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Fears over young drivers as P-plater caught eating cereal behind wheel

Apr 06, 2018

There are calls for harsher laws for drivers. Source: Twitter/Sunrise.

There have been ongoing calls for tougher licensing restrictions for older drivers – but a series of shocking incidents involving younger drivers has now sparked debate over whether tougher road laws should be rolled out to include them too.

A female driver, who had visible P-plates on her car, sparked outrage this week when she was caught eating a bowl of cereal from behind the wheel. A fellow driver spotted the Perth woman’s car swerving, and their passenger managed to get a photo as she munched from the bowl – with no hands on the wheel.

Western Australia’s Police Commissioner Chris Dawson has said in a statement to 7 News of the footage: “We’ve got their registration – they can expect a knock on the door”.

A driver in Perth has been caught eating cereal behind the wheel! pic.twitter.com/YxFtnVvA2Q

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) April 5, 2018

Dawson warned that the woman could face a charge of careless driving, which could result in her losing her licence.

“You can’t be driving a car and eating your brekkie at the same time,” he told 7 News. “That is just ridiculously dangerous.”

It comes just a month after a Perth woman was fined $400 when she was caught using FaceTime while driving. Meanwhile, according to the Herald Sun, shocked motorists have previously spotted young drivers applying make-up, reading, using their mobile phones and even shaving, while supposedly concentrating on their driving.

Meanwhile a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in 2017 found Millennials were the riskiest drivers, with 88 per cent of the Americans aged 19-24 surveyed acknowledging that they had engaged in what would be considered dangerous behaviour behind the wheel that month. That could include anything from texting to running red lights or speeding, USA Today reported.

“Alarmingly, some of the drivers aged 19 to 24 believe that their dangerous driving behaviour is acceptable,” David Yang, the foundation’s executive director, said at the time.

In Australia in January, the Australian Medical Association called for a zero-tolerance approach to P-plate and L-plate drivers caught using mobiles and other devices behind the wheel. The AMA’s president Michael Gannon said that drivers of all age groups were guilty of using phones while driving, rule-breaking by new drivers boded particularly badly for their future driving behaviour.

“The difference with P-platers is they hold a provisional licence and it can and should be taken away from them if they are not showing early on in their driving careers proper respect for the roads,” Gannon told the Guardian at the time.

It comes amid calls for older drivers to face tough new licensing restrictions, over fears they’re a danger to others on the roads. New South Wales mother Sue Jenkins is petitioning for stricter rules for the older cohort after her son was killed by an elderly driver in 2016.

Jenkins’ son Dann was riding his motorbike when he was struck by 87-year-old Edwin Jessop. Jessop had recently passed his drivers test, but failed to see Dann and turned directly into his path, and according to reports, tests after the accident showed that he had impaired vision. Jessop was later convicted of negligent driving causing death but he was given only a nine-month suspended prison sentence in recognition of his age.

Jenkins told 2GB’s Ray Hadley that something had to change. “Mr Jessop passed his test late July and then killed our son in October. The test is inadequate,” she said.

According to government stats, in the past 12 months 129 people aged 65-74 were killed on the road, compared to 410 aged 40-64, and 248 aged 26-39.

While these numbers don’t indicate which age bracket caused the most accidents, Monash University Accident Research Centre Professor Max Cameron told Crikey that older drivers generally took extra care to reduce their risk of hurting anyone on the road.

“What we find is that older people recognise their limitations and drive much less,” he said. “They seldom drive at night, they usually drive at lower speeds, and they’re usually affluent enough to drive better cars.”