No speeding
Friday 8 February 2008
Video clips recently posted on YouTube show young drivers filming themselves speeding. The police have already taken one young driver to court and would like to ban the clips altogether. n2k looks at safety on the road.
Limits
In 2004, a survey of young drivers by road safety charity Brake found that almost half regularly break 30mph speed limits - 59% of these were guys.
The statistics also showed that one in four drivers who died on British roads in 2006 was under 25, even though only 13 per cent of the drivers on the road are in that age group!
Dangerous behaviour by young car drivers can also cause the death and injury of friends who travel with them.
Not clever
Last year, a home video of a young driver in Suffolk was posted on Youtube. It showed the driver with one hand on the steering wheel as he used his mobile phone to record his journey, where the car travelled at up to 130mph!
The driver was only 18 and was arrested after the police received an anonymous tip about the YouTube clip. The teenager has now pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and will be sentenced at the end of February.
Even more recently, another driver uploaded a video of himself driving at 125mph on a motorway in Sussex. The police are now looking for him through his YouTube username, and have warned that anyone caught doing something similar will be arrested.
No more videos
Is the internet encouraging speeding by giving racers a worldwide audience for their dangerous antics? Send us an email with yuor opinion.
The RAC Foundation, a charity that aim to inform about issues such as safety on the roads, have called on websites like YouTube to stop people uploading these videos on the web.
The police have also expressed their concern that other people will see the videos and see this as a glamorous activity.
YouTube and other video sites have said that although the footage is dangerous, it's not offensive and would not be removed. Although the sites have said that they won’t ban the videos, they will cooperate with the police over postings of illegal activities.
It's not rocket science
It really isn’t! Apart from stating the obvious, which is - don’t speed, you can keep out of trouble on the road by following this no-brainer guide.
- Wear your seatbelt, and get others to wear theirs.
- Take breaks on long journeys.
- Never drink and drive.
- Don’t use your mobile phone in the car – you could get points on your licence, a fine or even go to jail!
- Check your car regularly – enough oil? Brakes working? Lights on?
Your responsibility
Driving and owning a car might be super cool but there are responsibilities that come with a license.
Obvious life threatening rules such as speed limits are there for a reason. You might think that wearing seatbelts cramps your style but it could avoid you hurting yourself, or hurting others!
