Title: Driving Age
Description: What age is best?
Splaz - November 30, 2005 09:03 PM (GMT)
What age do you think kids should get their learning permits or licenses?
I beleive that 16-17 is a good age for permit. 15 seems like too reckless of an age, and by 18 most kids are in college. I've heard too many news stories of fresh-off-the-test drivers crashing and either dying themselves or killing someone else. Its sad, and I dont think that is should happen.
Gerjen - November 30, 2005 09:18 PM (GMT)
18 seems to work fine here in europe. 16 for a motor.
Splaz - November 30, 2005 09:20 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Gerjen @ Nov 30 2005, 02:18 PM) |
| 18 seems to work fine here in europe. 16 for a motor. |
Motor?
J-Man. - November 30, 2005 09:54 PM (GMT)
I guess motorcycle.
I think maybe 15.5 is a good age for a permit, then 17 for a license. Some people are just too reckless and irresponsible for driving this young. But I won't complain... it's bad enough that I have friends that drive all the time and I have to wait over 6 months. :(
Bill - November 30, 2005 10:34 PM (GMT)
In Florida, it's 15 for a permit and 16 for a liscense. I've never seen a place with worse drivers. Partly because of the 15 year old drivers, partly because of all the tourists in the winter, and partly because all of the elderly, retired people driving (no offense). In New Jersey, (since I last lived there) it was 17 for a permit and 18 for a liscense. I think this age worked much better, generally speaking, although it depends on the person.
Splaz - December 1, 2005 12:43 AM (GMT)
Yeah, Jersey has that rule (last time I heard) and New York has something around that. Personally, my parents are deciding for me. They dont care what my friends are getting, and truthfully I dont either. Im kinda scared of driving.
J-Man. - December 1, 2005 02:31 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Bill @ Nov 30 2005, 05:34 PM) |
| In Florida, it's 15 for a permit and 16 for a liscense. |
Same in Georgia ;)
Bryan - December 1, 2005 03:53 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Eden @ Dec 1 2005, 12:43 PM) |
| Yeah, Jersey has that rule (last time I heard) and New York has something around that. Personally, my parents are deciding for me. They dont care what my friends are getting, and truthfully I dont either. Im kinda scared of driving. |
It is slightly scary at first, but try driving around your neighborhood at a non-busy time and do that a few times before you go out on the streets and you will be good
But yeh, I think 15 is a good age for a permit generally speaking, 16 for license.
Nir - December 1, 2005 04:10 AM (GMT)
To be honost, I think in america, you should be able to drive by yourself only from age 18. It would save so many lives...
I would suggest allowing 15 year olds and over to drive but with regulations etc.
Gerjen - December 1, 2005 10:18 AM (GMT)
I can't even imagine kids of 15 or 16 driving, half my class in 16, letting them drive? No way
J-Man. - December 1, 2005 12:41 PM (GMT)
Ya it's kind of scary that I have friends driving. :P
I agree with Nir. There are some kids that are just too reckless to have the privelege to drive their own car. Not because they are bad drivers, but because they make bad choices. Unfortunately, there are too many of these people.
Bryan - December 1, 2005 12:42 PM (GMT)
What is so wrong with 15 year olds driving. In my opinion driving teaches responsibility. Well maybe not in everyone but most people possibly learn from driving.
J-Man. - December 1, 2005 11:23 PM (GMT)
I don't have a problem with 15 year olds having a permit, but I don't agree with 16 year olds having a license. There are many teens that go driving to parties, etc. and drink and stuff and end up killing themselves, or they get killed by a drunk driver (which is not their fault, but it happens every now and then). Some kids just don't have the responsibility to go wherever they please without getting themselves into trouble, and there are enough of them that moving the license age woudn't be too bad.
My school is part of a private school association called GISA (Georgia Independent School Association), and they have a literary meet every year. I have to write an essay (for the teachers who are in charge of nominating people to go to this contest) and I'm going to write about responsibility and precautions for driving teens.
Gerjen - December 2, 2005 12:16 PM (GMT)
Well Judah, If you need info on how it is aranged over here just ask :)
Evit-Morningstar - December 2, 2005 10:12 PM (GMT)
Well, see, I think highschool students in America have to be able to drive. Alot of freshman and sophmores at my school can't do extra curicular activities because they can't drive or get rides. I live out in the county so taking the bus or walking is out of the question, and it's usually hard to bum a ride off of a friend when your house is 30min out of the way. So I think a young driving age is a necessity, but I don't approve of it. I'd much rather have the public transportation improved than have a young driving age, but that's not about to happen anytime soon.
-tiGz- - December 3, 2005 02:23 PM (GMT)
Brandon - December 3, 2005 04:32 PM (GMT)
In New Hampshire it is 15 1/2 to practice driving with your parents. You must take driver ed in order to get a license at 16. If you don't take drivers ed you can not get a license until you are 18. I think that the age of 16 is OK, but teenagers need to watch the road and pay attention to what the heck they are doing on the road.
Gerjen - December 3, 2005 05:10 PM (GMT)
Driving with parents isn't allowed here either, I remember back in australia your parent could give you your licence...
J-Man. - December 3, 2005 11:52 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Evit-Morningstar @ Dec 2 2005, 05:12 PM) |
| Well, see, I think highschool students in America have to be able to drive. Alot of freshman and sophmores at my school can't do extra curicular activities because they can't drive or get rides. I live out in the county so taking the bus or walking is out of the question, and it's usually hard to bum a ride off of a friend when your house is 30min out of the way. So I think a young driving age is a necessity, but I don't approve of it. I'd much rather have the public transportation improved than have a young driving age, but that's not about to happen anytime soon. |
Ya I have to say that public transportation sucks. NY is the only place that does a good job with it. At least provide busses all over the place; it would save so much trouble.
Here is the essay that I wrote:
| QUOTE (Judah's GISA Literary Meet Essay[/quote) |
At the age of 15 in the State of Georgia, one receives his or her driving permit. At the age of 16, he or she receives her driving license. Many of these teenagers are very responsible people and know how to stay out of trouble. There are many other teenagers, however, that do not hold the same responsibility, and end up in a lot of trouble. Too many of these teenage drivers, to our misfortune, take the wrong road in the very beginning of their driving career. Even responsible teenagers get unlucky and are the victims of irresponsible driving. Due to the many car accidents involving teenage drivers, politicians have started making proposals in order to prevent these accidents. I certainly agree that legal changes must be made to save the lives of teenagers, including the ban of driving SUV’s, banning cell phone use, and hiring the age for getting a permit and license. These are just some of the things that may help prevent accidents.
One important step to preventing teenage driving accidents is banning the use of SUV’s by minors. Because it is less aero-dynamic than a smaller car, an SUV is a harder vehicle to drive. Given this fact, it is easier to get into an accident in an SUV. For example, if one needed to make a sharp turn last second, he or she would be more likely to hit another car because it is bigger and does not turn as smoothly as a smaller car. There was one time when my mom was driving me home from school, and this one person, driving an SUV, tried to cut in the lane and almost hit us. One needs to have enough experience driving a smaller car before tackling a bigger one.
Another important step to preventing teenage driving accidents is banning the use of cell-phones while driving. When someone drives, he or she loses two things. The first is one is concentration. The driver is more likely to focus on the person on the phone rather than to what is going on in his or her surroundings and may be likely to hit someone. That same person who tried to cut into the lane my mom was driving in, also was talking on his cell phone. If he had not driven and talked at the same time, he might have been more aware of what was going on. The second thing that a driver loses when he or she talks on his or her cell phone is control of the vehicle. Very often, especially teenagers need to use one hand to hold his or her phone. By only using one hand to drive the vehicle, one does not have as much control and is likely to fall into an accident. It would be safer for teenagers to not use a cell phone when driving.
One last solution to the problem of teenage accidents, which to me is the most important solution, is hiring the age that a teenager can drive a car. Many parents complain about their need to drive their kids around town every minute of their lives, and are to relief when their child drives. However, maybe the age of 16 is not the age when a teenager is most mature to drive a car. This is issue is merely a responsibility issue. A very common reason for an accident is because of Saturday night partying, which often includes drinking. Then the driver is drunk, and when he or she drives home, he or she often ends up killing him/herself and anyone else in the car. Too many teenagers cannot make responsible choices when they are behind the wheel, and it costs many lives. In some cases, it may not even be fair to make them have that responsibility, given the fact that a legal adult is 18. Therefore, drivers should be 18 years old, because they are then legal adults and are responsible for themselves.
It has become evident that by banning teenagers from driving SUV’s and talking with a cell phone, in addition to hiring the driving age, that countless of lives of teenage drivers can be saved. The government needs to step up and agree on some main things that would prevent deaths of young drivers. At this point, though, it is not important to just talk about the actions that need to be taken; a proactive role needs to be taken to prevent as many accidents as possible. Right now, all we have is young drivers who can easily run into some bad choices that cost multiple lives, and that needs to change immediately. |
Gdogfun - January 5, 2006 01:46 AM (GMT)
I think a good age is 17 for permit 18 for licence
Composed - January 5, 2006 01:47 AM (GMT)