High performance car or low performance driver?
Ever since I was a kid, I was always dreaming of having a performance vehicle. I thought it would be nice to own and drive a BMW, Mercedes or perhaps a Porsche. It would be a flashy car and would perform amazingly while I was driving throughout my city. How many of you thought of owning an expensive performance vehicle? A reality check came true when my wife and I had four kids and needed a minivan, plus a training vehicle for my job as a driving instructor at Young Drivers of Canada.
Recently while on the freeway, I noticed a vehicle coming up quickly from behind me. I was already in the right lane to allow faster traffic to pass on my left, so I continued to monitor my mirror for this aggressive driver. I adjusted my speed by going slightly faster so they had a small window of opportunity to change lanes to the left to go around me. He did, but continued along with his aggressive pace and was tailgating the driver ahead of him.
Once this driver had room, he began to swerve around vehicles and finally, at the last moment, switched over 3 lanes at once so he could make his exit from the freeway. What was his hurry? When he passed me, I noticed he was driving an expensive performance vehicle. Why would he drive an expensive vehicle like that? Where was his respect for the safety of other road users and for the vehicle? I don’t think anyone should throw their money away, but if a crash happened because of his aggressive driving style, it would cause thousands of dollars in repairs, plus injury or even death to themselves, their passengers or other drivers.
I sometimes feel that a test must be given to someone before they purchase or lease a performance vehicle. Give them a test to find out their logic and common sense. Find out if they’re a responsible person. Giving a high performance vehicle to some people is like giving a loaded gun to a child; you never know what they may do with it.
The sad thing is that some parents want to reward their children for good behaviour by letting them use the high performance vehicle. I’ve read over and over again how younger drivers crash their parents’ expensive vehicle with aggressive driving and then, once the vehicle is repaired, get to use it again. What haven’t the parents realized here? Do they not realize what caused this crash? It very well could be caused by immaturity behind the wheel with a fast “toy”.
Giving a performance vehicle to an inexperienced, immature person is dangerous to the community. Let them earn the privilege of driving a performance vehicle. Let them pay for part of the insurance. Give them consequences to pay if they use it recklessly. What do you think?