Almost all of these aids only really work at the cars limits. These young drivers just think they are gods gift to the roads and that they know what they are doing but have no real experience in handling a car or dealing with 'interesting' situations. These aids can help you get out of a bad situation, but I imagine all too often they are putting themselves into them because they either don't realise what they are doing or they think they are good enough to handle it. A few computer aids won't really make the difference when it's more often than not a mentality problem.

However, many years ago, I was out with the MD of the company I worked for. He drove like God was his passenger. There were a couple of incidents where there was, needless, late braking. His response was "thank god for ABS". So it's not just the young ones, quite a few old ones think they're good, just because they've been driving for so long. Some people drive relying on the assist to get them out of trouble, not as a last resort.

Jnr will be getting something like a Corsa or Fiesta (I was thinking Felly to start with, but the other two are much cheaper on insurance). My take is that the yoof of today should learn to drive a car that has no assist or luxury (maybe PAS), so that there, hopefully, will be respect for the car and road, what happens on approach to, and at, those limits (if encountered) and to appreciate the extras.

I'm a relative late-comer to driving (got a bike when I was 17, and for a number of years either couldn't afford or didn't need to take driving lessons) having only passed my test in '09. I went from learning to drive in a Mini Cooper D to driving an R reg Fiesta as my first car. It was quite a culture shock!