When you were younger - That one Driver
Discussion
Off the back of the thread discussing young drivers and carrying passengers, I was thinking back to when I first started driving. I passed my test 28th October 1999, so mine and many of my friends had either 80s or early 90s cars.
I was lucky my group of mates were actually very sensible there was the odd mishap but none of my mates had a big smash luckily. The only incident that stood out was a lad in a college class I was in, had a Nova 1.4 (fast to us!), was actually a very tidy maroon 5 door with a huge sound system and decent alloys. He drove like a total muppet and was well known by most for it.
One day on a 'tour' near college, he took a drive down a residential road which was basically a long U back onto the main road. It's a 30mph but he decided that driving as fast as the car could was the best course of action.
Group of mates witness this, tyres squealing and one comments, "Wouldn't it be funny if he crashed".
To then hear screeching tyres and a huge bang. He's basically gone round this bend, understeered, overcorrected, braked and then swung into a garden wall. Drivers side wheel was pointing upwards and the back end hit a lamp post. Car was totalled but luckily no injuries.
So who had the one idiot, terrible driver back in your youth who was putting youngsters insurance premiums up?
I was lucky my group of mates were actually very sensible there was the odd mishap but none of my mates had a big smash luckily. The only incident that stood out was a lad in a college class I was in, had a Nova 1.4 (fast to us!), was actually a very tidy maroon 5 door with a huge sound system and decent alloys. He drove like a total muppet and was well known by most for it.
One day on a 'tour' near college, he took a drive down a residential road which was basically a long U back onto the main road. It's a 30mph but he decided that driving as fast as the car could was the best course of action.
Group of mates witness this, tyres squealing and one comments, "Wouldn't it be funny if he crashed".
To then hear screeching tyres and a huge bang. He's basically gone round this bend, understeered, overcorrected, braked and then swung into a garden wall. Drivers side wheel was pointing upwards and the back end hit a lamp post. Car was totalled but luckily no injuries.
So who had the one idiot, terrible driver back in your youth who was putting youngsters insurance premiums up?
Couple of lads I knew used to get themselves into a decent position then do something stupid and ruin their cars, and lives in general.
One lad used to borrow his mums basic Pug 205, his party piece to get a sort of burnout out of it was to reverse at full tilt and then slam it in first using the momentum and the engine power to get the wheels spinning, much more impressively than the little chirrup a 1.1 litre would otherwise do. He did this for a few days until the inevitable happened and the gearbox shat itself. He just told his mum it had broken and she believed him, I mentioned it in a Facebook post on something he posted and let the cat out of the bag thirty years later as his mum read it !
A lad at a place I worked had a Citroen Visa, he was doing some kind of reversing thing spinning it a circle, all great run until it landed on its roof.
One lad was doing well, got a 205 GTI 1.9 and stuffed it into a field, got paid out, got an identical replacement and stuffed that into a field.
One lad used to borrow his mums basic Pug 205, his party piece to get a sort of burnout out of it was to reverse at full tilt and then slam it in first using the momentum and the engine power to get the wheels spinning, much more impressively than the little chirrup a 1.1 litre would otherwise do. He did this for a few days until the inevitable happened and the gearbox shat itself. He just told his mum it had broken and she believed him, I mentioned it in a Facebook post on something he posted and let the cat out of the bag thirty years later as his mum read it !
A lad at a place I worked had a Citroen Visa, he was doing some kind of reversing thing spinning it a circle, all great run until it landed on its roof.
One lad was doing well, got a 205 GTI 1.9 and stuffed it into a field, got paid out, got an identical replacement and stuffed that into a field.
My brother. Passed his test during his time in the army on an intensive course after a few days, but I'm convinced to this day he bribed whoever tested him. He bought a very tidy Fiesta from a mate of mine, and crashed it 4 hours later. I gave him a lift to the body shop to pick his car up and watched him drive out, straight through a red light and nearly crash it again. Many years later he's now an armed response police officer, pursuit trained etc. I've got absolutely no idea how, he's still a terrible driver.
My best pal and I passed our tests in 1983 and he was a complete liability for several years:
Creashed his Dad's Rover SD1 on ice near Henley, taking out about 50yards of metal fencing belonging to Ringo Starr before hitting a tree. He was stuck in the car and had to be cut out (uninjured) by the fire service.
Next, he rolled his mum's XR3i cabriolet with me in the passenger seat and our pal, Steve, in the back. Roof was down and Steve was not wearing a seat belt, so he was thrown out of the car and we were left dangling. All of us uninjured! The XR3i was about 6 months old, the Rover a couple of years.
We moved on to matching Caspian Blue Escort RS1600is. On a top speed challenge down through the chalk cut on the M40 near Stockenchurch mine blew its head gasket at an indicated 130 mph!!! Later that year (c1988) we drove them to the South of France where I proceeded to jump mine over a roundabout (too much speed and couldn't stop) and nose dived it into a ditch. It was recovered home, but was way beyond repair (apart from the smashed front the roof was and windscreen pillars were bent) so I bought it from the insurance company and sold it as a write-off. Saw it a few years later at the Ford Fair at Donnington - dunno whether it was re-shelled or had a dodgy repair!!
That was 36 years ago and neither of us have had a crash since. In fact, I've not had any points accept for 3 I got for speeding on my motorbike about 25 years ago.
Creashed his Dad's Rover SD1 on ice near Henley, taking out about 50yards of metal fencing belonging to Ringo Starr before hitting a tree. He was stuck in the car and had to be cut out (uninjured) by the fire service.
Next, he rolled his mum's XR3i cabriolet with me in the passenger seat and our pal, Steve, in the back. Roof was down and Steve was not wearing a seat belt, so he was thrown out of the car and we were left dangling. All of us uninjured! The XR3i was about 6 months old, the Rover a couple of years.
We moved on to matching Caspian Blue Escort RS1600is. On a top speed challenge down through the chalk cut on the M40 near Stockenchurch mine blew its head gasket at an indicated 130 mph!!! Later that year (c1988) we drove them to the South of France where I proceeded to jump mine over a roundabout (too much speed and couldn't stop) and nose dived it into a ditch. It was recovered home, but was way beyond repair (apart from the smashed front the roof was and windscreen pillars were bent) so I bought it from the insurance company and sold it as a write-off. Saw it a few years later at the Ford Fair at Donnington - dunno whether it was re-shelled or had a dodgy repair!!
That was 36 years ago and neither of us have had a crash since. In fact, I've not had any points accept for 3 I got for speeding on my motorbike about 25 years ago.
Ahhh it was me for sure.
I admit I was wreckless and took me a few years to calm right down.
Fiesta into a post but didn’t write that car off.
Flipped a Clio 1.4 onto its roof 100 yards from the road. Recovery vehicle had never seen a vehicle so far from the road in question. Only had it a few weeks. My 18th birthday present.
Backwards through someone’s fence ending up a foot from there front door in my 200vi. I was 19.
I hit some ridiculous speeds in areas I shouldn’t have, making those that make the papers look like saint's.
Really stupid.
My mates still can’t believe I am still alive.
I admit I was wreckless and took me a few years to calm right down.
Fiesta into a post but didn’t write that car off.
Flipped a Clio 1.4 onto its roof 100 yards from the road. Recovery vehicle had never seen a vehicle so far from the road in question. Only had it a few weeks. My 18th birthday present.
Backwards through someone’s fence ending up a foot from there front door in my 200vi. I was 19.
I hit some ridiculous speeds in areas I shouldn’t have, making those that make the papers look like saint's.
Really stupid.
My mates still can’t believe I am still alive.
Gixer968CS said:
My best pal and I passed our tests in 1983 and he was a complete liability for several years:
Creashed his Dad's Rover SD1 on ice near Henley, taking out about 50yards of metal fencing belonging to Ringo Starr before hitting a tree. He was stuck in the car and had to be cut out (uninjured) by the fire service.
Next, he rolled his mum's XR3i cabriolet with me in the passenger seat and our pal, Steve, in the back. Roof was down and Steve was not wearing a seat belt, so he was thrown out of the car and we were left dangling. All of us uninjured! The XR3i was about 6 months old, the Rover a couple of years.
We moved on to matching Caspian Blue Escort RS1600is. On a top speed challenge down through the chalk cut on the M40 near Stockenchurch mine blew its head gasket at an indicated 130 mph!!! Later that year (c1988) we drove them to the South of France where I proceeded to jump mine over a roundabout (too much speed and couldn't stop) and nose dived it into a ditch. It was recovered home, but was way beyond repair (apart from the smashed front the roof was and windscreen pillars were bent) so I bought it from the insurance company and sold it as a write-off. Saw it a few years later at the Ford Fair at Donnington - dunno whether it was re-shelled or had a dodgy repair!!
That was 36 years ago and neither of us have had a crash since. In fact, I've not had any points accept for 3 I got for speeding on my motorbike about 25 years ago.
Ahhhh, forgot one, he also, whilst drunk (different times!!!) drove his Fiesta 1.3S headlong in to a street-lamp, bringing it down on the car's roof!!!Creashed his Dad's Rover SD1 on ice near Henley, taking out about 50yards of metal fencing belonging to Ringo Starr before hitting a tree. He was stuck in the car and had to be cut out (uninjured) by the fire service.
Next, he rolled his mum's XR3i cabriolet with me in the passenger seat and our pal, Steve, in the back. Roof was down and Steve was not wearing a seat belt, so he was thrown out of the car and we were left dangling. All of us uninjured! The XR3i was about 6 months old, the Rover a couple of years.
We moved on to matching Caspian Blue Escort RS1600is. On a top speed challenge down through the chalk cut on the M40 near Stockenchurch mine blew its head gasket at an indicated 130 mph!!! Later that year (c1988) we drove them to the South of France where I proceeded to jump mine over a roundabout (too much speed and couldn't stop) and nose dived it into a ditch. It was recovered home, but was way beyond repair (apart from the smashed front the roof was and windscreen pillars were bent) so I bought it from the insurance company and sold it as a write-off. Saw it a few years later at the Ford Fair at Donnington - dunno whether it was re-shelled or had a dodgy repair!!
That was 36 years ago and neither of us have had a crash since. In fact, I've not had any points accept for 3 I got for speeding on my motorbike about 25 years ago.
Edited by Gixer968CS on Wednesday 23 October 12:07
Some really interesting replies and stories, far more eventful really than anything I can recall. Which I think is probably a good thing.
One lad I used to car share with for work was an horrendously bad driver. Thankfully not fast but inconsistent and just hopeless. He was the cousin of one of my best mates from school and I introduced him to the place I worked and he got a job. We lived nearby so we opted to share the drive, alternating days and paying the car park.
It got to a point with his driving where I felt an accident was inevitable but it would be a low speed crash so I wouldn't die. There were near misses almost every time we went to or from the office. He'd take a different lane on various roundabouts just at random so would cut someone off, or have no ability to predict a situation so would end up inches from other cars. I remember him pulling out from a side street forcing a car to brake harshly. I saw this cars lights get switched off, he saw this as them flashing him out and just went. No idea that they weren't slowing at all but just went. He was like a bad, new driver yet we'd been driving 2-3 years by this point.
If he's never had an accident it would be a miracle but I bet he's witnessed loads!
One lad I used to car share with for work was an horrendously bad driver. Thankfully not fast but inconsistent and just hopeless. He was the cousin of one of my best mates from school and I introduced him to the place I worked and he got a job. We lived nearby so we opted to share the drive, alternating days and paying the car park.
It got to a point with his driving where I felt an accident was inevitable but it would be a low speed crash so I wouldn't die. There were near misses almost every time we went to or from the office. He'd take a different lane on various roundabouts just at random so would cut someone off, or have no ability to predict a situation so would end up inches from other cars. I remember him pulling out from a side street forcing a car to brake harshly. I saw this cars lights get switched off, he saw this as them flashing him out and just went. No idea that they weren't slowing at all but just went. He was like a bad, new driver yet we'd been driving 2-3 years by this point.
If he's never had an accident it would be a miracle but I bet he's witnessed loads!
Touching wood here.
I've never crashed. But I think I am the driver you speak of.
Though most of my mates didnt actually start driving right away. My best mate still can't drive aged 47.
Everyone seemed quite happy to be driven by me but, when I think back, it was perhaps more luck than judgment that kept me right side up.
I picked up my German exchange partner and my brother's German exchange partner as a new driver. Not only were they shocked that a 17yo could legally drive - I think it's 18 over there? - but they didn't seem too enamoured with my speed!
I remember a mate going fully to the right of our school drive because he was turning right. I had to ask him where he thought someone turning in off the road might now go.
I drove my Mum's cars through 6th Form and Uni. She taught at my secondary school. A pupil once asked her why her car had been seen handbrake turning around the middle school's playing fields. Busted!
Dad bought a Fiesta 1.4 Zetec in '99 and they were doing the first year's insurance free. For anyone aged over 21. He was somewhat reluctant when my Mum pointed out that meant I could be named as well. Needless to say, I always tried to borrow that over Mum's Corsa 1.2. Especially as I could cruise round town doing that sidelights/foglights thing in his car.
In terms of my own cars, my second was a Mk2 Golf GTI 8v. Driving to the next town with my mate chasing me in his E30 325i - I'd found a car nut mate by then! - he flashed me so I sped up. When we arrived at our destination he told me he'd flashed me to slow down as there were flames coming out of the exhaust!
I've never crashed. But I think I am the driver you speak of.
Though most of my mates didnt actually start driving right away. My best mate still can't drive aged 47.
Everyone seemed quite happy to be driven by me but, when I think back, it was perhaps more luck than judgment that kept me right side up.
I picked up my German exchange partner and my brother's German exchange partner as a new driver. Not only were they shocked that a 17yo could legally drive - I think it's 18 over there? - but they didn't seem too enamoured with my speed!
I remember a mate going fully to the right of our school drive because he was turning right. I had to ask him where he thought someone turning in off the road might now go.
I drove my Mum's cars through 6th Form and Uni. She taught at my secondary school. A pupil once asked her why her car had been seen handbrake turning around the middle school's playing fields. Busted!
Dad bought a Fiesta 1.4 Zetec in '99 and they were doing the first year's insurance free. For anyone aged over 21. He was somewhat reluctant when my Mum pointed out that meant I could be named as well. Needless to say, I always tried to borrow that over Mum's Corsa 1.2. Especially as I could cruise round town doing that sidelights/foglights thing in his car.
In terms of my own cars, my second was a Mk2 Golf GTI 8v. Driving to the next town with my mate chasing me in his E30 325i - I'd found a car nut mate by then! - he flashed me so I sped up. When we arrived at our destination he told me he'd flashed me to slow down as there were flames coming out of the exhaust!
My older sister!
She borrowed my Golf GTi and left it on my drive with the side of the car stoved in claiming someone had undertaken her and driven into her. I had to claim on my insurance and write down "my sister was driving at the time, but I have no details of the incident as she is refusing to speak to me".
Then a year later she came off the motorway onto a dual carriageway and spun her E30 BMW, over the grass central reservation and a poor soul in an oncoming tipper truck rear ended the Beemer, compressing the boot and rear passenger cell up against the drivers seat, making it look like half a car. What was funny was that my parents drove past the scene of the accident 2 minutes later and didn't recognise it was their daughters car!
Citroen AX GT - written off after running over a "large piece of metal on the motorway". Probably a crash barrier.
My parents bought her a Civic ESi - just a minor bumper scrape every 3 months on that one.
She borrowed my Golf GTi and left it on my drive with the side of the car stoved in claiming someone had undertaken her and driven into her. I had to claim on my insurance and write down "my sister was driving at the time, but I have no details of the incident as she is refusing to speak to me".
Then a year later she came off the motorway onto a dual carriageway and spun her E30 BMW, over the grass central reservation and a poor soul in an oncoming tipper truck rear ended the Beemer, compressing the boot and rear passenger cell up against the drivers seat, making it look like half a car. What was funny was that my parents drove past the scene of the accident 2 minutes later and didn't recognise it was their daughters car!
Citroen AX GT - written off after running over a "large piece of metal on the motorway". Probably a crash barrier.
My parents bought her a Civic ESi - just a minor bumper scrape every 3 months on that one.
Alex_225 said:
One day on a 'tour' near college, he took a drive down a residential road which was basically a long U back onto the main road. It's a 30mph but he decided that driving as fast as the car could was the best course of action.
Group of mates witness this, tyres squealing and one comments, "Wouldn't it be funny if he crashed".
To then hear screeching tyres and a huge bang. He's basically gone round this bend, understeered, overcorrected, braked and then swung into a garden wall. Drivers side wheel was pointing upwards and the back end hit a lamp post. Car was totalled but luckily no injuries.
Thankfully didn't crash. But a mate once suggested I might want to slow down on the single track lane we were on. This surprised me as he drove like me. Group of mates witness this, tyres squealing and one comments, "Wouldn't it be funny if he crashed".
To then hear screeching tyres and a huge bang. He's basically gone round this bend, understeered, overcorrected, braked and then swung into a garden wall. Drivers side wheel was pointing upwards and the back end hit a lamp post. Car was totalled but luckily no injuries.
I reassured him I knew these lanes like the back of my hand.
Of course, we came flying round a bend and encountered a tractor. I hadn't considered movable obstacles, had I?!
In my group of friends at school we all drove like idiots but there was one lad, he was pretty much the 'Jay' of our inbetweeners group, who clearly used bravery to overcompensate for his lack of talent. It was always terrifying being in the back of his mum's old Volvo 440 and had a number of near death experiences.
It finally materialised into a shunt when we all chipped in an bought a 42 quid, rusty MOT failure Capri off ebay to strip out, bodge fix and take it on track. One night he persuaded us to take it out and try jumping it over a local (and poorly chosen) hump back bridge on a country road that had a 90 degree bend after it.
After a few tame attempts and near misses running across the grass patch of grass on the outside, he decided doubling his runup and launch speed was the best option and hit it at probably 60+, clearing the road entirely with a good 4 or 5 foot of ground clearance followed by a landing hard enough to send the struts through the bonnet, and put it on a torpedo trajectory straight through the ditch and farmer's fence on the other side of the grass.
To be fair it was spectacular to witness, and definitely would have been Tiktok/Youtube worthy in this day and age.
He was absolutely fine (other than being a f
king idiot) but we couldn't liberate it from the ditch in the darkness so came back the next day with some tools, a tow rope and my Landy but found it with police aware stickers all over it... evidently the racket we were making hadn't gone unnoticed even though the nearest house was probably over a mile away.
Farmer predictably turned up at the very moment I had all four wheels on the Landy spinning on the grass as we launched it back out of the ditch, revealing the Dagenham dustbin shaped hole in his fence. He gouged us for about 5x the value of the car to repair the fence and another 150 quid to have it recovered back to the garage a mile or so away as it was too fked to even drag it!
The rest of us ended paying for it all as he was such a tight git and I'm not convinced he learnt his lesson either
It finally materialised into a shunt when we all chipped in an bought a 42 quid, rusty MOT failure Capri off ebay to strip out, bodge fix and take it on track. One night he persuaded us to take it out and try jumping it over a local (and poorly chosen) hump back bridge on a country road that had a 90 degree bend after it.
After a few tame attempts and near misses running across the grass patch of grass on the outside, he decided doubling his runup and launch speed was the best option and hit it at probably 60+, clearing the road entirely with a good 4 or 5 foot of ground clearance followed by a landing hard enough to send the struts through the bonnet, and put it on a torpedo trajectory straight through the ditch and farmer's fence on the other side of the grass.
To be fair it was spectacular to witness, and definitely would have been Tiktok/Youtube worthy in this day and age.
He was absolutely fine (other than being a f
king idiot) but we couldn't liberate it from the ditch in the darkness so came back the next day with some tools, a tow rope and my Landy but found it with police aware stickers all over it... evidently the racket we were making hadn't gone unnoticed even though the nearest house was probably over a mile away.Farmer predictably turned up at the very moment I had all four wheels on the Landy spinning on the grass as we launched it back out of the ditch, revealing the Dagenham dustbin shaped hole in his fence. He gouged us for about 5x the value of the car to repair the fence and another 150 quid to have it recovered back to the garage a mile or so away as it was too f
ked to even drag it!The rest of us ended paying for it all as he was such a tight git and I'm not convinced he learnt his lesson either
When I was a gap-year employee, 4 apprentices at RSRE/Dera/QinetiQ went for a drive, and for those who know Malvern, came down the hill from Little Malvern Priory towards Welland, tried to take a gentle right hander that drops away steeply and somehow managed to turn too far to the right, cut a hole through a very substantial hedge to go into a ploughed field into which the front of the car bedded down throwing two passengers out the back window. Long hospital stays. Amazingly, no fatalities.
The number of families I know where I now live in rural Wales who have lost kids in car or bike crashes is appalling. In several cases it wasn't their fault, but you have to wonder if experience would have helped then compensate better for other road users' mistakes.
I can't remember any insane driving from any of my close mates. Staggering incompetence, yes; at least two fell into that category. God knows how they passed their tests. Examiner probably terrified they'd have to sit in the car with them again in future if they failed them.
One used the steering wheel like a switch. Drive straight ahead well into a corner then snap the wheel to turn the car and then snap it back to the centre as soon as you're pointing in roughly the right direction. No modulation of speed in or out of the corner.
The other was completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She let an ambulance past (miracle!) but then pulled out immediately behind it and followed it down the road without realising she was now overtaking all the other drivers who were themselves pulling over to the let the ambulance through. I was sitting in the back stting bricks because we were nearly being hit by the cars pulling back out as the ambulance passed them. She had no idea this was happening.
Oh, yeah. And she wanted to be an air traffic controller.
The number of families I know where I now live in rural Wales who have lost kids in car or bike crashes is appalling. In several cases it wasn't their fault, but you have to wonder if experience would have helped then compensate better for other road users' mistakes.
I can't remember any insane driving from any of my close mates. Staggering incompetence, yes; at least two fell into that category. God knows how they passed their tests. Examiner probably terrified they'd have to sit in the car with them again in future if they failed them.
One used the steering wheel like a switch. Drive straight ahead well into a corner then snap the wheel to turn the car and then snap it back to the centre as soon as you're pointing in roughly the right direction. No modulation of speed in or out of the corner.
The other was completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She let an ambulance past (miracle!) but then pulled out immediately behind it and followed it down the road without realising she was now overtaking all the other drivers who were themselves pulling over to the let the ambulance through. I was sitting in the back s
tting bricks because we were nearly being hit by the cars pulling back out as the ambulance passed them. She had no idea this was happening.Oh, yeah. And she wanted to be an air traffic controller.
One evening we were at a country pub and were due to leave to meet others at another pub The twisty maze of roads near the pub were all 2-5 metre high embankments with trees on top. One of our friends left early to race us there in his Mums Citroen Visa, a car not known for its handling prowess.
We left 5 minutes later, due to some of the girls needing la toilette. We rounded a corner to find an upturned Citroen Visa. In his haste our friend had overcooked it, gone up an embankment and rolled it, leaving him trapped upside down, unable to release his seatbelt.
Being good friends we decided to leave him strapped upside down for a good 5 minutes whilst we laughed at his misfortune. Then to release him, I prodded the seatbelt release with a stick, whilst resulted him collapsing into a heap onto the upturned roof. Maybe in hindsight we should have supported him!
Afterwards we rolled the car over and it was remarkably intact as he said it was a slow rollover.
We left 5 minutes later, due to some of the girls needing la toilette. We rounded a corner to find an upturned Citroen Visa. In his haste our friend had overcooked it, gone up an embankment and rolled it, leaving him trapped upside down, unable to release his seatbelt.
Being good friends we decided to leave him strapped upside down for a good 5 minutes whilst we laughed at his misfortune. Then to release him, I prodded the seatbelt release with a stick, whilst resulted him collapsing into a heap onto the upturned roof. Maybe in hindsight we should have supported him!
Afterwards we rolled the car over and it was remarkably intact as he said it was a slow rollover.
Spent some time as an apprentice at Drakelow power station. We would all drive our individual cars from the same digs to the training centre and back again at reasonable speed 
One lad (Mike Hunt as I recall, appropriately), hit a stationary car and ripped the engine and front wheels off his car. Another overtook a lorry turning right and ended up under its wheels.
One lost an arm (but that was on a bike)
Another managed to roll his DAF (with variomatic transmission) into a telegraph pole so fast that he took out a section of the pole (which was lucky for me as he was after getting a scratch repaired when we broke a window in the digs and it landed on the roof of his car)
I had a crash but it wasn't actually my fault (unbelievably)
17 year old lads in the 80's with nothing to spend their money on but cars and drink (and girls for the lucky ones) meant cars were a main feature of life.
No deaths which was actually unusual across the company.
One lad (Mike Hunt as I recall, appropriately), hit a stationary car and ripped the engine and front wheels off his car. Another overtook a lorry turning right and ended up under its wheels.
One lost an arm (but that was on a bike)
Another managed to roll his DAF (with variomatic transmission) into a telegraph pole so fast that he took out a section of the pole (which was lucky for me as he was after getting a scratch repaired when we broke a window in the digs and it landed on the roof of his car)
I had a crash but it wasn't actually my fault (unbelievably)
17 year old lads in the 80's with nothing to spend their money on but cars and drink (and girls for the lucky ones) meant cars were a main feature of life.
No deaths which was actually unusual across the company.
Edited by Gary C on Wednesday 23 October 12:57
I think it was me too, not only me but I was a complete idiot when I first passed.
2 weeks after passing I didn't have my own car so used my mums little J reg Fiesta to get around. I drove it flat out everywhere and one particular day the inevitable happened. Tried to take a 40mph bend about 70 and completely lost control. The car ended up on it's roof in a field after hitting a car head on. that got me 5 points for careless driving. I didn't learn though; bought a Peugeot 205 and drove that flat out everywhere too, to the point where a lot of my uni friends refused to get in a car with me. At the time I just thought it was funny and they were 'pussies'. Luckily I could never afford to buy / insure anything with any power so was limited to 40/50bhp.
Into my early 20's I bought a nice E36 325i which spent most of its time sideways or doing 100+ down the motorway. I never really had a wake up call as such I just grew up.
2 weeks after passing I didn't have my own car so used my mums little J reg Fiesta to get around. I drove it flat out everywhere and one particular day the inevitable happened. Tried to take a 40mph bend about 70 and completely lost control. The car ended up on it's roof in a field after hitting a car head on. that got me 5 points for careless driving. I didn't learn though; bought a Peugeot 205 and drove that flat out everywhere too, to the point where a lot of my uni friends refused to get in a car with me. At the time I just thought it was funny and they were 'pussies'. Luckily I could never afford to buy / insure anything with any power so was limited to 40/50bhp.
Into my early 20's I bought a nice E36 325i which spent most of its time sideways or doing 100+ down the motorway. I never really had a wake up call as such I just grew up.
I started on motor bikes before cars so had a better appreciation for the dangers etc but one lad who was 6 months older or so than the rest of us stands out.
Borrowed his mum's 1.3 marina to go to see some friends in Derbyshire i think - i wasn't invited so only heard this second hand - and was ragging it silly along the motorway and caught up to a police car, so slowed down. Police car peels off at next junction and matey floors it and of course, the polie car went straight up, over the junction and back on again with predictable results.
He was mardy about that for months but it was Nottinghamshire and they are well known for their lack of tolerance to speeding.
Borrowed his mum's 1.3 marina to go to see some friends in Derbyshire i think - i wasn't invited so only heard this second hand - and was ragging it silly along the motorway and caught up to a police car, so slowed down. Police car peels off at next junction and matey floors it and of course, the polie car went straight up, over the junction and back on again with predictable results.
He was mardy about that for months but it was Nottinghamshire and they are well known for their lack of tolerance to speeding.
Edited by slopes on Wednesday 23 October 20:42
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