wasnt my fault) then moved onto a polo 1.4 8v, then a polo GTI, then a Corrado VR6 and now my rev4 tubby.....im still only 21, i would say for being a 21 year old i'v had some pretty fast cars....i would regard myself as a pretty safe driver, yeh i quite often have a blat in my cars, in as safe a manner as possible! but i still think whether i am driving a 50bhp polo, a 200bhp VR6 or a 260bhp mr2.....the possibility of a crash is just as likely as the other! As has been said.....its the DRIVER......not the CAR!

[Century Motorsport]

I haven't read all the thread so apologise if i'm about to repeat what someone has already said but if someone is running a 100hp shot of nitrous then if they sat with the 'button' held down an 11lb bottle will last 1mintue 17seconds.

The price to fill an 11lb bottle is somewhere in the region of £40.

With that in mind fitting nitrous is less likely to be causing fatal accidents as it won't be enganged for long enough to reach these crazy speeds the AA are talking about.

If they are going to have a winge about something they should atleast do their research

Somone retrofitting a turbo into a non turbo car would be far more likely to be a potentail danger than nitrous.

Nathan

[Dale_V]

I haven't read all the thread so apologise if i'm about to repeat what someone has already said but if someone is running a 100hp shot of nitrous then if they sat with the 'button' held down an 11lb bottle will last 1mintue 17seconds.

The price to fill an 11lb bottle is somewhere in the region of £40.

With that in mind fitting nitrous is less likely to be causing fatal accidents as it won't be enganged for long enough to reach these crazy speeds the AA are talking about.

If they are going to have a winge about something they should atleast do their research

Somone retrofitting a turbo into a non turbo car would be far more likely to be a potentail danger than nitrous.

Nathan

exactly the points i made in the interview, but the BBC cut the lot out

Im not best pleased and neither is Trevor @ WON.