Do you think the driving age should be raised to 18?

Question

Even though it would have sucked when I was that age, it does seem to be more and more fatalities due to teenager drivers.

Answer 1

no, but is a good idea

Answer 2

This is so funny.

Young adults (hell lets just say kids) are more coordinated, have higher reaction times, and are more adaptative than middle aged people.

In essence they are better at the entirely physical aspect of driving.

What experienced drivers have is just that... experience. So what are the reasons young people have more accidents. For the most part we can point to two things.

1) Lack of experience. Now even though a 16 year old boy may have a whole .5 second better reaction time than a 45 year old, he sure as hell doesn't know where to put the car when a truck pulls out of nowhere -- or so obviously it is shown.

2) Ridiculous levels of hormones. This is still a defining time for teenagers, especially boys. They will drive faster and harder and forgo control for the sake of thrill, to impress someone, to try to help define themselves, or to let off stress

The hormones is a problem, but there are already protections in place. Furthermore, the closer you get inexperienced drivers to alcohol, the worse off you are.

As for experience, you're always going to have to start somewhere. Pushing the age back 2 years wont do much other than piss off a bunch of parents who are sick of driving their kids places. This also pushes back the age at which the kids have reliable transportation to jobs, school, and other events.

Driving is an integral part of growing up, and helps define teenagers in their later highschool years. You want to strip this for what? 2 years with no increase in experience?

I don't get the point. Where it is set now, they are still a far enough away from (legal) alcohol use to learn to drive sober, and far enough from the peak of puberty to not act like total jackasses.

16 is the perfect age to start driving.

-- PS --

Everyone below me saying 21... you're full of ****!

Driving at 16 gives a small buffer until your adult criminal record begins, giving a driver a fresh start after 2 years. Bad? No!

You want it raised to 21? I guess 18 year olds can join the Navy, get taught to fly a fighter jet, and get shipped off 8000 miles from home to protect you. But when they're 8 month tour gets back they still cannot drive a car. Oh and heaven forbid they could drink. Lets raise the voting age to 30 while we're at it. Ya'll are full of it.

Answer 3

It will not work with all the loose will of the law, and a law that tells kids they can have the parent put in jail if they try to correct them.
But I see parents that give them a car so they do not want to look at the child or work as a parent. I would vote yes to be more control.
Was 15 when I was 15, now it is 17 in same state. But at that time parents had more control of how that child spent its time behind the wheel.
I talked to the law a week ago about what was going on about not even picking up a child for breaking the law. He says they have no where to put them so as be see, take the rights to protect/teach a child away from the parent, so what is going to happen to those kids we no longer room for them behind bars nor do we allow the parent to give them a "NO" demand.

Answer 4

In some ways I think yes, but I live in NYC where it already is 18, and there's so much public transportation so easy for me to say... but I think for people who live in rural areas, where they may rely on the older children to help out with the younger children or other family things, that it would be a bad thing... because parents in that situation might just let their kids drive anyway and then they kids would get arrested or punished in some way. Basically, I think that the kids would be driving anyway, so better have them drive after taking driver's ed and passing it, than having them break the law to drive because waiting until 18 is just unrealistic in many places.

Answer 5

I don't think that driving age should be increased. It would be like when they raised the drinking age....useless. Kids would be driving illegally. Some states however have put up laws that state that if a 16-18 yr old commits a crime or quits school they surrender their license until 18.

Answer 6

Yes, the driving age should be raised to 18 and the drinking age should be raised to at least 23. If you wanna drink, save up your hard earned paychecks or allowance from mommy and daddy and see if they'll let you go on a road trip to Canada. And don't forget your passport!

Answer 7

The driving age is 18. Hardships are allowed at younger ages with drivers education and or a need for such a hardship, but that is an exception and not the rule.

Answer 8

Nope. I'm sixteen and I just completed a Driver Education which is required you have take too get your license before age 17, in Idaho. Driver Education is supposed too get drivers used too the road, and practice safe driving habbits.

Answer 9

Yes. At least after dark. A car in the hands of a teenager is a deadly weapon. Their brains are not wired to handle the decisions necessary to drive, especially if there is anything emotional playing in their lives. And let's face it, when is there not something emotional in a teenager's life?

Answer 10

No. I think it should be raised to 21. The kids now days have there head up there A.. And can not drive with a cell on there ear.

Answer 11

Age isn't the issue, most people can't drive even if they've been doing it for years. I say that they make it harder to pass driver's ed and give the students more advice on how to drive than: "you're going to die if you..".