Cars & Transportation Learners drivers

[jonoman89]

Drivers who treat leaners like crap are scum.

Give the poor kid's a chop out, they're trying to learn what is ultimately a pretty difficult skill to master.

There's a fair few full licensed drivers who are worse than Ls.

 

[vealesy]

Yeh they're the ones with P's.

 

[Kaan]

I'm a learner(going for P's in a few weeks).

I don't get beeped often but when I do it usually means I'm doing something wrong, which I learn from.

People beeping for going 80 in a 80 zone are annoying though.

 

[dales.girl38]

Doing 80 in 100 zone is just dangerous for all involved and if anything, makes learning a whole lot harder. My instructor always made me go 5km's under the limit, but 20 is unnecessary and will justifiably piss every single driver off.

 

[Probst]

I once had a heated conversation with a policeman in New South Wales about the 100 limit.

Since im a victorian driver on green P's, im allowed to do 110km/hr on the hume through NSW. A cop pulled me over, tried to book me for 109 since i was on greens, i explained, and showed him my licence that i was allowed to do the posted limits.

He proceeded to say how it was unfair for NSW P drivers if Victorians could just waltz through at the speed limit.

I then said it was fairly balanced out by the fact that i had to wait until i was 18 to get my P's, and they dont.

Are all country cops stupid?

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Still on my L's but just over 90 hours in to the 120

i have been a bit slack, but i also have a twin, so it's harder to drive all the time (well, that's my excuse anyways)

i don't get any grief from drivers, but that's definitely because having 90 hours, i'm not lacking confidence on the road

for anyone with learners, start them off with some proffessional lessons, people tend not to abuse learners in 'official' RACV cars, etc

 

[Bombers_Forever]

People who beep learners are just fools - there is always going to be them.

But from experience, I stuck to all the quiet roads until I was very confident. If I was unsure, I was not going to progress to the high traffic roads or ones with speed limits over 80km.

In saying that, even when you are a fully licensed driver, you will get those idiots on the road and you will have to deal with the pressure so it is best for him to deal with it now.

 

[BarneyBent]

Yes, they're annoying, but it's necessary. Everybody has to learn at some point, you can't hold it against them, as frustrating as they can sometimes be.

And yes, L platers can't go over 80 in NSW. Red P platers can't go over 90, green P platers can't go over 100. It's ridiculous. I remember being on my Ls and driving down the Barton highway where it's single-lane, 100 km/h limit. I felt really terrible, I kept having to pull over to allow this queue of cars that had built up behind me pass.

Now I'm on the other side, so when I'm driving down that highway (or similar) and there's an L plater, I have some sympathy.

Oh, and going from NSW red Ps to ACT Ps when I moved to Canberra was the best thing EVER. Not only could I go 110 km/h, I could also drive with 0.02 BAC without getting done (though this has recently been changed).

 

[FootyJunkie]

Start driving around an empty car park and quiet industrial streets. Best places to get a feel for the car before going onto drive on more busy streets.

 

[TFLUA-Tiger]

Doing 80 in a 100 zone? Driving slower than the speed limit is doing you no favours in learning. You should learn from the start to keep up with the speed of the traffic

80 km in Tassie on your L's and first year of P's too Laz.

 

[Skeeta Olly]

Shouldn't the best time to be traveling at 100kph be with an experienced driver? Like any have said, more of a danger going at 80.

Got my P's recently, bit harsh to have a go at a learner, we were all like that at some stage.

 

[vealesy]

When i was learning, we couldn't go higher than 72kph and banned from freeways.

None of this log book stuff though, so, pass test, hoon straight for freeway yeah!

Was a pretty stupid system.

 

[St 07]

Try giving him a little bit of alcohol to boost his confidence before the next lesson.

Or, try hitting him.

 

[shurg123]

To the OP, don't worry about the angry little people beeping at your son, they clearly lack basic driving skills such as changing lanes. It amazes me how often I see people driving way too close to the car in front when there's a completely empty lane next to them, don't they know how to go around? It's a shame the cops don't target this, but going 3km/h over the limit is apparently a cardinal sin...

 

[Power King]

Agree with getting him started on quieter roads and then easing him onto busier roads as obviously he will need to learn how to drive on these too. Shallower end first though for confidence reasons.

If there's a positive to gain from the w***ers that beep learners it's allowing your son to recognise that there will always be stupid impatient ****s on the roads and it's best to ignore them (unless you are making an error). Hopefully he'll learn to tolerate and subsequently ignore these people as they're nothing but bogan failures, rather than respond to them in a fit of road rage. All part of teaching him about the personalities of some drivers out there that a theoretical lesson couldn't do.

 

[glenn_ox]

'Yeah! And what about student drivers using my streets to learn? If you learn to play the drums you got to go to a studio! Go to a parking lot, for God's sake! Why are you jeopardizing my life? I can't get behind a student driver!'

 

[stuart27]

I believe, in Victoria at least, a L plater (or anyone) going 80 in a 100 zone is illegal.

You can't go less than 90% of the marked speed for an inordinate amount of time without an appropriate reason (like a traffic jam - being an L plater isn't an appropriate reason).

If you did it on your test, you'd be marked down and told to speed up, or you'd fail.

It sucks that some people beep L platers, but they should take it as a learning experience. The road contains w***ers.

 

[getthefooty]

When I had my L's test I remember getting the question 'If traveling on a freeway with a speed limit of 100 km/h, what is the max a learner driver can go?' I assumed the law was common sense and answered 100, but I got it wrong. It's definitely 80.

 

[Team Mo']

When I had my L's test I remember getting the question 'If traveling on a freeway with a speed limit of 100 km/h, what is the max a learner driver can go?' I assumed the law was common sense and answered 100, but I got it wrong. It's definitely 80.

The bloke above you was talking about minimum. It's not safe to do 20km's under the speed limit. I just got my P's recently and can tell you the maximum is DEFINITELY 100 km's. There is no restriction on going the speed limit. It's recommended to to to 4 or 5km's under the limit whilst going for your test just in case you lose concentration for a tiny second you don't go over.

There is however no ruling on going max 80. And how do you know you got it wrong? They don't tell you what you got wrong or right just what you need to work on...

 

[getthefooty]

Yeah, you might be right. It was on a practice test, not the real one. Could have been for first year P's? I'm pretty sure there was something about an 80km limit. Maybe if you're not with a licensed instructor?

Edit, just read your post, and looks like it's not for P's either. I dunno then.

 

[STC]

If Learners are driving unsafely it's generally the fault of their supervising drivers. They need experience on main roads and other drivers should cut them some slack. Back when I was learning I started driving in traffic on my third or so drive, had only done a couple of hours, but controlling the car is the easiest skill in driving - the tough one is decision making.

And the speed rules are utter crap, the speed limit is for everyone and it is utterly unsafe to prevent Learners from going 110 in a 110 zone, especially when you consider most of the freeway drivers are doing 120 anyway.

 

[ThePezDispenser]

Okay so im taking my son for his first lesson with me, only had 1 before hand. Started off good but then we had a few drivers beeping because we were abit more cautious on the road. Now i mean do drivers know that they were learning once.

C'mon any of you one of those drivers that have no time for learners?

It really does depend on the circumstances. I can't stand L platers being taken into areas (by their instructer or parent) if they are going to slow down traffic. Until the L plater is confident enough to hit the busy roads and be able to do the speed limit safely, they should stick to the side streets where I am more than happy to wait behind them as they are learning in the safest place and they aren't in the way of other motorists.

I had to cop it on the chin once, I was driving my old mans manual for the first time, I was probably a bit more confident than I should have been and whilst completeing a hook turn in the city I stalled it, holding up traffic for a little bit. Yeah I was a learner and the plates were displayed - but i got beeped and absolutely deserved it. I shouldn't have been driving in the city if I wasn't completely competent with the new car I was driving.

And of course when you do hit the open lanes - stay in the left lanes!!!!

 

[ThePezDispenser]

If Learners are driving unsafely it's generally the fault of their supervising drivers. They need experience on main roads and other drivers should cut them some slack. Back when I was learning I started driving in traffic on my third or so drive, had only done a couple of hours, but controlling the car is the easiest skill in driving - the tough one is decision making.

And the speed rules are utter crap, the speed limit is for everyone and it is utterly unsafe to prevent Learners from going 110 in a 110 zone, especially when you consider most of the freeway drivers are doing 120 anyway.

Agree with the wholse post but the first line in particular.

These people are teaching the kids the rules of the road, yet they let them on to busy roads doing over 10k's less than the speed limit and almost always sticking in the right hand lane. In both circumstances they can be pulled over.

I refrain from beeping L platers because I know it's not their fault, however I would love to give the instructor a bake.

 

[magic_johnson!]

Re: Learner drivers

Can a Victorian L plater go 110 in NSW/SA? I've driven 110-115 in SA but i've been told that one of my mates got pulled over for going like 30kmph over the limit....He got out pleading ignorance though, but seriously, he has a victorian license?

I might be driving to Sydney on the weekend, so probably should know how fast i can drive...

 

[dales.girl38]

Re: Learner drivers

Can a Victorian L plater go 110 in NSW/SA? I've driven 110-115 in SA but i've been told that one of my mates got pulled over for going like 30kmph over the limit....He got out pleading ignorance though, but seriously, he has a victorian license?

I might be driving to Sydney on the weekend, so probably should know how fast i can drive...

When I was on my L's, my parents decided to take a trip to Adelaide to help get my hours up. Knowing about the 80km limit, my dad called the SA equivalent of Vicroads and they told him that I could only go 80km's. I subsequently drove to the border, dad did the rest of the journey of freeway driving. Then on the way home he drove to the border and I drove the rest of the way home. I got close to 13 hours on that trip, it was a great way to boost them up a bit.