It’s not often Neos Kosmos reports on its own journalists but this disserves some attention.

Fotis Kapetopoulos, Neos Kosmos journalist, wrote an opinion for The Age newspaper on Tuesday, Driving with P-plates – my accidental social experiment.

The story generated lots of mainstream media interest, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell and later Jacinta Parsons from ABC Radio, Melbourne, interviewed Kapetopoulos.

In the opinion Kapetopoulos relays how he jumped into his car, a black Yaris, “Darth Vader’s golf buggy”, without realising that his son’s P-plates were still on.

On the way to work drivers – he soon realised – were irritated and aggressive towards him.

They cut in, flashed lights, and even gave him “the bird” as he said on radio.

In the opinion he mused, “Was it because a middle-aged man was driving with them? Would a younger motorist receive less harsh treatment? I don’t know.”

The Neos Kosmos journalist, wrote that the commute is his indulgence, “For 45 minutes I am alone in the car with my coffee and my music. I pretend to be 18 again. Guns of Brixton by the Clash thumped in when I hit the edge of Brunswick.”

Kapetopoulos details how cars cut in front of him and lost all sense of time and space as they rushed to cut in front of him for no gain at all.

He also came to the realisation that his son’s complaints about the way other drivers treat him when driving with Ps were based on fact.

“My son often complains about drivers ‘acting like di..heads’. I channel my old man and retreat into Greek father trope. “Mate, focus, leave the bloody music alone, look at what others are doing,” Kapetopoulos goes on to say that as a driver he will be more “sensitive to his complaints,” he writes in The Age.

He adds that “P-platers, regardless of age, and as annoying as they can be, need our care. When you see a P-plater give them room, be patient. They might be blaring their tunes but let them build the confidence necessary to navigate the driver’s-seat demeanour of those more seasoned on our roads.”

The opinion appeared in The Age newspaper Tuesday July 12.