Yeah, people like this are why my (absolutely spotless record, not even a parking ticket) insurance is so high. They drive rates up for everyone around them, simply due to the fact that you can get hit by them through no fault of your own.
I dated a girl whose brother had four accidents on his record at the time. He was 17 years old, so just barely old enough to have his license, (in my area you can get your permit at 15, and license at 16). After his second totaled car, their parents told him he was buying his third car with his own money. For them, the first totaled car was a fluke; The second was a pattern. So he got a job at 16, bought a junker with his earnings, and totaled it six months later.
The worst part is that two of his accidents happened in the exact same circumstances. Slick roads from an ice storm. He takes one particular corner too fast, hits a patch of ice, and ends up totaled. He totaled two cars on the exact same icy corner, because he didn’t learn from the first accident.
Canopyflyer@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I personally know someone who totaled 4 cars before turning 18. He literally treated the gas as an on/off switch.
So people that bad at driving are out there.
Truth be told, drivers here in the US are TOTALLY untrained for the most part. My oldest is currently in driver’s Ed and it is a joke, in regards to actually how to drive a car. I have spent a lot of time training him as I have a long history taking racing and advanced driving courses. I’ve held SCCA and FIA racing licenses and I have taken some courses that are usually reserved for police officers The only problem is I do not feel that I’m a very good teacher for him. But he has picked up some things, even if he isn’t up for threshold or trail braking.
FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Most of the USA also seems to lack options for adults to take a class and be given professional instruction on how to drive, for some odd reason. If you’re out of high school there are no classes for you.
I wonder if it’s like that in most other countries as well?
RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Learning to drive as part of high school is a super American thing that is really indicative of your attitudes towards driving and car ownership
PatMustard@feddit.uk 8 months ago
It’s pretty standard in Britain to learn to drive when you’re 17. The testing seems to be much more rigorous than whatever happens in America though, and Anon would hopefully have lost their licence by now!
oatscoop@midwest.social 8 months ago
Unfortunately in huge swaths of America a driver’s license is practically a necessity – there are no realistic alternatives. A 30 minute to an hour drive to go to work or get groceries isn’t uncommon.
rtxn@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Not in Hungary. Getting a category B license, which covers automobiles and mopeds, starts with a long course in driving theory, basic maintenance, and traffic laws, capped by an exam. Then a one-day first-aid training and exam. The next step is driving practice with a certified instructor – basic skills on a practice course, then real traffic, plus parking and reversing maneuvers – 30 hours total, which must include one hour of highway and one hour of night driving, and has a minimum required distance travelled, ending with a one-hour exam with the instructor and an examiner employed by the state. Next you have to pass a medical exam (sight, hearing, balance), and THEN you can apply for a driving license.
Also, just for comparison, when I started driving, my insurance was around 170 USD a year and it’s only gone down. $500 per month is fucking absurd.
Lemmeenym@lemm.ee 8 months ago
We’re no where near $170 a year but $500 is very high. I haven’t had a ticket or accident in about 15 years, I think insurance companies can only go back 6 years, and I’m paying about $75 per month.
ricdeh@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Wow, 400€ is good, I (or rather, my family) paid about 4000€, and that was even with passing every exam the first time and generally being a good student. But I’m from Germany, not Hungary. Still, that can surely not account for such a vast difference, can it?
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 8 months ago
That’s insanely cheap insurance, I pay that to insure a vehicle that is parked up and not driven.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Y’all have to hear to drive?
Signtist@lemm.ee 8 months ago
My wife didn’t even do drivers’ ed, since she didn’t get her license until after high school. She just had to pass a test and got her license that day. I did the whole drivers’ ed thing, but it barely prepared me at all, and I ended up getting into 2 accidents while still in high school since I just didn’t have the experience to deal with unusual situations, and I locked up when I happened to get into a couple dangerous situations. Luckily we’re both experienced drivers by now 10+ years later, but yeah, those first few years are basically just learning how to drive by driving, being a danger to everyone.
KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
curious what those two accidents were caused by.
Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 8 months ago
NL here: driving education is something you have to do at driving schools, separate from regular schools. Getting your license requires a written exam (traffic rules, hazard recognition, stuff like that) and a practical exam, with both the practical and all lessons done in regular traffic. If you see a car with a blue square sign with a white L in it, that’s a student driver.
It also costs a few thousand euros to go through the process. Though getting your license for cars does often get you a license for some other vehicles. Mine came with a moped license.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Sounds the same as the US.
FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 8 months ago
In the USA some states don’t require licensure for mopeds and similar pedal operated vehicles.
afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Umm my insurance gives me a discount if I take a refresher course every two years or so. It wasn’t really hard to do.
Zehzin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Brazil: You need to do psych and eyesight evaluations, 40 hours of classes, 20 hours of practical lessons (for cars, you need separate practical lessons bikes, semis etc) and tests for both.
RedEyeFlightControl@lemmy.world 8 months ago
There was a kid at my high school who was famous for wrecking 7 cars his senior year. Parents just kept buying him new ones. Like, brand new. Off the lot. It was insane.
MNByChoice@midwest.social 8 months ago
Don’t even have to change the oil at that rate.
Frozengyro@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Sounds like a hell of a car salesman!
Zron@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Kid’s parents probably bought that person their house.
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Ask someone that ended up being the teacher for the majority of my friend group. If struggling with the teaching more than likely you’re trying to give answers to their questions. Which is actually more unhelpful than helpful.
If they’re asking you how to make a certain kind of turn, or how to know how close they are to something. Just giving them an answer isn’t really useful because they don’t know how to arrive at that answer, instead you need to help them ask the correct questions.
" you didn’t quite make it in that parallel park, get out and take a look at where the car is. The back of the car is only just barely in the spot, so clearly you didn’t end up deep enough in the spot. What do you think you need to do to change that"
And have them keep practicing until they start to figure it out, it will seem frustrating for them in the moment but it’s genuinely more useful for them to try things on their own and attempt to reach the answer than it is for them to be handed the answer because then they understand not just the answer but the why of the answer. Why did I not make that turn, what does it feel like to not make the turn properly. Which is very important for being able to apply those same principles of vehicle control to other situations.
One of my favorite things to do with people is to set up some cones or a block of wood or whatever and just tell them to try and park as closely as possible to that object without touching it. I have them do that, get out, go look at how close they were to it, and then try again if they were nowhere near it until they can get it to Within less than a foot. Great way to help train sense of vehicle position.
joel_feila@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yes this. We teach kids, slow down in the rain, but give no guidelines on how to calculate how much they should slow down. Hell I have ran into very few adults that even understand the concept of out driving your headlights.
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 8 months ago
My parents took me to a parking lot after a fresh snow and told me to give it a try. Learning how the car handles is yuge.
joel_feila@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Around here you be Lucky to get snow once every 4 years. So yeah good idea but not doable here.
carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s alright, he probably doesn’t need to know how to do a PIT maneuver or corner drifts :P