perthute raises a few good points but some I think are completely wrong. Im a young adult male from sydney and just like most, I got my p's the day I turned 17. I done alot of stupid and dangerous things but pulled through it without harm to myself or some poor person from my local community. Im now a firefighter and every now and again I turn up to jobs which have been caused by "hooning". Im not saying this happens often or more often than other driver error accidents, but I bring this up as whilst working in the back of my mind im thinking, it could have been me. These accidents tend to carry more serious injuries and young people, its a huge shame. I used to think like you but have changed my train thought due to real experience, not solving these problems at the pub over a few beers. To compare fatality rates for hooning compared to DUI is outragous. They are both massive problems and unecessary and both require the attention of the government. People do go to jail for DUI, i would rather have my car taken off me for hooning. As for occasionally breaking road rules and speeding which I will tell you, I try hard but by no means am a saint. To think you are in control or being safe, you are living in a dream world. Peter Brock died in a car most likely sporting a big set of brembos and more driver qualifiied than perthute. This happened in a controlled enviroment. When your doing 80 in a 50 with no other cars around, your not thinking about some poor kid chasing his ball across the street.
You do make some very good points with licencing and media. You guys are right when saying its a few people who have caused these tough rules which is unfair on all of us. Lets hope the police can use a bit common sense whilst enforcing them.