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V OT - Young people in big four wheel drives


Rolly

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We just did a four day trip enjoying our local high country (we get a Queen's Birthday Public Holiday here in the land of Oz,

thanks Liz). Great time, cold as all hell but a good fire and a few drinks at night warms up those cockles.

On the second last day after a good six hour drive (personally I'd prefer to set a camp and stay in a nice spot for four

days) we got to one of our usual haunts to set up camp for one last night. I saw to setting a fire and preparing the camp

while my mate went off to get some more wood. Unfortunately, he ran into an 18 year old in a GQ Patrol (read datsun 120Y

with a lift kit) lifted 6 inches with 36" tyres and a winch bar on the front doing at least 60km/hr on a wet & slippery winding

mountain track with about 10ft of vision on blind corners that I slow down to 15'ks to go around because its a 50m drop on

one side and a rock embankment on the other. Apart from a small check-up in hospital suffering from shock he was alright

apart from a 68'000km Toyota Prado he'd worked his butt off for for (?) the last 2 years setting up as a nice tourer being

destroyed.

The thing is, the next day I was told by other people at thecamp-site that this jerk had almost run 2 cars & a

motorbike rider of the road in the last 3 days and was prone to entering the camp-site at 60km/hr & doing a big 4-wheel

drift in the mud to impress his mates. This is the same camp-site where children ride their bikes around and generally play

at what kids play at doing. How he didn't get the carp beaten out of him before-hand has got me stuffed but he had been

chipped by the people he was camping with a few times already plus other campers had a word with him as well. And after

all that he does the same thing again on his way off the mountain and writes off someone else's car. This is an 18 year old

in a 2 1/2 ton monster with 4 odd litres of straight six behind it & he probably got his licence in an Hyundai Excel.

I know you can't take sheer stupidity into account when your making road rules but here in Australia we won't let our

young drivers behind the wheels of V8's or turbo-charged petrol cars but they can jump into the thing I've just described

and create havoc. We are just thankful it was a boy's weekend away and he didn't have his 5 & 10 year old in the car (his

wife I can't vouch for), as for the #%#$# in the datsun, we have all his details and about 6 of us will be making seperate

complaints at different times to different Police Stations about his driving abilities which in the end will probably be more

satisfying than beating him to within that inch of his life that he so truly deserves.

That's my rant for this week, has anyone else run into jerks like this? And why are they always Datsun drivers?

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They aren't always Datsun drivers (no Datsuns here) - and no it isn't just you, young people are getting stupider everywhere (in every respect except exam results which does support the theory exams must be getting easier!). Where the ones round here used to get around in S3 and old 2.5 90s because thats all they could afford, they now do so in 2.8L Pajeros, and 3.0L Surf/Prado 4x4s, mainly ex Jap market ones and at twice the speed. I used to drive like a yob in my old Discovery but I knew where the limits were and didn't want to bend it, me or anybody else and I didn't - not something I could say with confidence about the 18-20 yo today, a few of whom have accident records that I am pretty sure must be into double figures by now.

So the short answer to the title question is probably "yes" or maybe I am just getting old and grumpy :D

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Remeber not all young 4x4 drivers drive like that. Some oldies drive like yobs too :)

Ditto. There is also a difference between driving fast and driving inappropriately.

Rolly, it does sound like you've had a bad time, though! I have every sympathy for your mate as it sounds - I'm sure he must be gutted at the loss of his vehicle but at least he's OK!

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We're not all thuggish yobs, however there are far too many idiots around in vehicles like that. Young and old, here and abroad.

As a 20-year old who drives a Defender and a Ford Focus, I can say that I most certainly adjust my driving style from the very well-handling and pseudo-sporty Focus to the 1.7 ton Defender on mud tyres :P

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Guest noggy

please please dont stereotype young people, it happens enough already with our extreme insurance.

I drive a 200tdi E reg 90 and i can get 60 out of it at the best of times! (steering wheel shakes at faster speeds)

I dont drive like a dick, i often have my friends driving off at silly paces and leaving me behind, but i know im going to get there safer and just as easily.

You have had a bad experience, dont be a mardy old granddad and point the finger at all young people, after all you were young once.

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I see one example of a bad driver who happens to be young in your post yet the title is young people in four wheel drives. I find that odd, you'd think that 4x4 drivers especially would avoid tarring everyone with the same brush going by the number of posts you see complaining that green peace have come along and taken a dump on their windscreen again.

Yes this guy is obviously a complete dick but I doubt that has much to do with age or what he drives. I know that there are some guys in the LR community who don't want anyone below the age of 30 to own what they do, as if they do then surely it's just a different take on the saxo/nova/corsa idea. It's not like these young people could have something in common with them, is it? :banned:

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It's a fact that there are good and bad in all walks of live, ages, sexes - you name it. I really can't see the point in this thread continuing other than to cover some very old ground and to provide a sounding board for people to state the obvious so it's being locked and will be deleted in the very near future.

Any genuine problems then please PM me.

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