RISKY DRIVERS
NEW research has found that young drivers are putting their lives at risk on our roads by knowing very little about maintaining the cars they drive.
Many don’t know how to check a car’s oil and coolant, replace windscreen wipers or check tyre pressures.
In Queensland young drivers are turning their backs on basic car safety checks.
The research showed that 86 per cent of drivers under the age of 25 don’t worry about checking oil levels and tyre pressure in their vehicle. More than one-third of these drivers don’t know how to perform the basic checks.
This is a concern as 33 per cent of young drivers have a car that is more than 10 years old, putting them at a higher risk of breaking down.
And if they do break down almost 40 per cent of young drivers don’t know what to do.
“I’m confident in my driving ability, but it’s definitely worth getting some driver training and spending the money to keep your car up to date,” Townsville driver Matthew Eggins, 18, said.
“It can cost a bit of money and take some time, but in the end it’s all worth it.
“I think making use of driver training is a big one, I don’t think enough young people do it.
“I’ve been involved in accident myself when I was T-boned.
“It’s a frustrating process when you’re trying to get back on the road again.”
The survey, by Driver Safety Australia, also found that almost twothirds of drivers said they continued to drive while their car was making an odd noise and more than half have admitted to continuing to drive their car with a known fault.
The survey showed that drivers were more than four times more likely to spend $50 to go out to dinner and twice as likely to buy clothes than replace a brake or headlight.
Russell White, head of Driver Safety Australia, said young drivers were ill-equipped to deal with situations where something went wrong with their car.
“The sheer startled factor of the car doing something it doesn’t usually do is a worrying situation. People can panic and put themselves in a really bad situation,” said Mr White.
He said that even though some of the regular safety checks seemed trivial they could have huge consequences if not routinely carried out.
“It can be anything from a minor inconvenience to something major where you end up paying the ultimate price. When we look at road safety when something goes wrong it can go wrong in a very big way,” said Mr White.
“The big thing is making sure the vehicle is roadworthy. Make sure the tyres are right, lubricant is full and all those under bonnet consumables such as oil are right. Anyone can check them. It can be done while you are washing the car.”
Mark Short, a former service manager for a major Holden dealership, said that skipping maintenance could hit your wallet big time and should be avoided.