Should there be a different licence for 4wd drivers??

Yes and should be one for towing also ...................... go to any boat ramp if you would like proof as to why ?

2.5 tonne of 4 by probably slow them down, I know it does my wife! no speeding fines since she's been driving it.

Cheers.

you are right but i am trying to think back to any accident/s involving kids and 4wds, i cant recall any to be honest ............
Maybe a system where they are limited to either cc's or hp until off the "p" plates, i think motor bikes are like that, trucks are based on weights, i would dearly love to see "P" platers restricted to say 2000cc un-modifyed, that would save a lot of young lives ...
Cheers
Joe

Absolutely not Axle! Inexperienced drivers can come unstuck just as easily regardless of the size of the car, and using 4wd v 2wd as a yardstick for weight of car is erroneous. Power is another story. I do think graded on engine power similar to motor cycle licensing has merit.

Motherhen

....especially the more experienced!!! Some who have a 60 year unblemished driving record are just plain scary. Then they buy the big 4wd to protect their wives should they have a crash, which is highly probable in the confines of the supermarket car park. I'm terrified when I see some of them coming. LOL (that stands for Little Old Lady)

A total load of palaver, a licence is a licence up to 3 ton. Some people should have to get licenses to breathe I reckon.

Don't think you have to worry to much most p platers wouldn't be seen in a 4wd truck. to slow .

Maybe a 4x4 should be classified as a medium rigid vehicle; everyone who owns a 4x4 has to get an MR licence. You can't drive a medium rigid on a car licence.
We would all know that the person driving a 4x4 has at least the experience to get that licence.
Include the 4x4 cars as well so there is no mistake.

I had my last Patrol hit 180km once. Not the most stable at that speed.

It was stolen by a kid in my care. The police say he was doing 160 when he hit the telegraph pole.

Not all fourbys are slow. A mates Prado keeps up with me when i'm on the bike. Both in takeoff and cruising speed.

I definitely agree! But probably for different reasons.

Age may not necessarily be one of them. But if it was, I'm more inclined to think that the retirees are the ones who should be looking at an "upgraded" license. Some oldies have spent their lives catching the bus/train to and from work and only drive to family picnics on weekends. Then at retirement, a new 4WD and Caravan appears in the yard and away they go, safe in the knowledge that they have never had an accident. We've all seen them drive, haven't we?

So that's one of my thoughts, but not necessarily the uppermost one.

I believe that a 4WD license should ONLY be obtained after doing recognized driver training. Personally I have done courses, but would HAPPILY do more in the interests of obtaining such a license.

My reason is this; I have seen/read/heard many stories of people buying a 4WD, and immediately stocking it with snatch straps, shackles, chains etc... and take off for a weekend of off road adventure. I have questioned friends who have done this, and they have told me..... "How hard can it be?" or "I'm OK, my mate at work explained to me how to drive up mountains"

Scary, isn't it? Remember only a few months back a teenaged boy was in the back seat of a 4WD, looking out the back window whilst a snatch recovery was being carried out, and the tie down point let go, sending a shackle through his head and killing him?

That's why I think that there should be a separate license. Even for old mate who buys a 4WD "so the family is safer in the event of an accident but never intends to take it off road"...... then one day he decides he wants to try it out. At the very least he will have had some training on the do's/don'ts of 4WD'ing and can't fend off responsibility with the old "I didn't know but thought I did" routine...... and maybe would have saved someones life.

And if just ONE life gets saved, doesn't that make it worthwhile?

Just my opinion folks, you don't have to agree with me.


Cheers

Brian

Maybe the young fellow who was killed on Fraser a few months back would be alive after a 4WD course was attended with recovery as a module. And there are other safety things as well.

I vote yes provided it includes recovery etc. It may stop the "tourist" deaths as well.

Phil

Already far to much ineffective and ignored legislation out there Axle , each bit reduces our own personal responsibility and passes it on to an automatic process which further weakens our responibility.

Power to weight ratio grading would be better for any licence under medium rigid , and an endorsement for towing , absolutely ridiculous that any fool can buy a vehicle built on essentially a small truck chassis and hitch up a 20+ foot van without training and endorsement and take to the highways and byways.

We are already too regulated. Over licenced, over taxed, over governed, over controlled .. when will it end! You will never control stupidity! The only way to impact on people's actions is to make them responsible for the consequences .
Capt.

So where do you draw the line................is it a 4WD or AWD, do you need a special license to drive a Subaru Forrester.

While we're at it lets introduce a license to drink alcohol,

Or maybe a license to have kids and get the baby bonus

Trouble is we are over regulated now, the kids can't do anything to learn the consequenses of their actions.

Someone mentioned the kid being killed in the backseat near Hervey Bay a few weeks ago, well the area in the forest had just had 5-6" of rain that day and some half brain adults decided to go four wheeling, no number of laws can regulate stupidity

Bruce

I would be more worried that a Red P Plater can drive a hire mini-bus with up to 11 people in it except between 11pm & 5am.
Cheers Dave.

Why not just give better driving courses for learners in general?
Ive seen driving instructors that should not be on the road.

While learning they should also include some basic mechanical skills, like changing a tyre, checking water/oil etc.

It will not make one iota of difference beyond creating another revenue stream for Government and more bureaucrats.

It's the same for disqualifying drivers ... many just continue to drive and hope they don't get caught. From what I have seen in the papers, you can do that and get caught 4 or 5 times before the courts even consider a custodial sentence. Play the percentages.

Jack

I owned a few vehicles when on P's, including 2 4wd's. Yes they handled differently, but that is all. It took the same adjusting as when I sold them to drive a normal sedan again.
How many people here had completed driver training courses before they purchased a 4x4?
There are good drivers and bad drivers out there irrespective of age and gender.
If you get hit on a pedestrian crossing by a 2.5 ton vehicle I couldn't imagine it feeling any worse than being hit by a 1.8ton vehicle at 80km/h.
If a test is the way people want to go, make it retrospective and have ALL current 4x4 owners complete skidpan training, training on correctly loading a vehicle, towing safely, off road work and rudimentary repairs before they next head down to the shops.
Courses are great, but there is only one way to gain experience.

Cheers Tanka