New Licences For 4WD Owners

[wilson_610]

thank you for the time it took to do this poll.

[kangaroosa]

I quiet often have to drive a 3 tonne truck for work. I am not required to hold a special truck license for this (and its about 3.6m high and 6m long). So i don't think a special license for a large car like a 4WD is suitable.

 

I would recommmend that ALL new 4WD's come standard WITHOUT Bullbars.

The people that want to go offroad can then fit them afterwards. This then eliminates thousands of 4WD's (that never leave bitumen) on our streets with bullbars.

[Super Jamie]

well i learnt to drive in a 4x4 pajero similar to rob's. it was a very useful experience, as i hopped into a smaller car and was instantly very relaxed on the road, as i now had two feet on each side of the car to the white lines, instead of 2 inches. i felt like i could position the car alot better on the road, probably because i was used to picking a reference point and driving with the lines when i couldn't see where the edges of the car were. that's about all it really taught me though. and driving through brisbane cbd with a car trailer on the back wasn't one of the coolest experiences i care to remember

 

one of the rants on my website is titled driving a ford territory makes you an asshole and expresses my views on 4x4s quite succinctly. personally i don't understand the whole SUV craze, but then again there's alot of things about cars and the choices people make about them that i don't understand

 

overall, government and driver attitudes in this country need a huge overhaul, and driver education beyond "number in a circle" needs... well... to exist. 4w drivers are just unlucky enough to be copping the brunt of what should be said about most people on our roads

Edited May 17, 2005 by Super Jamie

[Redwarf]

More driver education is required full stop. Some of the disgraces that I have seen recently do not bear mentioning, however, I will say that the general populace need to get THEIR act together before picking on 4WD owners. And I'm not just saying that because I own one. :)

 

You can drive up to a 4.5 tonne truck before you require a truck license.

 

The attitudes on other forums of " I'm 20 and can drift my car in the wet, thereby I'm a better driver than 99% of the country" fills me with vile hatred and makes me want to send Guido and the boys around post haste for some attitude re-adjustment. Bugger me, I'm 32, been driving for 15 years, and still learn something new all the time.

 

Driver education across the board is the key. Don't just target one group.

 

I have a ARB bullbar on my car due to the country miles I do, and the need to stop flying BBQ burners from attacking my car. I agree they shouldn't come standard, then we'd see a lot less Patrols with them.

 

And remember, if you're out on the roads, KEEP LEFT! :)

Edited May 17, 2005 by Redwarf

[wyldephyre]

See, kangaroosa drives a 3 tonner for work, and I'm sure (correct me if I'm wriong) that he doesn't need to drive in areas with high concentrations of children, which is what the whole issue is about: People who have no real need or even appreciation of the fact that they are driving a tank in the manner that they would drive a normal sedan.

 

As for the extended driver training thing, yes, I whole heartedly agree that the whole licensing thing is rather half arsed... there is no consideration at all to teach someone to behave in extreme driving conditions... the speeding fines threads we've had here sum that sentiment up nicely.

 

And to sidetrack a bit, I do find the current spate of speeding ads (the one with the mum and the baby) an insult to my intelligence... (apologies to overseas readers... I can't find a copy online anywhere)

[Redwarf]

Tell me, should there be a special license to drive turbo'd cars because they have so much power?

 

Should there be a special license for people with more than two sub woofers because they're so distracting?

 

Are we going to make some one who own's a Subaru forester take this 4wd license test? Or a Suzuki Vitara? What about 2wd f100's?

 

Why should someone who owns a 2wd Triton not have to take the test, but someone who has a 4wd one does?

[Teddy]

I could type an essay, or a 2 liner. I will try to do both, as this topic gets me very, very annoyed.

 

If I was the transport guy that had the final say with relation to licensing, and how it all works, I would be saying this...

 

If you cannot pass a driver training course, you are not aloud on the road, until you can pass it. No excuses. Id rather get into a car with a 25yr old that can SAFELY

Drive, and be targeted by the media, then get into a car with a 45yr old with reflex's like a broken stick.

 

Also, If you are over the age of 65, you need to be re tested every year. There is 0 tolerance for drink drivers. You cannot drink, and drive - Period. Drink and drive - looze your License for 6 months. 2nd time, for 2 years.

 

The Term 4 wheel drive is used so loosely, I could even classify my Nita Lada or Daihatsu Terzza-poss as a LARGE 4x4 vehicle. Soccer driver mums are the worst - they can't see where they are driving, and couldn't control a car let alone a tank in a dangerous situation. Why Ban 4x4's when its the drivers that need to be educated?

 

Its dog eat dog transport situation out there. Apparently, Every k over is a killer, but a semi trailer tailgating isn't a very serious offence. On the lines of dumb things, Oh how about noise restrictions! A harly daverson can get away with murder; they are freaking noisy things... I should put a Harley motor in my corolla.

 

Speed limits are ridiculous. Heres a good one -> 90 kmh on that Ipswich freeway is dumb. Intersections only get lights when people get killed. Stop signs are places over the country side like a cat doing dumps in a garden. If it looks like it does the job, and it's the first sign on the back of the counsel truck to be put up, then why not use it.

 

They put 50kmh in school zones, but don't realize the other end of the school has a 60 km speed limit on a main road. Common sense to me says unless you catch a bus to and from school, no one gets dropped off / walks out that front of the school.

Also, how about making area where kids get dropped/ picked up @ SCHOOL only zones... 20kmh, private road during school hours. If it's a main road, make the road inside the school.

If I had to do it my self, and go around to every school in the country, I'm sure I could fix the god dam problem my self. I could actually scare those dip heads in QLD trash-port; i may actually do some work - and get this - IT MAY ACTUALLY WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY *takes breath, don't want to get excited now..*

 

Ahh now that i have got my TOYOTA LANDCRUZER which is 2M x 5M, i can drive anywhere i want, and i can tail gate anyone like i did in my old car. People don't like my big car, because they get scared. Its good knowing that everyone around my 4x4 knows I'm here, and stays away from me. This never happened in my 800cc Suzuki swift. Why didn't i put it on a LADA frame, then ill be considered a Mad 4x4 driver? I'm no better a driver, but all of a sudden, I'm a crazy, irresponsible driver. Message to Media, get those god dam 4x4 terms correct ey?

 

Oh no, i wont be accepted in the transport section, because i possibly have COMMON sence, and i don't SIT BEHIND A COMPUTER DESK ALL DAY MAKING UP THE RULES, which apply to everyone but politics, and police. Catch is, there rules they make up may be good on paper, but the complete opposite in real life. They fail dismally when it comes to applying transport rules which actually work…

 

The end of a crappy, very bad spelling, random RANT !

Edited May 17, 2005 by Teddy

[TRD ke70]

i think YES, after all, you are driving a vehcile that weighs about 2 tonnes.

 

you need a special license to ride a motor bike and that's hi powered but weighs less, also a forklift, that's under powered but weighs more.

 

basically people who drive these large 4wd's HAVE to understand what they are driving, there not normal cars, they take longer to stop,etc.

 

saying all that, i drive a van, if a little kid was behind it, i wouldn't see them.

do i need a special license??

 

 

maybe anyone who owns or drives a LARGE 4WD should have to under go a practical driving test to prove they understand what they are driving.

 

there's no easy answer. :sad:

[Teddy]

If you think about it, a car with a 4x4 drivetrain is safer than a car with a 2x4 setup.

 

The term 4x4 is used so loozely tho... to me its more the physical size of the vehicle.. not its drivetrain.

[TRD ke70]

45yr old with reflex's like a broken stick.

catch phrase of the month!!!!!!! :)

[Redwarf]

Well, it looks like Datgirl and I are off for driving test's if it was up to you guys!! :)

 

Modern 4wd's are very easy to drive. The brakes on the Paj, through necessity, are huge, and stops probably as well as the wifes AE101. It has ABS brakes & airbags, as do all new 4wd's these days. In a school zone where you are meant to be doing 40kph, braking distance differences would be negligable.

 

Education is what is required, across the board.

Edited May 17, 2005 by Redwarf

[kangaroosa]

Correct me if i'm wrong- But i thought is was in relation to the larger 4WD's that weigh in at 2000kgs or more. Like the Nissan Patrol DX that weighs in at 2410kg's OR 2005 Land Rover LR3 SE at 2634kgs OR 2006 Mercedes-Benz ML500 at 2232kgs.

 

I couldnt work out if wyldephyre was agreeing or disagreeing with. The point i was making was not so much where i have to drive but the fact that i could drive it. Where ever i go, i usually have to reverse. Admittidly i don't do alot of jobs arounds schools, but most of our jobs are done in built up areas none the less.

 

They were getting a woman to reverse her 4WD on TV, and she hit a statue/cut-out of a kid that she couldnt see. So why is it ok for me to drive a 6m long truck where i have less vision than her, and the reporters don't come up to me in the street and spin their story on me.

 

Just my view anyway. I think the responsibility is solely on the driver, and if your not competent enough to drive a big car - well then you shouldn't.

Edited May 17, 2005 by kangaroosa

[MissSydneyCruising]

I just don't like 4x4's taking up so much room and cutting into my lane.

 

I got nothing in regards to a serious political debate. But when they are three times the size of my car (weighing in at 850kg or something) its not something I want crashing into me at any speed.

 

thats all I care about to be honest.

 

In saying that, the only type of people who have tried to kill me in my car (where I thought fk I'm gonna die) was 2 trucks and an lx torana.

[Redwarf]

They were getting a woman to reverse her 4WD on TV, and she hit a statue/cut-out of a kid that she couldnt see.

 

And if they'd put the same woman in a Tarago (ex Car of the Year), she'd have done the same thing.

 

It's crap like that that really annoys me. I watched as a woman hit a very parked and very stationary car yesterday whilst she was trying to reverse into a park at the Hypermarket. The ONLY thing it could be put down to was lack of talent. She was driving a Honda Prelude.

 

I now demand a special license to drive Honda's, so that innocent Celica's can be parked in carparks without fear.

Edited May 17, 2005 by Redwarf

[Xany]

did you tell her to leave a note.....

 

if she didnt....i would have...