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Should we Raise the Legal Driving Age?

50K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  Mercury4me 
#1 ·
The legal driving age has been a constant debate and every few years another log is thrown onto the fire. Should we really raise the legal age to drive? Would it save lives? If so, how high should we raise it? Currently, most states allow for teen drivers to apply for a drivers permit 6 months after their 15th birthday. Some say this is way too soon.

Teen Driving is Deadly
It’s an unfortunate truth, but auto accidents are the leading cause of death among teenagers. A 16 year old is almost twice as likely to die in a car crash than a 30 year old. And with new issues such as cell phone driving, texting while driving, and other forms of distracted driving, there is good reason to debate this issue. If we can take the most dangerous drivers off the road, we will not only save the lives of young adults, but we will also make the roadways safer for everyone else.

But Driving is Deadly for all Age Groups
What’s interesting is the leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds is auto accidents. They are the only age group where this is true. However, car crashes are the leading cause of accidental death in all age groups over 4 years old! Let’s face it, 15 to 24 year olds aren’t plagued with disease and sickness like older folks are. So it’s only natural that their leading cause of death will be accidental, and will also be the leading accidental death for nearly every age group. So the stats aren’t exactly cut and dry.

Is it Age or Inexperience? Consider These Points
Is age really the biggest factor to consider? If we raise the legal driving age to, say, 17 years old, wouldn’t 17 year olds have the highest accident rate simply due to lack of experience? Many argue that our decision making skills aren’t fully developed at 16 (the legal age at which a license can actually be obtained). However, this is mostly unsubstantiated evidence and since every person develops differently, a blanketed law is going to punish those who are ready.

I’m a truck driver and see this with new truckers. The legal age to receive a commercial drivers license is 18 years old, but most don’t obtain their commercial drivers license until after the age of 21. The most dangerous truck drivers on the road are those with under 2 years of experience, regardless of age. It’s likely that if we simply raise the driving age, we will only shift the “problem drivers” to a higher age bracket.

By the way, be sure to check out these tips for driving around semi trucks

Major Issues with Raising the Legal Driving Age
Aside from young teens hating the idea, do we really want our kids dependent upon us for everything? Do we really want to chauffeur our kids everywhere, up until the point they graduate high school, go off to college, or even join the military? Getting a drivers license is a ‘right of passage’ so to speak. We have to “let go” at some point or another. Most teens don’t have access to public transit. We need to let them have some freedom. We need to let them get jobs. We need to let them grow up. And learning to drive is one of the very first steps into adulthood. The world is a dangerous place, but we must “let go” at some point.

A Graduated Solution
Every child and every teenager develops in their own unique way. Instead of forcing the government to make blanketed laws, let’s leave things the way they are and force parents to be parents. Allow mom and dad to decide if their child should drive or not. Who knows a teenager better than the teenagers guardian?

Most states have developed a “graduated licensing” program, which has proven to be successful. This includes more time behind the wheel with a supervised and licensed adult, more classroom time, and zero tolerance policies for traffic violations (a violation could result in further training or even license revocation).

Limiting forms of distracted driving is also a good idea. Some states have a graduated rider program. At first, no passengers are allowed unless it’s an adult. After some experience, they can bring more passengers on board. Zero tolerance cell phone use and driving curfew laws have also proven to be successful.

Traditionally, we have given full license privileges to 16 year olds. Instead of simply raising the driving age, we should continue to implement programs which slowly gives more driving privileges to teens as they prove themselves to be safe, trustworthy drivers. Let’s treat this as an experience issue, not an age issue.

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#4 ·
An interesting topic.


Have you noticed lately how many 16-year-olds do not have a driver's license today?



Many just do not want to drive. Never mind the legal age, the driving age is creeping upwards on its own.



Is it our connected society? Is it the cost of car ownership? I've had many friends who have had to beg their kids to get a license. Back in my day, if you didn't have a license and drive, you were a zero.
 
#7 ·
16 year olds usually need to drive their younger siblings to school so mom can go to work. They need a car to get themselves t work as well. They need a car to visit their friends and get to swim practice so they don't just sit and play a video game all day and night. . If you wait till they are 17, when they are drunk two nights a week, well, that's really too late to learn how to drive. Yes, texting is bad but I would rather have a texting teenager behind me than a texting old man.
 
#9 ·
Interesting topic on driving age. I agree with the experience level being more significant than the age but kids have just not observed enough data points to make informed decisions about many things.

By the time I drove on the road, I had other experience that prepared me for it since I was around 12. Grandpa's F250 in the hay fields, grandma's Falcon up and down the long dirt driveway, VW bugs out in the fireroads, not to mention many hours on dirtbikes and tractors gave me much of the vehicle control skills needed. On top of that, I rode shotgun in my dad's 18 wheeler going all over the USA during the summers so I had a good grasp on signs, right of way, and things like that. When I got my license, "youthful indiscretion" was my only excuse for the stupid things I did.

To generalize a thing like driving age to make things fair and equal will naturally involve legislators erring on the side of safety and penalizing many for the "safety" of the few. However, there is no teacher like experience and the best way to learn anything is to do it, make mistakes, and self-correct.

When I was a MSF RiderCoach, they emphasized that the students needed to RIDE! Any time spent lecturing a student on what they were doing wrong was wasting time. Let them ride. As they pass through the check point where you interact with them, you either give them a thumbs up or ask something like "how did that feel to you?"

If they did something wrong, usually they know and will tell you. Then you just say, "Go try it again." and let them ride. After a few times, they get the concept and you can move the whole class on to the next thing. Meanwhile, the other riders are honing their skills.

The key is getting a low risk environment where drivers/riders can focus on learning, make mistakes, and not harm themselves, others, or machinery (seen a few bikes dropped but they were only Hondas so no tears were shed).

The motivation to learn to drive is a whole other topic to itself. Technology, entry-level jobs, and protecting mommy's little precious add up to less "want to" less "have to" and less "time to."
 
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