To all those people who are for raising the driving age you have the right to keep your kid from driving until they are 18. You have the right to keep your kids from a million different things.
Public backlash won’t be about saving lives or safer drivers….it’s all about convenience. Most parents can’t wait to stop having to spend their time driving kids everywhere, particularly when both parent work. While everyone agrees it’s a good idea to raise the age, it won’t happen. I do like the suggestion that a new driver spend a year with a licensed driver (over the age of 21)to learn good driving habits and get immediate feedback.
The real issue is that teens are not as mentally and emotionally mature as they used to be. My parents went to work at 14, especially to help with WW II, and I moved out on my own at 17. Many kids today stay at home with mom and dad until they are almost 30! they take their time growing up, concentrating on PLAYING at grown up, drinking, smoking, having sex but without any real sense of self accountability, control or responsibility. That is why teens are having a hard time about being able to drive safely: they think it is easy, so they drive while texting, yakking on the phone, and showing off the car to all of their friends; none of them are ready to move on to the next level. But I think that there are many good laws out there already and we should just make them more uniform across the country. No phone, text, no more than one other passenger, earlier curfew. Those who need a car to work or go to school should be limited in the time and radius. As someone said, just tossing the keys to them is not enough parental guidance to make any difference at all….
Dread, don’t assume that all of us agree. We don’t. It’s a terrible idea to raise the age. I have not seen any statistical substantiation proving that teen deaths will come down if the driving age is amended to the emancipation age of 18. Where is this proof?
You are so correct about the elder drivers; yesterday, an older woman drove onto a four lane highway from a side road, without stopping at the stop sign, or signaling, without regard for approaching traffic, forcing three cars to hit their brakes, and others moved over to the left lane when it was clear, only to pass a old biddy who couldn’t see out over the steering wheel and who was clearly oblivious to the rest of the traffic around her; the only reason no accident occurred is because all the other drivers were paying attention and prevented a collision. That woman should not have been on the road any more than a 10 year old…that’s about her speed as far as driving skill….
In Pennsylvania, the law refers to “operator’s priviledges” and I believe that to be the case everywhere; it is not a “right”, that is, constitutionally mandated; instead it is a well-regulated priviledge which can be suspended/revoked; you cannot revoke a right….BTW, my folks only had one car for our family of 10 children; none of us got our licenses until we BOUGHT OUR OWN cars….I didn’t get mine until I was 23! I hitched rides home for the holidays with other students by using the bulletin boards at the student union; worked OK for me; I even had a girlriend who didn’t drive but we managed to attend all kinds of parties, concerts, dinner dates etc. You adjust your life to the opportunities you make for yourself, not those given to you.
NJ Stats.
First of all, the stats were from a study done in the 1990’s. Cell phones and especially texting were less common back then so I question using those results to justify actions in 2008.
Secondly, if NJ doesn’t permit 16 year-olds to drive, then the number of 16 & 17 year-olds on the road should be 1/2 of that in Connecticut. Therefore, NJ deaths of 16 & 17 year-old drivers should be 1/2 or less than the Connecticut rate. Well, well, Connecticut’s rate was 26 while NJ’s was more than 1/2 that at 16. Using this stat alone, 16 year-olds should be able to drive.
One other thing – should kids learn to drink (legally) before they can drive or after they have learned to drive? I’ll pick after every time.
“…it is not a “right”, that is, constitutionally mandated;”
Before you go spouting off about the Constitution, you should learn more about it. The Constitution does not give us rights; it PROTECTS rights we are endowed with by our Creator.
As far as increasing the driving age to 18, why not 21? How about 25? What’s the reasoning behind 18? In ten years the stats will show that more 18 to 21 year olds die in crashes than 25 year olds, so then we’ll be discussing increasing the driving age to 25.
It appears to me what is happening is a concerted effort by some to increase the age of adulthood one piece at a time. The end goal is to increase the age of adulthood high enough so that college education would be completed while the person still falls under the responsibility of the parents. The completion of college will then be mandated, and paid for by the taxpayers. That plan is already being discussed.
We can not sequester our children away, and protect them from all dangers. We have to teach them to be wary, but at some point we must let them go. Children do not mature as quickly as they used to because they are over protected. I mean, come on! You still hold your 18 year old when she gets a shot! “Mommy, it hurts!”
I do not agree with raising the age that a teen can get a license, but i do think there should be a mandatory curfew and the driving test should consist of more than a ten minute drive on a deserted road. I think they should HAVE to take a drivers ed course.
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To all those people who are for raising the driving age you have the right to keep your kid from driving until they are 18. You have the right to keep your kids from a million different things.
Please do not force this on my own.
Public backlash won’t be about saving lives or safer drivers….it’s all about convenience. Most parents can’t wait to stop having to spend their time driving kids everywhere, particularly when both parent work. While everyone agrees it’s a good idea to raise the age, it won’t happen. I do like the suggestion that a new driver spend a year with a licensed driver (over the age of 21)to learn good driving habits and get immediate feedback.
The real issue is that teens are not as mentally and emotionally mature as they used to be. My parents went to work at 14, especially to help with WW II, and I moved out on my own at 17. Many kids today stay at home with mom and dad until they are almost 30! they take their time growing up, concentrating on PLAYING at grown up, drinking, smoking, having sex but without any real sense of self accountability, control or responsibility. That is why teens are having a hard time about being able to drive safely: they think it is easy, so they drive while texting, yakking on the phone, and showing off the car to all of their friends; none of them are ready to move on to the next level. But I think that there are many good laws out there already and we should just make them more uniform across the country. No phone, text, no more than one other passenger, earlier curfew. Those who need a car to work or go to school should be limited in the time and radius. As someone said, just tossing the keys to them is not enough parental guidance to make any difference at all….
Dread, don’t assume that all of us agree. We don’t. It’s a terrible idea to raise the age. I have not seen any statistical substantiation proving that teen deaths will come down if the driving age is amended to the emancipation age of 18. Where is this proof?
You are so correct about the elder drivers; yesterday, an older woman drove onto a four lane highway from a side road, without stopping at the stop sign, or signaling, without regard for approaching traffic, forcing three cars to hit their brakes, and others moved over to the left lane when it was clear, only to pass a old biddy who couldn’t see out over the steering wheel and who was clearly oblivious to the rest of the traffic around her; the only reason no accident occurred is because all the other drivers were paying attention and prevented a collision. That woman should not have been on the road any more than a 10 year old…that’s about her speed as far as driving skill….
In Pennsylvania, the law refers to “operator’s priviledges” and I believe that to be the case everywhere; it is not a “right”, that is, constitutionally mandated; instead it is a well-regulated priviledge which can be suspended/revoked; you cannot revoke a right….BTW, my folks only had one car for our family of 10 children; none of us got our licenses until we BOUGHT OUR OWN cars….I didn’t get mine until I was 23! I hitched rides home for the holidays with other students by using the bulletin boards at the student union; worked OK for me; I even had a girlriend who didn’t drive but we managed to attend all kinds of parties, concerts, dinner dates etc. You adjust your life to the opportunities you make for yourself, not those given to you.
Well said!
NJ Stats.
First of all, the stats were from a study done in the 1990’s. Cell phones and especially texting were less common back then so I question using those results to justify actions in 2008.
Secondly, if NJ doesn’t permit 16 year-olds to drive, then the number of 16 & 17 year-olds on the road should be 1/2 of that in Connecticut. Therefore, NJ deaths of 16 & 17 year-old drivers should be 1/2 or less than the Connecticut rate. Well, well, Connecticut’s rate was 26 while NJ’s was more than 1/2 that at 16. Using this stat alone, 16 year-olds should be able to drive.
One other thing – should kids learn to drink (legally) before they can drive or after they have learned to drive? I’ll pick after every time.
“…it is not a “right”, that is, constitutionally mandated;”
Before you go spouting off about the Constitution, you should learn more about it. The Constitution does not give us rights; it PROTECTS rights we are endowed with by our Creator.
As far as increasing the driving age to 18, why not 21? How about 25? What’s the reasoning behind 18? In ten years the stats will show that more 18 to 21 year olds die in crashes than 25 year olds, so then we’ll be discussing increasing the driving age to 25.
It appears to me what is happening is a concerted effort by some to increase the age of adulthood one piece at a time. The end goal is to increase the age of adulthood high enough so that college education would be completed while the person still falls under the responsibility of the parents. The completion of college will then be mandated, and paid for by the taxpayers. That plan is already being discussed.
We can not sequester our children away, and protect them from all dangers. We have to teach them to be wary, but at some point we must let them go. Children do not mature as quickly as they used to because they are over protected. I mean, come on! You still hold your 18 year old when she gets a shot! “Mommy, it hurts!”
I do not agree with raising the age that a teen can get a license, but i do think there should be a mandatory curfew and the driving test should consist of more than a ten minute drive on a deserted road. I think they should HAVE to take a drivers ed course.