Diary Of An ADI

A story from Australia, but obviously it is going to apply to the Western World generally.

Apparently, the younger generation is:

• more stressed when driving
• most likely to get lost
• more likely to make erratic decisions
• more likely to make impulsive decisions

One of the researchers says that younger drivers are less effective at absorbing and processing information, and blames it on information overload through social media and the internet.

Or, in other words, they are poorer drivers.

The research appears to be flawed. All it is doing is comparing young drivers with older ones. What it needs to do is compare young drivers with older ones from the same internet generation – something which is obviously a bit of an oxymoron.

You see, new drivers – who are mainly young – are always less experienced at all aspects of driving than older, more experienced people. The only thing they have going for them over older drivers is (allegedly) faster reflexes – which can be a double-edged sword when it comes to making a snap decision without any experience. That’s why the normal young person’s reaction to a car coming directly towards them – albeit 300 metres away – is often to fling themselves down an embankment or into a kerb. As I often point out on lessons when I grab the wheel to prevent this, we have this pedal in the middle called “a brake”, and it makes you go slower and stop…

I’m sure the research is identifying a real problem. But I think it’s a problem that’s always been there in one form or another, and the researchers are drawing the wrong conclusions (probably in order to support a premise).

According to this story in the Daily Mail, electric cars offer motoring at less than 2p per mile.

Likewise, if I win the Lottery I won’t have to work any more. But we have to be realistic.

You see, the problem is that there is nowhere to charge them. The government published the results of a 12 month trial involving 40 electric Minis covering a total of just over a quarter of a million miles. The average daily travel distance was 30 miles.

Almost all charging was done at home. Most of those involved in the trial said that a network of charging points was essential. Or in other words, those involved in the trial HAD to charge at home because there was nowhere else to do it (except for those in London, of course).

Nissan announced at the same time that it was installing a charging point (Wow! One whole charging point) in Lincoln after Top Gear showed that there isn’t one there when they ran out of juice on their TV show.

The experimental results confirm that 72 percent of participants said they’d only managed (the story misses out the word “only”) because they could charge at home. And that’s something everyone seems to be missing – or concealing.

Look at the table below. On the left is the typical procedure for filling a petrol or diesel car. On the right are the various options for charging en electric vehicle. The realistic options involve waiting for a long time – either by going to sleep, or by queuing. A quick fast charge is highly unlikely.

There’s no two ways about it: electric cars are being talked up (especially at All Cars Electric and also at Business Green), but the reality is completely different. Even if there were charging points everywhere, waiting even for 20 minutes to get 80 miles range is too much.

And while we’re on the subject of talking electric cars up, 2p a mile might sound fantastic compared to £1.33 a litre – but that fuel price works out at 10-15p a mile on a typical petrol car. Electric cars might be cheaper to run, but not that much.

Reported in EADT24, Axa has called for an end to the “compensation culture” in this country, which it says is sending everyone’s insurance higher and higher.

Two and a half years ago I was involved in an accident. A new driver went through red lights (probably misjudged them) and I went straight into the side of her. I was not injured – apart from a diagonal row of bruises down my chest where the seatbelt pulled. Maybe I had a sore neck for a few days, but it went away. I don’t call that an “injury”. An “injury” is something that requires urgent medical attention, or when something is broken.

Since that day, I have been inundated with text messages saying that I am entitled to “£3,750 for the accident you had” and such like. I have ignored every single one of them, because I wasn’t injured.

The female driver of the other car, however, didn’t lose any time. She had already filed for whiplash injuries to anyone within a 500 metre radius within a few weeks (in spite of not needing an ambulance at the scene of the accident). In order to do this, she had to lie about what happened and as a result the case is STILL ongoing.

But she is just typical. The money is like winning the lottery to her.

The problem is that as soon as you notify your insurer of an accident, they give your details to one of these compensation companies and you’re can’t get rid of them. Axa has banned referrals like these.

A nice story here for the pessimists out there. This story on Autoblog (and on the BBC) reports that the number of 17-25 year olds taking their tests fell by nearly 20% last year (overall tests were down by 13%).

The DSA said the reasons weren’t clear-cut.

Personally, I’m happy to go with the idea that we’re in a recession and people are having to hold back with their spending. I see an increasing number of people who can’t easily afford the lessons, but who are desperate to get a licence for work. It follows that there must be a lot more people out there who I don’t see at all who aren’t learning to drive at all!

All of this is in fulfilment of an ancient Mayan prophecy about the end of the world – a prophecy which kicks in every time something ADIs don’t like happens.

Having said all that, I’m happy that my diary has been overflowing up until late June or early July this year. It did go a bit quiet for a few weeks (students gone home, holiday season upon us) but it’s picking up again now. It does this at this time of year (most years).