Teenage Drivers?

Question

Im a teenage driver. Im getting sick of all these people saying that th age should be raised to 21yrs old. It gets me annoyed that they steriotype teenage drivers as the boy racers instead of the newly qualified as well of ALL AGES. Does this get at you as well?

Why change it to 21yrs old when not all teenage drivers are the culprits. Im 18 and am a safe driver.

Answer 1

I agree with you that good and capable young drivers are unfairly penalised.

One fault is with the testing system which fails to asses to a sufficient adequacy and seriously fails to test for the right qualities and skills.

Many and various are the schemes that could be brought in to penalise the guilty and encourage and promote the good driver. Sadly governments are not interested in good government and increasingly legislate, even in all areas of life, to penalise everybody rather than those that are guilty.

Governments are failing us in every area of life and driving is no exception.

Standards have dropped and governments have lost contol because they have lost understanding. Consequently, foolish and ill thought out, "desperate" measures are resorted to which don't solve the problem but do cause hardship and pain to many.

The vast majority of drivers are bad drivers but they consider themselves good and the pillars of society. They often think it is easy to slug the teenager but obviously everyone should be required to reach the same standard irrespective of age. In fact the boy racer is probably less dangerous and less of a nuisance than the incompetent driver or, worst of all, the unaware driver.

Rewarding good drivers and penalising bad should be for everybody. Either a person is responsible or they are not. Is the government unable to distinguish? Then they are not responsible to govern.

Answer 2

Reading all the conflicting advice and opinion must be confusing!
OK....here is the low down.....
Young male drivers are statically more likely to be involved in an accident than any other group. Particularly when accompanied by other young male drivers.

While the reactions of a teenager are lightening fast, unfortunately the danger perception is seriously lacking. Its not pointing a finger at YOU...its a medical fact that due to the hormone rushing around inside you, you do not perceive danger the same as someone 20 years your peer.

That said....its not all doom and gloom. If you are confident in your ability to drive safely and competently then prove it to the insurance company.

Contact your nearest Branch of Institute of Advanced Motoring and get yourself on a course. You will not be charged for the lessons and will only have to pay for the assessment.

Everyone thinks they are a good driver, but until you do something to prove it, it is just a thought.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Unfortunately you may be sick of it but facts speak louder than opinion. 60%+ of all injury accidents involve people under 18. The next most dangerous group is the over 70 crowd. Now for the reason to raise the age to 21. The front portion of the brain is in charge of maturity and reason. These portions are not fully mature until possibly in into the 20's.. The term, It will never happen to me," sprang from the under 20 age group. Reality has not yet fully reached a lot of young people. You seem to be the exception but are by far not the rule. Almost everyone knows a young person who has been permanently maimed or killed by a needless and avoidable accident. And we haven't even gotten into talking about the possible effects of drugs and alcohol here.
I support raising the age. I'd bet my next paycheck that in a 5 year study the % of accidents would decrease by a statistically significant number........

Answer 4

I don't agree that the age should be raised to 21, although i do thing there should be some form of system to allow the safer young drivers to be on the road and to catch the racers and keep them off the road.
I definately thing that after the age of say 60 there should be some form of test to ensure that the older drivers are still up to scratch. maybe a two yearly test. Many accidents i have witnessed have been caused by an over cautious or down right incompetent older driver causing accidents behind them due to their driving.
So in short YES it gets to me too that younger and safe drivers are always the ones to blame.

Answer 5

OK Mike, so your a safe driver, don't forget we all were sixteen at one time, and we were all safe drivers. I know I was, a week after passing my test someone smacked into my side, it was her fault, but if it happened now maybe just maybe I could have avoided it. It was raining and dark, around this time of the year and my side window was splattered with rain drops. If I had cleand the rain off I would have had a better chance of seeing the other car. Tought me to always have clear vision, and served me well for the past 50 years. I had two other accidents, one about 20 years ago at a roundabout. A woman started off in front of me and stalled about 10 yards out, I was watching to filter in the traffic, as I started to go forward I suddenly saw she had stopped, I was too close, £400 damage to her and it did'nt even scratch my number plate. My fault though I should have checked It was clear. The other happened this summer and was a carbon copy, in both cases I had only just started to ease forward. After my first knock I realised I was'nt Stirling Moss and would have to learn to be a good driver, and i'm still trying. So their is hope for you 'cause your a good driver. It is your job to show what a good and considerate driver you really are, and perhaps your friends may follow you. I would have gone mad if I had had to wait until I was 21, but that won't happen.

Good luck mate and show'em how good you are.

Answer 6

Based on the second answer I agree driving should be banned. Some teenage drivers are dangerous. Some Male drivers are dangerous. Some Female drivers are dangerous. Some elderly drivers are dangerous. EVERY SINGLE GROUP has SOME dangerous drivers. Why raise it based on SOME? If we do as I said we will have to ban ALL driving. Yeah some are dangerous and some like to race around. Guess what, so do some guys who had mid-life crises and go buy that fast car to show off.
OK speaking of accidents, perfect example I was in a car that was hit and totaled by insurance standards. Short answer was the rim was bent on the passenger side and obviously dented into the engine as well. Thank God we weren't a little further up and I didn't have that idiot hit the passenger side where I was sitting. It hit right in front of the passenger door. Anyway guess what we were in a parking lot street. It was rainy. The guy was at least in his THIRTIES. Maybe older but don't know. The speed limit on this road is 15 and posted as such. He was going at least 45 based on the way the rim was bent. So should guys that age be BANNED???

Answer 7

I will start out by saying that I am a teen driver so call be biased if you want but I am also a car enthusiast and will give my opinion. states have the ability to set the driving age as they see fit based on traffic density etc..., people do not drive badly because of their age, there are just as many, probably more bad drivers who are over 21 than those in their teens. the way to improve driving safety is not to regulate the driving age to 21 but to instead offer more affordible and better drivers ed, emergency driving, and defensive driving courses. if the age was changed to 21 is it not possible that people drive badly based on a lack of knowledge and inexperiance? if the age gets changed to 21 people will be calling for it to be changed to 25 or thirty and eventually noone but senior citizens will be allowed to drive and what sense does that make. changing the driving age from 16 (florida) to 21 is effectively the same as changing the driving age from 21 to 26 would be, drivers should be better educated on driving and not just older, there is no difference between a 16yr old and 21 yr old driver if they have had the same classes and done just as well as eachother in those classes.

Answer 8

I can't believe how ignorant some of these answers are. Yes some teenagers might be reckless, but then so are many middle aged drivers and old age drivers. If a teenager is capable of passing a driving test then obviously they are capable of driving. A driving examiner wouldn't pass somebody who poses a risk on the road. Some people have a very blinkered view.
I am not a teenager but I have a daughter who is 18 that is taking driving lessons.

Answer 9

Unfortunately you may be sick of it but facts speak louder than opinion. 60%+ of all injury accidents involve people under 18. The next most dangerous group is the over 70 crowd. Now for the reason to raise the age to 21. The front portion of the brain is in charge of maturity and reason. These portions are not fully mature until possibly in into the 20's.. The term, It will never happen to me," sprang from the under 20 age group. Reality has not yet fully reached a lot of young people. You seem to be the exception but are by far not the rule. Almost everyone knows a young person who has been permanently maimed or killed by a needless and avoidable accident. And we haven't even gotten into talking about the possible effects of drugs and alcohol here.

Answer 10

Changing it to 21 will just mean we have more 21 year old idiot drivers on the road thinking they have something to prove after watching too many fast and furious films.

in my opinion, they should put a limit on the car they can drive, stop parents being able to insure the car cheaply with their child as a named driver so the youngest person on the policy is the policyholder and totally ban ALL modifications to cars.

That way, the sensible teens who wish to drive still can and the max power brigade wont be able to show off and kill people.

Just this past weekend, 2 crashes locally made the news because it resulted in the death of 11 teens below the age of 18.
Both crashes were the result of speeding and the drivers having much more confidence than ability.
These were only 2 cases that made the local news, many more have been killed, crippled or seriously injured this past week.
I also think if you get caught speeding within 5 years of obtaining your full licence, you should get a 5 year ban and have to retake your test.