A new motorist in the Bozzy clan

[Redline]

I'm afraid our 3 children wrote off their first car having passed first time,one with no faults (minors) and the others with 1 and2 and I considered them reasonable drivers,but unfortunately lacking experience,all 3 of them were alone in the car and there was no other car involved,they all walked away un injured except for my grey hairs.they all happened in the rain or in the case of one on a wet leafy corner in the autumn.they were so used to driving in the relatively dry weather they hadn't the experience to adapt to different conditions despite my warnings.it was cheaper to recover the £1000 car and scrap it than claim on the insurance.Our youngest daughter does 750 miles a week as a rural postie and I still worry about them driving

I guess one reason is , we learnt when cars had relatively little power and the handling generally wasn't great. We learn't to feel what the car was doing. We quickly learnt!

Nowadays, many cars are far more neutral and uncommunicative right up to the point they let go. Having no experience, young drivers simply don't understand what happens under different conditions, can't tell where the limits are, where to start backing off and how to recover if it starts going pear shaped. We also learn't generally in rear wheel drive cars. A world of difference between rear and front wheel drive.

The crop of ultra-fuel-efficient cars and many brand new cars tend to be really rather wheezy too. But, their handling masks the limits until its too late.
Does Pass Plus teach you any of these things in addition to awareness and planning skills?

 

[Bozzy]

Our 3 children did pass plus it lowered the insurance by a lot ,I think it was £75 one off charge and it's really good

Yes Amy told me about the pass plus I think it's definitely worth doing.

Steve

 

[t-tony]

Yes Amy told me about the pass plus I think it's definitely worth doing.

Steve

Having just read Dave's message Steve I would ask the insurers if they acknowledge the Pass+, I wonder if the Insurers have cottoned onto this and now aren't so keen?

Tony.

 

[Bozzy]

@Bozzy, we had exactly the same with Jack. His insurance was around £800 as a learner. Soon as he'd passed it went up to £1850 for a 10 year old Punto!! . He did his pass plus and the cheapest insurance company said it made no odds to them so we tried a few others and got nowhere with it as reconsied paper to give a discount. 4 years down the line he's never been able to gain a discount with it. He pays £600 now for an 08 plate fiesta Zetec.

I do feel sorry for young drivers having to pay such high prices for insurance.
we paid £430 for 12 months learner driver cover but with that I'm covered to drive it as well.....when Amy passes her test it will cost around £1400 .
I'm so hoping she has a decent paid job by then .

Steve

 

[miller1098]

With the pass plus in our case it reduced the premiums by a significant amount.the cheapest car to insure was a Mazda,because they were not so popular therefore there were less claims for that particular model so they were deemed a good risk?

 

[Redline]

I do feel sorry for young drivers having to pay such high prices for insurance.
we paid £430 for 12 months learner driver cover but with that I'm covered to drive it as well.....when Amy passes her test it will cost around £1400 .
I'm so hoping she has a decent paid job by then .

Steve

Paid job or not Steve, you'll be paying :-(
For years to come :-(

 

[Bozzy]

With the pass plus in our case it reduced the premiums by a significant amount.the cheapest car to insure was a Mazda,because they were not so popular therefore there were less claims for that particular model so they were deemed a good risk?

When the time comes we'll have to do some shopping round to see if we can get the same result as you did Hugh....fingers crossed.
I think I'll be the same as you when she's able to drive on her own,worried silly especially when her boyfriend's with her no doubt encouraging her to drive quicker

Steve

 

[Bozzy]

Paid job or not Steve, you'll be paying :-(
For years to come :-(

This is true mate and this is just one of the three kids....what joy.

Steve

 

[miller1098]

I guess one reason is , we learnt when cars had relatively little power and the handling generally wasn't great. We learn't to feel what the car was doing. We quickly learnt!

Nowadays, many cars are far more neutral and uncommunicative right up to the point they let go. Having no experience, young drivers simply don't understand what happens under different conditions, can't tell where the limits are, where to start backing off and how to recover if it starts going pear shaped. We also learn't generally in rear wheel drive cars. A world of difference between rear and front wheel drive.

The crop of ultra-fuel-efficient cars and many brand new cars tend to be really rather wheezy too. But, their handling masks the limits until its too late.
Does Pass Plus teach you any of these things in addition to awareness and planning skills?

I'm afraid everyone I knew as a young teenager smashed at least one car but mostly we ended up in someone's field ,my brother and sister did each a Volvo 240 and they were built like a tank,a escort ,mini traveler Renault 5 and some sort of Citroen

 

[Bozzy]

I'm afraid everyone I knew as a young teenager smashed at least one car but mostly we ended up in someone's field ,my brother and sister did each a Volvo 240 and they were built like a tank,a escort ,mini traveler Renault 5 and some sort of Citroen

Crikey ....you lot kept the local breakers yards in business by the sound of it

steve

 

[miller1098]

When the time comes we'll have to do some shopping round to see if we can get the same result as you did Hugh....fingers crossed.
I think I'll be the same as you when she's able to drive on her own,worried silly especially when her boyfriend's with her no doubt encouraging her to drive quicker

Steve

Unfortunately our children saw first hand when a friend of theirs was killed as a passenger and it really frightened them into driving carefully with others in the car with them as they felt very responsible as the driver

 

[t-tony]

So did I and probably all my mates if I think back, it's almost a right of passage. You just hope that they come out unscathed.

Tony.

 

[Bozzy]

Having just read Dave's message Steve I would ask the insurers if they acknowledge the Pass+, I wonder if the Insurers have cottoned onto this and now aren't so keen?

Tony.

Good point @t-tony but they ought to give some discount for the pass plus as it surely helps make them safer drivers,but like you say we all know what insurance firms are like.

Steve

 

[miller1098]

Crikey ....you lot kept the local breakers yards in business by the sound of it

steve

Not much else to do around here except practice you rallying skills ...or lack of.suprising how funding a difrent car regularly gets pretty boring after awhile

 

[Bozzy]

Unfortunately our children saw first hand when a friend of theirs was killed as a passenger and it really frightened them into driving carefully with others in the car with them as they felt very responsible as the driver

That's must have been awful for your kids Hugh but it does make you realise how easy it can all go wrong,a good thing they learned from it though.
Tbh I think as part of getting a full license it should be mandatory to visit road incident victims to see and learn first hand the potential consequences or have to do at least 6 months on a moped /motorbike before being allowed to drive a car unsupervised.....too harsh ?

Steve

 

[t-tony]

I wouldn't want to put my kids on anything with only 2 wheels Steve, but a speed awareness course includes pictures and video of the consequences of speeding, which is like shutting the stable door after the gorse has gone. Why not do it to new drivers and see if that has any benefits?

Tony.

 

[Bozzy]

I wouldn't want to put my kids on anything with only 2 wheels Steve, but a speed awareness course includes pictures and video of the consequences of speeding, which is like shutting the stable door after the gorse has gone. Why not do it to new drivers and see if that has any benefits?

Tony.

I understand what you're saying mate,it just seems to me that having rode bikes I think it makes you much more aware on the road as a car driver as you realise how vulnerable you can be.
I agree with the speed awareness thing for young drivers,having been on such a course recently it opened my eyes and as a result I have changed my ways...made me realise after all I've just said I had become very complacent.
we all take the p*** out of such courses but there is something to be said for them..in my own opinion.

Steve.

 

[smiffy]

There are lots of things wrong with the driving test. Students are taught to pass the test, not how to drive in the real world, nor to understand what the car is doing.

Already told my daughter, her first driving lesson will be in the Zed, the second will be in my van, the third in the wifes' car and the fourth (subject to convincing my mate its a good idea) will be a Land Rover. All on private land and done so she learns to feel and understand what the controls are actually doing. She will also be expected to understand what the controls are actually doing within the car.

If she says "no", she pays for her own lessons! 14 months and counting.

 

[Shelly]

Yeah we're got a new to be driver in our household too
Brandon takes his theory test later on this month
Think he said it's got 3 parts to it now
He haven't booked his test yet
Fingers cross he passes

 

[Redline]

We'll be the same very soon. Little'un can't wait to get his freedom.

Well @Bozzy - The day has all but arrived!

Jonathan passed his driving test at first attempt a few days before his 18th birthday a few weeks ago.
Been looking around for something that wasn't going to be crippling from an insurance perspective, so, it was going to be a 10 year old+ Fiesta as the first choice. However, I looked at a nice and much newer Ford KA a few weeks ago and got some quotes on it. It was much cheaper than a Fiesta etc. In fact, for a brand new driver on a non-telematics policy it was less than £1k.
So, despite being a smaller car we bought a lovely (but different) Ford KA today. Nicely spec'd including ac and heated front screen. Pick it up Tuesday.

No more bus passes to be bought. No more late night cross town taxi service. Result.