New Drivers

For as long as I've known people that were nearly old enough to acquire a license I've been hearing the same things over and over again. It doesn't seem to matter how young or old someone is, almost all of them will offer up the fact that they are "really good drivers".

In the section 215 of the MVA, there is a “way out” for the driver being served the 24 hour suspension. The section 215(6) reads as follows:

One of the conditions attached to the driver's license of any new driver in British Columbia's Graduated Licensing Program (GLP) is that the driver must have zero blood alcohol when they are operating a motor vehicle. Of course, the idea behind this is that the driver has enough to worry about while driving the vehicle without adding alcohol to the mix. So, what about drug use?

The case of Schurmann v Hoch arises from a collision that occurred at dusk in rainy weather. Mr. Schurmann was attempting to turn out of a parking lot onto the highway when he was struck by the vehicle Mr. Hoch (a GLP driver) was operating. Mr. Hoch had failed to turn on his headlights.

Stay in Mantrol is an anti-speed campaign from the New Zealand Transport Agency. The following quote from their web site summarizes the campaign:

Brian Vickers is a 17 year old Novice driver. He was convicted under section 144(1)(b) MVA, Driving Without Reasonable Consideration for Others Using the Highway, for passing another vehicle while traveling in excess of the speed limit in a school zone.

Question: Can someone with their N have more than one friend in the car if they are the designated driver?

The Traffic Injury Research Foundation has released a report titled "An evaluation of graduated driver licensing programs in North America." The report concludes that graduated licensing reduces a 16 year old's chance of a fatal collision by 19%, chiefly by reducing the number of people in the vehicle driven by the teen. Negligible effects were seen for drivers in the 17 to 19 year old age groups.

This is a road safety campaign video from the UK, just in time for Valentine's day, aimed at teen drivers. One of the slogans used is 'More girls die as passengers than as drivers.' This is a significant idea for the female half of the equation to consider. They do need to play an active role in keeping the male focused on safe driving when necessary, obviously for their own good.