I have been instructing students how to drive since 1970. That works out to be 42 years. In Malaysia today, most students who take up a driving course, usually end up taking a total of 8 to 16 hours of tuition.

Regarding the above course, there exists a few questions which readers might wish to inquire about. Amongst the questions the public would most probably wish to ask are:-

i) Is the above course sufficient enough to produce drivers who are capable to drive competently?

ii) Does one feel that present day drivers or probational drivers are driving too fast especially along our expressway! As a result, many tragic accidents seem to be happening again and again.

iii) Are the current driving school or institute syllabuses adequate to deal with the current rate of accidents taking place in our country?

Many people including myself hold the opinion that young students who have just obtained their “P” or probational driving licenses are believed to be:-

a) Driving too fast along our expressways. Some are believed to be driving well over 70km/h to 80km/h or even more.

b) It should be kept in mind that students who have just obtained their driving licenses have yet to attain their 18th birthday as yet. They are therefore still immature and very inexperienced.

c) Being hardly 18 years of age, most are believed to be unaware about the potential dangers of modern cars and are therefore incapable of driving safely and competently.

My hypothetical question which I wrote in another article in this blog, entitled “Should the Permissible Age of Obtaining a Car Driving License Be Raised to 18?”

In my last article, I wrote about why young Australians drivers get into road accidents. Youngsters nowadays think that they are invincible, thus they tend to drive recklessly on the road.

Allow me to quote to you a true life situation which happened to me not too long ago. A “P” driver who is only 17 years old recently obtained his license to drive. The said driver has posed me with a perplexing question.

The driver Tan E.S. wants to know if he can drive to Singapore with a friend sitting beside him. Tan took the normal lessons of 10 – 14 hours tuition under me. The above is the normal number of driving tuition lessons most young students undergo these days.

Personally, if you should ask me, “P” license holders who are hardly 17 or 18 years of age are still not competent enough and are therefore not yet ready to be driving along expressways, highways and lebuhraya of our country. Therefore, the Karak Highway, the North – South Expressway, and the East – West Highway are all beyond the reaches of a novice “P” or probationary drivers. Parents should keep in mind this tip.