When it comes to driving, us young drivers (typically under 25s) tend to have it rough. We’re stereotyped to be reckless and lack care on the roads which translates in having to pay more in car insurance. Don’t get me wrong, there are some young drivers who ruin it for all of us by exceeding the speed limit on every opportunity but the majority of young drivers are very competent, if not better drivers than other drivers on the road. My driving instructor once told me that young drivers are more highly trained than drivers who have been driving for years – I’ve definitely witnessed some older drivers pulling a few dodgy stunts on the road.
I guess the one thing us young drivers lack by default is experience. That’s why we’ve come up with 3 important driving tips for young drivers to help us lift the stereotype of young drivers being bad drivers. These tips are most likely picked up over the years through driving experience.
Marmalade, the young persons insurance group, have developed a stereotype quiz that you can take to see how much of a risk taking driver you’re assumed to be based on your interests and hobbies. Take it here and let us know how much of a risk taker you are. P.s. you’ll also be entered into a draw to win a car!!
Below are my results, turns out I should be a bit of a risk taker which is completely not like me!
The tool is based on the answers that 261 young drivers gave when they were surveyed.
Take the test yourself and then check out the below driving tips, there really important when it comes to being safe on the road.
Driving Tips For Young Drivers
1. It’s really important to check your tyre tread
When it comes to maintaing your car and making sure it’s safe, one of the most important things to check is the tyre tread. Tyres with worn out tread are extremely dangerous and pretty much an accident waiting to happen. The police and insurance groups take worn out tyres very seriously – the police can prosecute with a fine up to £2,500 and 3 points on you license, and insurance companies can refuse to cover you in the case of an accident.
Check out the below video for a quick and easy way to check your tyre tread, this simple test really could save your life.
The minimum legal tyre tread depth is 1.6mm for cars in the UK and Europe, across the central three-quarters of the tyre. The tread must meet this depth across its complete circumference. Make sure you’re regularly checking this so you don’t expose yourself and others to unnecessary danger.
2. “Is it illegal to drive barefoot?” answered
When it comes to driving, suitable footwear is really important. Footwear can impact your breaking force and reaction times. Young drive love to play around with their footwear more than any other generation so it’s really important to understand the consequences.
In a nutshell, legally you can drive barefoot but it is not advised! By driving without shoes on, you’re putting yourself and others in danger as it reduces your breaking force compared to when wearing shoes. The ideal pair of shoes to drive in should have a thick sole, provide enough grip to prevent your foot slipping off the pedals and shouldn’t limit movement in the ankle. Unfortunately, this rules our flip flops.
Tip: keep a suitable pair of driving shoes in your car, they could just save your life!
3. How to quickly de-mist your windscreen
There is nothing that annoys me more than seeing a driver on the road with reduced visibility because they couldn’t be bothered to take the time to de-mist their windscreen. Visibility is so important when it comes to driving and it’s pretty straight forward to understand why! This is probably something that us young folk do far too often with us “always being in a rush” – don’t be stereotyped as a bad driver by driving around with a misted windscreen, were driving to clear our name!
Here are some tips to help de-mist your windscreen
- If you have air con, make sure it’s switched on and blowing on the windscreen on the heater setting. The air con will help remove the moisture that the heater evaporates from the windscreen.
- Body heat can result in a misted windscreen – ever noticed this happen when you’ve got in the car? This is due to the moisture we release as we breathe and the effect our body heat has on the temperature in the car. To avoid this, start the heater off in the cold setting and gradually increase the temperature until you find an ideal temperature that doesn’t leave you shivering and doesn’t fog up the windscreen.
- Driving with the windows down can help de-mist the windscreen too.
These tips should be a few in many ways to help young drivers be more responsible drivers. As i said before, we lack experience compared to our older counterparts as these are probably things they’ve picked up over the years anyway. By reading and using these tips you’re helping to squash the stereotype of young drivers being bad ones.
Don’t forget to take marmalades stereotype quiz to find out how you rank in terms of risk of being stereotyped as being a bad driver based on your likes and hobbies.
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