What to do?

[thorvald]

think as long as the safety upgrades are made, i.e shoulder belts, shes taught to drive slow around corners and such it will be ok. I would make sure to emphasize that she take corners slow, that it doesnt handle like a car, blah blah blah.

nothing is safe, I had my parents pinto on two wheels once taking a curve I should have been going twenty or slower at 55 :whoops:

 

[cruzer]

sorry, roll and tumble is the rear seat. Just a standard J**P seat but they roll and tumble forward for storage space in the J**ps

Stew

 

[tres]

i am 17 and have done a good bit of rebiuld to my car. my dad paid 4 it and i had to do ALL work on it i know that car like the back of my hand. we put in a stronger roll cage and 4 point seat belts. what is safer about the j**p rear seat? and does anyone make rock sliders that are not verry visible? btw no matter what you say a kid will drive fast in a car i would put mudd tires, and stiff susp. so as it'll slide b4 it flips, i had one slide and it got on two wheels and slowed down scence.

 

[Gumby]

I'm not sure there is a whole lot that can be done for a swerve and over-correction situation in a cruiser, but it's really not much worse than a Heep and there must be 20 danglers in the student p-lot here.

 

[TJDIV]

I cringe at the thought of even an experienced teenager driving a 40, let alone a female. Simply because I've had 3 dents put in my Civic in 4 months by "you know who" and I'd hate to see what would happen if they had to drive themselves out of trouble in under 3 seconds in a 40.

 

[toycrusher]

Build her the cruiser my oldest daughter is only 9 and she helps me in the garage all the time and always says "Can I have a cruiser when I am old enough to drive"--Hell yes she can. I told her we would get her one for her 13th birthday and take it to the frame and rebuild it.

I plan to put alot of saftey features into the build up. Fullcage and side impact/sliders with 4 whl disc brakes. I will make it as mechanicly reliable as possible and take neccessary precautions to ensure her saftey.

Building it together will give her memories she will treasure forever.

She drives both my 40's now when we go hunting or to the ORV park to play. I don't let her drive on our trail rides yet. She only drives in low range and first gear that way if she has to stop I tell her to turn it off it will stop. Aren't kids amazing.

 

[CruisinGA]

[quote author=Gumby link=board=1;threadid=8630;start=msg73829#msg73829 date=1071067645]
I sure wouldn't want a new driver driving an old 40. Too prone to rollover, bad brakes, manual steering, poor safety equipment, etc. Other people's kids in the jump seats is downright scary. Even if you are not legally responsible for their safety, you have some amount of moral responsibility. If you give a kid a 40 taking the back seats out would be the least you could do.
I'm sure there are others on the list who have given their kids a 40 for their first car and it turned out OK. The majority of kids will get into some accident in their teens. I would like to put them in a vehicle that will be easy for them to drive and safe in an accident. Anyone who is honest and not blinded by Cruiser loyalty will tell you they are not the easiest things to handle, especially at speed.

Just my humble opinion, and I'm sure not one shared by many on this list, but something to think about.
[/quote]
So far so good...
Started drivin the cruiser when I was 15...with VERY poor (1/2 turn of slack) steering, and one wheel braking. Had to pump the clutch too.

Not a single accident, most of my friends with new(er) cars have had at least a fender bender. It is more the driver than the vehicle. That said, most teenage girl drivers I know, are absolutely horrible.

 

[tres]

i love my 40. i could not imagine another first car. as far as rollover it is hard to roll, it can be done though. i say get it for her. but have her work for it, like mow the lawn, weed the flowers ect. to "help pay for it". if she dents it, make her pay to fix it she will quickly learn not to damage it. i learned it quick!

 

[tres]

btw. why are jumpseats so unsafe?

 

[Slowerthanu]

My First rig was my FJ-40, It has never hit anything I was not aiming for, nor has it ever hurt a person.

I got it when I was barely 15.

 

[bad_religion_au]

my 45 with 4 wheel drums was my first car, admittedly in australia we can't drive till 18. but i've never hit anything, or hurt anyone. but i did learn the proper way to drive, control and respect a car's limits from my old man. one of the best things he's ever done. remember, you can roll a civic, die in a mercedes. depends how far you want to push it...

 

[Jonathan_Ferguson]

I've only had the BJ40 sideways in a big way once, And at the time I was only in third gear, So certainly doing less than 50km/h - Probable 45km/h.

I was approaching a mojor Intersection with slip lane(Ferntreegully Rd. into Springvale Rd.) Doing 60km/h on the approach, Braked slightly then at 45km/h I Shifted from fourth into third. Checked to see if anyone was there - No one so I got on the throttle. Aimed for the left lane, Felt the rear let go - Cought it and ended up getting it into the middle lane. :whoops:

Hopfully it never happens again, As I may not be as lucky.

I guess in a big frontal impact, Your Head would hit the top of the Steering Wheel and your Chest would hit the bottom of the Steering Wheel, Also the Steering Column is not collapsable. In a side impact there are'nt any Door impact beams and no structual members on the side. - It's just a thin Door and the little bit of Step.

 

[hammerhead]

The key here is education. If you don't get in a crash you don't need to worry about it. My brother started teaching me to drive years before I was old enough to get a license. By the time I took drivers ed in school I was an old hand behind the wheel. I learned in an old 4x4 chev here in the mountains of Utah where there is every kind of terrain you can imagine. If more kids could go out and make the stupid mistakes at lower speeds in the dirt and get their skills honed a bit more before they go out on the public streets it might be safer. My 8 yr old daughter drives on a regular basis out in the sticks. By the time she is old enough to take DE she should be experienced enough to about teach the class.

 

[IDave]

I certainly agree with that angle. As I mentioned, we are making short trips around with increasing frequency in my FJ40, and have done so for years. You have to be just so big to drive one: it certainly wouldn't have accomodated her at age 8, but we're there, now. (heck, my wife needs a pillow to sit on to drive it comfortably) Fortunately (depending on ones needs, I guess), there's about 100 miles of forest road within sight of the house.

 

[Gumby]

My son has been driving motorized vehicles for years. I will get him out in one of my rigs long before he goes on the road. It still won't help to predict what other stupid drivers are going to do, but it will help to aviod them somewhat.
It's kind of like dirt bike riding is the best way to learn how to ride a street bike.