5 young men killed in high speed crash.

[balthazarr]

I was involved in a fairly major accident (one that did not involve any other vehicle) when I was 17. Dad's car ended up wrapped around a stobie pole. I was lucky, the car hit on the passenger's side not mine (the door pillar ended up 3/4 into the centre console), and the power lines, though damaged, did not fall and touch the car. I walked away shaken, but otherwise unscathed.

Police investigated and, though no charges were laid, I was 'asked' to attend a driver training course run by the police. I don't really remember the details, but I do remember watching video footage of real victims, real accidents, real gore... it was pretty full on.

That, combined with the fact that I'd almost died, has helped shape my driving to this day.

Obviously, we can't make every P plater have an accident that could have killed them, but we can make them see the consequences and hopefully understand that driving a car is not 'fun'... it's serious, with potentially deadly consequences.

Every P plate applicant should have to sit through a similar sort of video - real stuff, not the TAC effects - and then be tested on the video to ensure they were paying attention.

Maybe that way it might get through to a few of them... even though they'll still feel like they're invincible.