Barely Legal Drivers is awful

Cringeworthy show that paints a bad picture on young drivers. 

I RECENTLY watched a show called Barely Legal Drivers on BBC Three. Where it involves two young people who have a full driving licence, but basically haven’t been on the road for five minutes.

Since being on the road, these youngsters have picked up really bad driving habits. Some don’t even know the basics when they're out driving, like knowing the rules of the road for example. More than anything, the main issues that these young drivers have on these programmes is down to their attitude and a lack of common sense.

These young people are nominated by their parents to see how good - but really on how bad their driving is. Surviellance on their driving is carried out with cameras and sounding equipment strapped onto the car. Unaware that their driving is assessed by their parents, but also by a driving instructor and former traffic officer.

In the end, the officer and the instructor have the last say on whether the young person's driving is good enough. If it is, they get rewarded with a car of their own. If not, they'll get driving lessons to improve their driving.

After watching one episode, it actually left me riled.

It gives a bad (and unfair) representation of young drivers in general. Yeah, young drivers are a higher risk due to the fact that they're inexperienced. Then there's the statistics of accidents on Britain's roads involving young drivers is mentioned as well. That's why insurance is high. I believe on the fact it costs so much for younger people to insure a vehicle, that it encourages fronting and people to drive a car without insurance.

The media often tarrs all young drivers with the same brush. The fact is that not all young drivers are irresponsible speed freaks. Not all of them eat their food or use their mobile phones while they're behind the wheel. Not all of them drive their cars without due care and attention. I believe that it's a fraction of drivers aged 17-25 that do. Dare I say, a minority. Shows like Barely Legal Drivers doesn't help one bit.

I'm a young driver. I know I'm far from being a perfect driver and I'm not one of those who likes to think they're Lewis Hamilton. I know one or two people my age group who are dangerous drivers, but I know more (the majority) who are safe and responsible drivers. Who don't have an attitude problem.