do you think that the driving age should be increased ? and if it is do you think that it will lower the amount of accidents caused by teenage drivers

its for my technical communications class that i have to write a 20 page causal analysis paper, and i have to take a poll of people on my topic to see what they think

you can reply with reasons if you feel you need to. and please no OMFG NO THEY SHOULDNT BECAUSE IM ABOUT TO GET MY LICENSE

thanks, Keith

 

I don't think it should be changed for a couple reasons. First, a lot of teenagers rely on their cars to take them to work, or school functions. I for one, had to drive from school to work everyday because my parents couldn't leave work to take me to mine.

Second, I think it's the inexperience of drivers that are causing accidents. In PA, drivers need 50 hours and 6 months overall minimum drive time before they can get their license.(They need a parent signature.) 50 is a quite a bit of practice time, but parents don't keep track of the hours. Three of my friends did not do the 50 hour minimum, but their parents signed the papers. Well sure enough, the all had gotten in accidents, all of which were their fault. I did about 60 hours of drive time in the 6 months that I had my permit. My car has been in 2 accidents. One, a guy decided to go in reverse at a stop sign.(Don't ask, I don't even know what he was thinking) and the other a kid backed into my parked car. I'm not saying that I am a great driver because I haven't caused any accidents, but I know what I am doing when I am driving, or know how to correct my mistakes when I make them.

Another reason I think kids are getting into accidents is because their mom and dad buy or allow them to buy faster cars. Or better, cars that kids think are fast. A friend of mine had a worked 85ish GT stang which ran high 11s for his first car. Well, he rapped it around a tree going about 40 around a turn. He was ok, but the cars wasnt. Another thing is letting kids buy all this crappy aftermarket mufflers, CAIs, wings, DUBs, and other junk to make them think their car is the fastest thing on four wheels. Then, it seems that they are going to drive obnoxiously and not care about anybody else on the road, other than trying to be that sick Ford Probe in front of them. That is the reason why I bought a 6cyl. Camaro. It had the looks I wanted, but it was tame and reliable for a first car. And my dad said in the next few years opr when I'm out of college I can drop a 350/LT1/LS1 because he knows I am a responsable driver.

Well, now that I wrote your entire paper, I'll stop.

Ryan

 

I believe the driving age is good where it is. I do believe that people should be expected to pass a more rigorous test then I did, and I would be more then happy to retake any tests. The questions to get your permit are simple, and you can screw one or two up and still pass. The driving portion is cake, at least in Taunton. You drive around, and thats it. A small back up/u turn in a parking lot and you're good. I believe that some people just shouldn't be allowed to drive, no matter how hard they try. My brother's girlfriend is a great example. She has her foot to the floor on the gas until she's 10 feet from the red light, then floors the brake. Thats unacceptable. If the brakes went, or if there was a little sand, she's screwed. She also has no clue how to modulate the throttle, so she's constantly on and off the gas/brake, never keeping a consistent speed. Things like this should be tested for to find. She should not have gotten her license, period. I'm not perfect, and I realize that, but I AM ALWAYS in control of my vehicle. My father took the time to teach me how to control the 4000 pound object in an acceptable manner that wouldn't endanger anyones lives. However, some people's parents don't, and the driving schools are a complete joke. There's the 'age' problem.

 

I think it should stay the same for many reasons. Hell, look at some of the people on the road! 40 yr. olds with more driving time than I've been alive, plenty of signs on the road, and more than enough warnings on the road (i.e. road conditions and such) are horrible drivers. I remember when I first got my license and some lady didn't follow how the road shifted and hit my mom's car and tried to take off, with her young daughter in the car. Just last year a woman backed into my suburban ( big truck with guards all over and looks mean) on a busy highway at a traffic light because she was tailgating a rig through a light before she realized it was red and saw oncoming traffic. I can keep going on, especially in the retard town I live in. Boo with raising the age. If anything I think that instead of every 4 years of paying for a new I.D., the D.O.T. should make everyone retake the test over and over. I have to agree with not everyone should have a license 100%. I'm sure more than a few of us work the industrial field, and we have to be recertified for all kinds of skills, why not driving on a public road. If the carmakers have to be certifed periodically to build what we drive, why not the individuals who operate them.
just my 2 cents.

 

The age should stay the same, but drivers should be re-tested after a certain age (like 70).

 

The age of the driver does not make a difference. At 10 if a boy can drive a combine on a farm i think he can drive a car. Heres where the problem comes in. Parents don't take proper care in training a new driver. They give them the basic instructions they pass thier road test then they go crash thier car. Driving fast is usually the denoced cause, however i drive fast all the time. With a 350 chevy i can light up the tires spin the car and get too 100mph in less than 15 sec. what the new driver need is experience. Lots of practice and manuvers to know the size of thier vehicle. I could crash a geo metro if i tried to do something stupid without ever driving it first.

 

I do think raising the age would save lives, if it was enforced.Its a fact young people will take chances that older people won't. But it would be grossly unfair. Society has desided you are an adult at 18. You can vote and deside our leaders. You can be asked to give your life in defense of that society. It would be wrong to deny this basic form of freedom a car gives you. Sometimes the safe thing to do isn't always the right thing to do. This is from a 50 year old veteran. Kids PLEASE slow down!!!

 

Of course it would lower the amount of accidents caused by teenage drivers simply because there would be less teenage drivers.

 

the past 4 accidents i've seen in our local paper, all parties that caused the accidents were over 35...

 

everytime i look in the paper and see accidents, the majority ( roughly 80% i'd say) are drivers over 50. either they blew through an intersection or were just oblivious to other drivers and did something ignorant that caused the accident. if they want to raise the age to drive then why don't they also lower it? what i mean is, have you seen a line of 40+ cars doing 15-20 under the speed limit because granny was sight seeing? did that today, again. and then all of sudden she hammers it for no reason, after she's held up traffic for 10 minutes, creating angry and impatient drivers an 1/8th mile long. since you're an adult at 18 and a senior at 55, doesn't it make sense to maybe pursue an aquired permit for the older citizens to drive?

 

The age limit shouldn't be increased, the test should be longer and more thorough.

 

I think everyone should be able to get their license at 16, and go through a year of training and testing. In high school, our driving class took up all of 2 or 3 months, with no actual driving involved. I practiced driving on friends' cars who were willing to let me drive it (I was 15). I was also taught how to drive stick, which should also be a requirement. The written exam is useless... all it requires is to remember the right answers, not actually LEARN anything.

So I voted "other," and the short answer is training at 14-15 and driver's license at 16. The problem is bad training, not age.

 

my opinion is that the age should not increase. The sad part is, if they do raise it, they'll get all the fake statistics they'll need to show how effective it is.

If they rase it, teenage accidents will decrease. Well no kidding, you just removed 67% of the eligible drivers within that statistic!!!!!

But, accidents of 18-21 year olds will go up, because let's face it, an 18 year old isn't much more mature than a 16 year old. Instead of doing all the dumb **** we all did when we got our licenses at 16, we would just have done it all at 18.

 

thanks guys, keep it coming