Friday, March 6, 2009

Raising the driving age?

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Annual crashes from car accidents are often caused by reckless young drivers, especially between the ages of 16 and 25. The main reason comes from a lack of experience on the road. Recently, there has been a discussion about raising the licensure age from 16 to 17. Many teenagers have given strong feedback on the issue because of a need for their own transportation other than asking parents for rides. On the other hand, parents are in extreme agreement with this idea because they believe it's better that way for the safety of their children.

What is your opinion about whether we should enforce this idea to become a law?


Check out this article:

http://www3.fertilethoughts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=613653


Mai-Thao Nguyen: I strongly agree with the idea that we should put this into the driving law. There are way too many car accidents caused from teen drivers, especially from those who just got the license and are excited to show off with friends. Why the rush of getting a driver license to drive your own car, but you might cause troubles for other drivers on the road? Even raising it just one year (from 16 to 17) isn't enough. It requires both experience and maturity for young drivers to learn before they can be deemed as being "safe" drivers.


Lance Ferguson: Some car insurance agencies have been pressuring lawmakers to raise the legal driving age to 17. They insist that an extra year before a teen starts to drive will improve the safety on the streets. Although the age has already been raised in New Jersey, I do not think that this is a good idea. Teenagers just starting to drive will have their license revoked, and some would probably continue to drive even without their license.

22 comments:

  1. In answer to your question, I don't know if that would solve anything, really. As Kelly pointed out, there's no actual difference in maturity between the ages of 16 and 17.

    I think the problem lies with the vastness of our country and a lack of adequate public transport as a result. Everyone NEEDS a car here, even teenagers.

    You know, I've lived in a couple of countries where the driving age was high, and the drinking age was low. It didn't necessarily make it 'safer' by doing so. There were plenty of wacko adult drivers on the roads. After all, Europeans do love their booze, and there are simply not enough crackdowns on drunk drivers there.

    Don't forget the elderly drivers too. (Sigh! I can picture my grandpa squinting behind the wheel, and it makes me cringe)

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  2. I don't think changing the driving age would really make a difference because teenagers don't suddenly mature in one year. I think that families also depend on their teens driving because of busy schedules, after school activities, and after school jobs. I do think that parents should be more aware of their teens driving habits and enforce rules like no cell phone use while driving.

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  3. The age for driving, drinking, voting, serving in the military, and every other right you have under the constitution should be the same. Where that number should be set is the question. Whatever age that is chosen would represent both your rights and your responsibilities. In the case of driving, if you have the right to drive, you also have the liability of being held accountable under the law. If you harm someone and/or their property when behind the wheel you should pay restitution, and lose your freedom for a prescribed amount of time, no probation. I believe the lawmakers should err on the side of protecting people's safety. Parents have lost control of their children. If that is the case there is jail. It does not seem that young people these days have much respect for authority, and many are consumed with lifestyles that impair their judgment to such a degree that they are dysfunctional. They have no concept of the consequences for their actions, and the pain and suffering that they cause. In the case of personal injury and financial loss there should be very stiff penalties, if not to change behavior, to get them off the street.

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  4. I don't think it will make any difference raising the licensure age from 16 to 17. Between the ages of 16 and 17 teenagers are immature and irresponsable,teenagers driver's don't have the experience on the road as an older drivers. The State of Florida should have the same public transportation like New York. Therefore,teenagers don't need to drive as such a young age.

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  5. In my opinion the only difference it would make if they raised the age to 17 would be, if they also made it so that you would have to have your restricts for 2 years instead of 1. I think that this would really make a difference because teenagers would have more guided experience and someone 21 and over would be in the car with them for those 2 years.

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  6. I think a car is a primary necessity here. Everyone needs it as Ms. Jennings related it above. The reason is that because parents are too busy and sometimes they are not even available to response to their teenagers’ needs. I understand that young drivers cause more accidents than any other category of people, but it’s not the best time to rise the driving age. Lawmakers should think about how the economy crisis keeps family members busier than before .Why don’t they really against people talking on their cell phone/texting while driving? Studies show that driving while talking on a cell phone is every bit as dangerous as driving drunk. I believe that a lot of accidents could be prevented by not talking on cell phones or texting. I know a lot of people who try to get their phones out of their pocket/purse when driving and they end up swerving.

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  7. I was in 2 wrecks in the past 2 years..... One was with a 102 year old man, and the other with a 16 year old girl. Both wrecks were totally bizaare. I now feel that neither of these age groups should be driving. Teens should have their permit for 2 years and people over 59 should retake the driving exam(both written and physical) and this should include a hearing, eyesight, and reflex test.

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  8. Your age has nothing to do with your driving skills. If you are a responsible person that can make quick decisions and be attentive then you should be allowd to drive. There are some 16 or 17 teenagers that act more respondsible in the way they drive than some adults that drive.

    If some teenagers act childish i believe it should be up to the parents to hold there children respondsible and not allow them to drive untill they show more maturity.

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  9. I honestly dont think it would make a drastic change in one year of age.I agree they are inexpeirenced at 16 of course they are because they are "learning" and it is one big learning process. We were all 16 once and had to do the same thing.One thing I do believe is a good idea is to bring back drivers ed and make all new drivers take it.It may or may not help? Also when I got my license my parents hd to agree that i drove a certain number of hours. I dont know if they still do that and how honest the parents are but it's also a form of learning.I dont feel changing the age is the right way to approach this situation.

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  10. I Brittany strongly agree with A St. Hill...there would be more supervision and they would be more experienced...Riseing the sge would put more mature teens behind the wheels instead of the risky adventurous teens we see now and days..

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  11. i am against...
    i dont think it should be raised. The roads cant get more un-safe than it already is.

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  12. Now that I am older I think that it should be raised. Whenever I was 16 I was just fine with it being 16 but now that I've been driving a while I see how immature young drivers are. They need to grow up and be able to make mature decisions before they can drive a car. Most of the car fatalities we have are from immature teens that just want to have fun and don't pay attention to what they are doing. I am glad that it is 16 though because now I don't have to drive my sister around everywhere now.

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  13. That's right that there's no big difference between 16 and 17. But as everybody knows a car is an essential need to every individual. therefore they can't keep the driving age too high. Especially teenagers besides school they have to go to work, or church or hanging out with friends...parents can't give them rides all the time. Therefore by keep the road a bit safer, 1 year seems to be the only solution. It's better for a one-more-year-experienced drive than a brand new young one.

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  14. I dont think that raising the driving age will effect anything. There will always be bad drivers out there no matter where you are or who si driving the car. Old people and people with anger problems are more likely to get into an accident than inexperienced teenagers at the wheel. And if they do decide to change the driving age then that would leave many parents to take on more responsibility because they would have to driver them eveywhere they need to be. A lot of people in that age bracket have busy lives just as adults do. we would also hafvfe to consider that lack of mass transportation around Florida as well

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  15. I dont agree with this law because alot of teens 16-17 need to be on their to get a job or do errands for the family. This age being able to drive helps out the family alot. Other idea could be that they can have a "temorary license". Meaning they can only drive so many hours in a week. I have a younger brother that is 17 and he is classifed as "temorary" on our insureance. I would never let him be a full time driver, I dont think he has had enough experience yet. But, by the time he is 18 he will have enough practice.

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  16. i think they should make the age seventeen or maybe higher because some teenagers have no clue how to drive or drive reckless trying to be cool.

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  17. if you raise the driving age then the statisics will probably just say most wrecks happen to drivers 18-26. I think the problem with young drivers is 1. distractions. cell phones, Ipods, friends, texting, ect... 2. parents not giving the child enough drive time during the "restricted" period. I know that my mom never let us drive when we had our restricted, if we wanted to drive he needed to go with my dad. Alot of parents make that mistake.

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  18. I believe that raising the driving age from 16 to 17 is not going to help to reduce the crashes that are caused by recklessness. There is little to no maturity difference between ages 16 to 17. If the parents are for raising the driving age, they can prohibit their child from driving until their child turns 18. You need a parent’s or guardian’s signature to get a learner’s permit.
    -Danielle L. TR 11-12:15

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  19. I think the age should be rised. not all drivers at the age of 16 need to be behind the wheel. if they are not going to do that make the test harder and put in some real world task for them to over come.
    Castor B. TR.11Am

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  20. The age should not be raised. Many people at age 16 have major responsibilities and without a driver's license it would be very difficult to take care of these. Kids have to grow up some time and learn responsibilites at some time in their life and getting their driver's license is their first big step.

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  21. I don't think the driving age should be raised, because it defiently made my life easier once I got my driver's license at age 16. I didn't have to get one of my parents to take me to practices, school and other stuff. Just cause some teens are reckless drivers, it doesn't mean that others should be punished.

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  22. I think that no matter what the driving age is raised to the inexperienced new driver is going to be over excited. This excitement would be just as distracting at the age of 17 as at it would be at 16. The legal driving age should not be raised because transportation needs have to be met for teenagers that need to get to things like volunteering, school, or work. Parents aren't always able to transport their teens to and from these important locations.

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