Young drivers toy with danger - Nearly 1 in 5 drivers injured in accidents in 2006 was under 30
By Carolyn Quek & Teh Joo Lin 
A REFORMED DRIVER NOW: Mr Charles Wee, 22, got into five accidents within two years of getting his driving licence after he turned 18 - the legal driving age. -- ST PHOTO: ALAN LIM
MR CHARLES Wee, 22, got his driving licence two weeks after he turned 18 - and went on to get into five accidents within two years.
In his fourth, most serious one in May 2005, the then 19-year-old polytechnic student's Toyota Rav 4, a gift from his father, turned turtle near Upper Aljunied Road.
He said he was driving four friends home at about 3am after a night of drinking when, egged on by his tipsy passengers, he took a bend at 80kmh.
He lost control of the vehicle and it flipped over, shattering its windscreen. Two of his three friends, who were unbelted in the rear seat, landed in hospital with minor injuries; neither he nor his front-seat passenger - both wearing seat belts - were hurt.
Charged with reckless driving, he got off with nine demerit points and a $200 fine. Since then, he has had a clean driving record.
The Traffic Police told The Straits Times that 250 of the 1,283 drivers injured in accidents in 2006 - or nearly one in five - were under 30.
The numbers are grimmer among fatal accidents: Of the 29 drivers killed that year, nine - or nearly one in three - were under 30.
But the numbers do not tell the whole story because they cover only young people who were at the wheel. Very often, these drivers carry passengers as young as they are.
And those in the rear usually end up more badly off because they are often not wearing seat belts.
A case in point: In the Feb10 accident in which a Mitsubishi Lancer went off a bend along Old Upper Thomson Road, the two unbelted rear-seat passengers died. The driver and his front-seat passenger survived.
Insurers confirm young motorists' noticeable presence among their claimants.
American Home Assurance, for example, has processed 250 to 300 claims every month in the last three years among the under-30 group, out of its monthly total of about 2,360 claims.
Its country manager Kevin Gouldingsaid the number of claims falls noticeably among drivers even just slightly older - that is, between 26 and 29 years old.
Age is thus a factor.
Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo said young people tend to think they are invincible and are supremely confident.
He said they have not been scarred by setbacks in life, 'especially, if you think about it, many of those who have access to cars come from more privileged backgrounds'.
Undergraduate Alicia Lee, 19, is a sterling example of such youthful bravado.
She pooh-poohs safety belts, saying she is not going to start using them.
'I don't think I will be that unlucky to get into an accident,' she said.
She does not observe speed limits and claims not to know what they are. And she believes - mistakenly - that her international driving licence excuses her from following Singapore's traffic laws.
National Safety Council president Tan Jin Thong cites the lack of familiarity with the car as a reason such young people get into accidents.
Most of them do not own their own cars yet, so driving is a novelty. They are often borrowing cars - dad's or a friend's - to use for an outing, for example.
Many such drivers do not know the car's capabilities and they speed - even if the car 'is not designed like a Ferrari or Lamborghini to speed or brake quickly', he said.
Insurers know this well enough, which is why they charge young drivers 30 per cent more in premiums.
Ms Saras Raja, an administrator at Raja Towing Services, said six in 10 of her company's clients are in their 20s, and tend to be male, with passengers around their age.
The Straits Times understands that about 30,000 new drivers are unleashed on the road every year, many not much older than the legal driving age of 18.
China, India, Japan and Taiwan also allow driving from 18; in Britain, it is 17, and in the United States, between 14 and 18.
Qualified drivers here would have cleared their basic and advanced theory tests, taken 20 to 25 lessons and passed the practical test.
But driving instructor William Low, 50, recommends that young drivers have qualified drivers beside them to guide them in the initial weeks after having earned their driving licences.
Source:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...ry_210386.html 
Young drivers toy with danger - Nearly 1 in 5 drivers injured in accidents in 2006 was under 30 
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