Should 16 year olds drive?

I think the student needs to be at least a junior is High School.

 

It might just be that there are far more 18/19 year old drivers out there. We really need the numbers as a percentage of the drivers for it to be accurate. I don't think anyone should be able to drive until they're 18. I can't even mention the number of times I've seen some 16 year old 105 pound girl on a cellphone driving a megaton SUV monstrosity about to pummel me into a ditch because she's not paying attention.

 

Easy....18. Most of these young kids don't know how to drive and their parents compound an already bad situation by purchasing a vehicle out of whack for their limited skills and zeal for danger. Maybe we could keep the 16 year old age for a driver's license if the tests were more difficult, but personally, I'd like to see it raised to 18. Car crashes kill more kids than anything else.

 

Amen to that. My parents smartly outfitted me with a 1973 Ninety-Eight Oldsmobile. It was a tank, got terrible gas mileage and had zero pickup. This made me drive slow and efficiently (I had to pay for gas), and if I was in an accident, I'd probably be OK.

Of course, I hated my parents for it at the time.

 

No, because I didn't get to drive at 16. Muwahahahhaha...

 

I wouldn't mind leaving it at 16, but changing some other things. If you get so much as a parking ticket when you're 16 or 17, your license is suspended until your 18th birthday--and then only if you pass the test again.

I've got another law I'd like to see passed. It would be among the first if I were suddenly king. IF YOU CAN'T PARK ANYTHING BIGGER THAN A HONDA CIVIC, YOU CAN'T DRIVE ANYTHING BIGGER THAN A HONDA CIVIC. I can't stand it when people effectively take up two spaces. They park that big Suburban back tire on the line with the back rear bumber taking up about a quarter of the next parking place. If they can't get it between the lines, make them trade it in for a Civic--with a bumber sticker on the back that says, "I'm too incompetent to drive anything bigger."

 

Exactly what you should've been driving. Your parents were on the ball with that for sure. My first vehicle was a 1970 International Harvester pickup that was bought new by my Dad. I had to fix it up (it was 15 years old and beat up badly after years of fishing and commutes to the oil refinery where my Dad worked), but we repainted it and put a new interior in it.

By the time I joined the Corps, it was fully restored. Last year, I replaced the worn-out (two rebuilds) motor that I couldn't find parts for with a factory-fresh Cummins diesel and an Allison automatic. So basically I popped out 12 grand for the best towing pickup on Earth. But it was perfect for me as a young driver. It was a tank (IH builds tractors and the toughest trucks you've never heard of) and the bed was perfect for keg parties.

But the trip down memory lane aside, the statistics are pretty damning when it comes to idiocy of these kids on the road. When I was in my Porsche, I had some kids in a Vette wanting to race me. Who in their right mind gives the keys to a high-speed deadly weapon like a Vette to a h/s school kid with more balls than brains?

 

Both the legal driving and drinking age should be 18.

 

I am sure a LARGE percent of teenagers are already introduced to alcohol by the time they are driving.

I am just thinking about Europe, since I lived there for a number of years. As I am sure you know, both privilages are granted at age 18. The USA has one of the biggest problems with binge drinking and drunk drivers. (i cant site my self right now, about to head out, but I will later)

I dont know exactly where I am trying to go with this. I think what I am trying to say is that driving leagal age should be moved back a year or so.

 

I started driving when I was 15, but the age was lower then. All you had to have was a joke of a course from a PE teacher. The only accidents I've ever had were the fault of someone else. (like the s.o.b. who ran a red light and tried to kill me)

Now, being the hypocrite I am and having children 12 and 7 years old, I can say without reservation that there is no way in hell they will sniff being behind the wheel until they're... uh, as old as I can get away with.

 

I'm with bamaslammer and Greenvegan76. 18 and a parental common sense limit on what they drive. At 16, I learned to drive on a 62 Ford Falcon wagon. But at 17, my parents bought me a 69 SS/RS Camaro that was far from stock. My brother had souped-up 57 Chevy when he was 18. It's a miracle we are still alive and we didn't take anyone else down with us. The bad thing now is even some Honda Accords have 260 hp. Get the 4 banger and remove a spark plug wire - when they turn 21 wrap-up the missing plug wire as a gift.

 

The driving age should remain at 16...

The working age, however, should be lowered to 10, giving a kid 6 years to save up the money to buy a car...

 

Im Houston at least, having a job and having a car go hand-in-hand. If you want a job, you need to be able to get there. Depending on your situation, you might be able to bum a ride or take a bus, but it isn't uncommon for a lack of a car being a deal-breaker in employment. So, if legal working age is 16, I think driving age should also be 16.

 

I was legally licensed to drive in the State of Texas at 14 (1967).
I had 3 wrecks before I was 18! Though none were technically my fault , it was probably no coincidence.

 

It should also be noted that the higher frequency of accidents among younger people could also be attributable to the fact that they haven't been driving very long. If you pushed the minimum age back to 18, then it could very well mean that 18-22 is the highest frequency age range, instead of 16-20. My point is that people naturally assume it is a maturity issue, when it could also be an experience issue.

Trader_Jorge is one of the best drivers on the road who has not been stopped for a traffic violation in over 7 years. But then again, when you drive a Luxury SUV you tend to take extra precaution.

 

TJ, when we mean that the driving age would be 18, that would be for unsupervisored driving (like a regular license). You'd still get your learner's permit at 15, but you'd have three years of supervision under your belt before you got your license rather than the one now. Good point nonetheless.

 

T_J makes a good point about experience being more of a factor than age. But bamaslammer's idea sounds pretty good to me.