Reckless driving

[jess3254]

One of my male friends recently received his P-plates. He personally considers himself a safe and responsible driver and always promised himself that he’d never be a hoon on the road. However, the other night he drove recklessly whilst following one of his friends back to another friend’s house. He sped (drove 120km in an 80km zone) and drove like a complete lunatic, and had no idea what came over him. He said something along the lines of, “it was like I couldn’t stop. I had no idea why I was doing it. It was like another person was driving”.

Now, he’s very angry with himself (rightly so), and he’s avoiding driving completely, and is scared that he may repeat his actions. He feels like someone else takes over when he’s at the wheel. He knows full well that his actions will have severe consequences, and he could kill himself or someone else. He doesn’t know why he did what he did.

I actually consider him to be a (usually) pretty responsible individual, and have no idea why he behaved in that manner. It is out of character. He was asking my opinion before as to why he may have driven so recklessly, but I had no answer for him. I’m wondering whether anyone has experienced anything similar or if anyone has any opinions on why this may be happening?

What advice can I give him? I’ve gone through the whole, “you could kill yourself” thing, but I have no idea what else to say to him. He’s actually quite distressed about the situation.

Thanks.

[ed_saifa]

Hormones?

[jess3254]

Hormones?

lol, I don't think you could attribute such senseless driving to hormones.

I don't know.

Do the majority of males experience the urge to speed and drive like a maniac?

[dekoyl]

I think there may be motor race tracks in Australia where you pay to drive on it. He could drive as fast as he wants on them, get it out of his system.

Do the majority of males experience the urge to speed and drive like a maniac?

I guess there are people who enjoy the speed, adrenaline and danger along with the rebellious nature of speeding  ?

[danieltennis]

Maybe it's the "cool factor" or the peer pressure that led your friend into doing reckless driving. I'm not too sure though.

[gfb]

Peer pressure I reckon.

[jess3254]

Peer pressure I reckon.

Well actually, he said that his some of his friends told him to do donughts later in the night and he said no. So perhaps it was the cool factor and he was trying to impress the group of individuals he was around.

Although he said while he was doing it, he knew it was wrong, but he just felt so powerful and couldn't stop.

I don't really know what advice to give him about it.

[bubble sunglasses]

    Did this happen once, or a few times?

     Something similar happened when my Dad picked up my sister from a New Year's Eve party at about 4.30am. He is normally a responsible driver, but on the way home drove like a complete lunatic, probably caused by his altered state of consciousness, due to lack of sleep and probably also stress [he had spent about 1 hour arguing with my sister about whether it would be safe to go to the party, hosted by guys she'd only just met.]
 So, could your friend have been not his usual self at the time?

   

[bturville]

Wouldn't the fact the he was FOLLOWING someone explain quite a bit?

[xox.happy1.xox]

Don't all teenagers feel they need to speed along the roads for no apparent reason? That's what my driving instructor had always told me. :S

[jess3254]

    Did this happen once, or a few times?

     Something similar happened when my Dad picked up my sister from a New Year's Eve party at about 4.30am. He is normally a responsible driver, but on the way home drove like a complete lunatic, probably caused by his altered state of consciousness, due to lack of sleep and probably also stress [he had spent about 1 hour arguing with my sister about whether it would be safe to go to the party, hosted by guys she'd only just met.]
 So, could your friend have been not his usual self at the time?

Yeah, he may not have been himself. This was the first time it had happened. As I said in the original post, he always promised himself he'd never be a hoon and would always drive responsibly, and he said it was as if he couldn't control what he was doing. He might be pretty stressed with results and the aftermath of exams, so yeah that may have caused the out of character behaviour which he exhibited the other night. I'll ask him though.

Thanks Bubbles.

Wouldn't the fact the he was FOLLOWING someone explain quite a bit?

I thought this too, but from my understanding the individual who he was following was driving pretty responsibly.

[enwiabe]

Um, how could he not know what came over him?

Notwithstanding some kind of mental condition, it's very rare that a 'brain snap' as he's described lasts for such a lengthy period of time.

Forgive my cynicism, but I think he got a thrill out of driving at 120 km/h, and he liked it so much that he began to get a sort of high off it. That's how a high works, once it starts, you don't want it to end. He had the choice to end it, but he didn't.

In the end, it shouldn't come down to "you could have killed yourself", it should come down to, "you're driving a 1 tonne steel weapon... think of all the OTHER people you could have killed."

[jess3254]

Um, how could he not know what came over him?

Notwithstanding some kind of mental condition, it's very rare that a 'brain snap' as he's described lasts for such a lengthy period of time.

Forgive my cynicism, but I think he got a thrill out of driving at 120 km/h, and he liked it so much that he began to get a sort of high off it. That's how a high works, once it starts, you don't want it to end. He had the choice to end it, but he didn't.

In the end, it shouldn't come down to "you could have killed yourself", it should come down to, "you're driving a 1 tonne steel weapon... think of all the OTHER people you could have killed."

Yeah. I agree with you there actually.

But I have no idea what would cause him to thrill-seek in the first place. I don't know; he just doesn't seem like that sort of individual, and he says he doesn't know why he did it at all.

[gfb]

Unfortunately, some men have the sense that they'll look like losers if they don't do the same thing as the other driver (this is the typical case of friends driving in different vehicles).

After a few experiences, I came to the realisation that my life is at stake and is much more important then my friend knowing that I can drive faster then him .

[xox.happy1.xox]

After a few experiences, I came to the realisation that my life is at stake and is much more important then my friend knowing that I can drive faster then him .

Very important lesson to learn for everyone IMHO.