Background
Graduated driver licensing
Study context: Northern Ireland
Rationale for study
Methods
Sample
Deprivation level | |||
---|---|---|---|
Low
|
Mid
|
High
| |
Rural/Suburban
| D | A,B | G, J |
Urban
| E, K | I | C, F, H |
N (participants) | |
---|---|
Age | |
16–17 | 18 |
18–19 | 8 |
20–21 | 13 |
22–23 | 4 |
Religious community | |
Protestant | 11 |
Catholic | 20 |
Other Christian | 2 |
No religion | 8 |
Not stated | 2 |
Ethnicity | |
White British | 16 |
White Irish | 25 |
White other | 2 |
Gender | |
Male | 23 |
Female | 20 |
NIMDM a of postcode (tercile) | |
Low | 12 |
Mid | 10 |
High | 20 |
Not stated | 1 |
TOTAL | 43 |
Ethics
Data collection and analysis
Results
The importance of private cars and informal car-pooling
F: Yeah. I find that because I don't drive, around here in the summers there's not really an option to work, even if it is only in the town. (A)
M1: Sports training or matches and to get buses to matches or to get a bus to go out…
F1: To see their friends -
M1:- and to pick them up from a bus again later on at night or drop them off at a friend’s house and pick them up again later.
M2: In and out of the town. I took Danny to Drumcreagh over the weekend and Ellen’s in and out of the town (J)
M: My sister is the main one with priority because she's in uni at the minute. If she's on placement and she will have that car at her disposal. Then it's mum and then me. I'm the last priority. That's why I have to organise it week by week. It's like an actual full on timetable who gets it. (G)
F: Yeah, my sister works in the same place, so usually we get the same shifts in work and she'd take me, and if not, my mum would take me or I'd get a taxi. (D)
F: Ah [laughter] you feel lousy if you need to get picked up from somewhere at like 1 am and your parents have to like stay up or whatever, you don't know how to get home or, you know, that sort of thing. Just having to depend on them the whole time for lifts is not fair. [Laughter] (A)
Alternatives to private car use
M: Usually either my sister or my father, just whoever is handy to give me a lift in, and then sometimes I take the bus into town (E)
M: You could be in the bus in one area and you're in a complete and utterly different area that you might not want to be in.
F: Driving, you can go on your own route, on a bus you have to stick to their route
M: And then there might be someone that sees you and knows that you're not [from their area]
F: Sees you in their area and then it's just trouble.
M: Yeah, it happens all the time, especially around this time of the year as well.
I: Right, around the 12th. (F)
F: You wouldn't bike anywhere. It’s a bit of a secret hobby. No … middle-aged man wants to be seen in their frilly Lycra and stuff. [Laughter] I think that's a big part of it. It's so different in the UK where it's like, "oh, I just cycled into work", whereas around here it's like… [Laughter] (A)
The incentives to learn to drive: Contributions and independence
M: We got them started very young just and when it came to driving age then they were straight in to lessons. There was somebody else who could scoot into the town to do messages [i.e. shopping]; it was brilliant. That’s why we wanted the [children] driving. (J)
F: Well, it actually took me a while to get mine, because my sister was there and I never really like needed [a car]. Like, anywhere she was going, I was going too. And then she moved out so then I decided it was about time I got my licence, and now that I have it, like, I feel that you can just go whenever you want. (D)
I: Why is that? Why did you go for it so young?
M: Well, I needed it for work, to get about, bits and places. I've actually been driving a tractor since I was 16 on a provisional and then when I was 17 I got my licence within five weeks to get fro and back to work. (D)
F: I mean, our thing was you should learn to drive and then you've got it and that's, you know, if you do end up that you're in a job and you need it then it's already taken care of. (K)
F: I'm always relying on my mum and dad to transport me, and, you know, I don't really like relying on them. I would rather be independent and get my own way and not rely on anyone. (D)
Spins and stories: The car as a site for socialising
M: It's just chatting to your friends is good.
F: The car is a really good place to talk to people, because you don't have to look them in the eye, you don't have to worry about eye contact or what you're thinking. You're both facing forward, you can really get into the heart of matters, I think. I enjoy it, in any case. (A)
M1: I don’t mind. I like a bit of company in the car. You can’t be driving on your own. You’d be bored […]
M2: Yeah, it’s better craic [fun] having passengers. (B)
F1: Remember that time Tara picked us up, it must have been 10 pm, and we snuck out the window when she was just sitting in the car ready to go […] we just wanted the thrill of the chase. [We went] speeding off, we just drove about, but we were just chatting…
F2: It was just so free and easy. It doesn't have to be a destination, it doesn't have to be an A to B.
F1: We just went out cruising about.
F2: We would always go cruising. (A)
M: We went on a spin down there before, we were flying about all the country roads doing about 100 mph and then we were doing 100 over Ballybracken Road, flew over a big hill, as soon as we flew over that hill a Jeep just drove straight in front of us and we just missed him. Scary as f**k. Was still good craic but -.
I: And did you get back in the car with that driver?
M: Oh, aye, surely [laughter] I wasn’t gonna walk home! (C)
F1: And then they sort of decided they had they would all travel together in the car, which we weren’t very keen about. But it did, it went on.
F2: You're right, I wouldn't like that I think either. I think I would prefer them on the bus (J)
F1: [My boyfriend’s] parents wouldn't let him be in a car with a younger driver. You know, they would offer to give him a lift or something instead, they wouldn't want him with an inexperienced driver.
M1: My parents were like that as well, they wouldn't want me in the car with someone who had just passed their test. (A)
F1: A friend of mine put a moratorium on her kids travelling together, and I could see why, because she was saying, you know, they could wipe each other out in one fair go. (K)
Risky driving and driving outside the system
M: But you take my friend Cathal for example, the man drives like a maniac. The first time I was a passenger in his car we were driving from, I think it was from the pictures and we went into the pub next door for a drink. So he decides to drive well over the speed limit and I end up basically just down the front […]. Whenever he dropped me off I was dribbling and shaking like an idiot, to be honest. (E)
F: I think young people have been really profoundly affected by, like, the DOE ads and stuff that they would show.
F: And they are very graphic, car crashes and things like -
M: - I think they do work, they do work, I think.
F: Oh they do.
M: It puts a lot of people off drink-driving. (A)
M: Definitely takes effect, ‘cos if you were speeding you sorta look at the consequences of what could happen like. You would kill a load of people … It puts you off doing it altogether when you see the adverts. It makes you think. (B)
F: [He] speeds up the road and stuff. It's kind of scary though, because I know he is a really, really, really safe driver and everything but all the crashes happen to young boys. All the crashes here happen to young boys who are speeding and messing about, and it really scares me when he drives really fast. Even though he is really good, he's really good, really responsible, but it's sometimes a bit scary, in case he's going to not come home someday. (G)
M: I've been in a car with seven people once. […] Everyone needed a lift and it was raining so I just jumped into the back. (E)
M: Well, I probably driving tractors when I was 12 or 13 […] we got experience that way.
F: Behind the wheel in a car or Landrover, I'd probably be 8 or 9 years old. On the farm. On a quad, it would probably be 6 or 7 … Then a JCB [digger], I was a bit older for that, because it was a bit bigger so I was a bit more intimidated by that. So it would be 11 or 12.
M: Your parents probably would have given you a wee crash course. …
F: Yeah. Because the only time I really do drive on the road is when dad's away and the animals need [to be] fed or something. So you know what I mean, there's not too many options. I can't walk it with meal on my back. So it's always necessary, and that's what I'll tell the police when I get stopped. (D)
M: Drink driving has really become, you know, something that nobody does. (J)
M: It wouldn't really be an issue, no. I mean, I think this generation is actually really careful. If you take the generation from about two generations ago, they're a lot more laissez faire. I know people who would think nothing of having six pints and then getting behind the wheel. But they're good drivers so… and they've never crashed, yet. (E)
F1: Ah it's more young boys, yes
F2: They don’t seem to have the same fear of the law […] we were brought up, you know, in the Troubles5 when there was [police] check points anyway. (J)
M: I know a couple of people that go to the pub and have a couple of pints, or maybe three and go home, drive home […] because they know that it's one straight road home, or it's only around the corner, you know, it's a quiet road (D)
Enforcement and telematics
M1: I don’t think it would work
M2: Nor do I
I: Why is that then?
M2: Everybody will still take their mates around as soon as they passed their test (C)
M: It sounds like a good idea. The way they were sort of described on the news one night, which sort of stuck, was people who drive well, this will show they drive well and that will bring their insurance down. But at the same time, if you're a bad driver then you pay the price for being a bad driver. And it's up to you. (G)
F: I had it on mine for the first three months of the insurance last year to lower the insurance. I had to keep a cap on how much I was driving each week for the three months. (E)
M: Definitely, if they had them boxes in the car you'd be a lot happier sitting at home.
F: Yeah, you're right. (J)
F: Yes and no, because if someone else jumps into your car who's not on L plates or whatever […] the black box is always on (D)
M: For example, if something's wrong with the car the mechanic will test drive it, and if they speed a bit, that messes up your [recordings]. I thought about the idea of the black box and the app and all but [ …] three of my siblings drive, and I know rightly if they need that car they'll be going out, without insurance, and that car will be away. (G)
M: Oh no. I would get it ripped out of my car all right. I only started using the phone two or three months ago, because the other tracking device, I don't like it. I just don't - they know where you are at all times. Do you know what I mean? (B)
F1: It's a bit 1984. (Laughter)
F2: It does sound weird. (A)