Raising The Driving Age

[rhineholt]

I'm writing a paper on Raising the Driving Age to 18 and I cannot think of any more reasons to do it.
Any ideas?

I have the one that the brains aren't mature enough at 16 and that they cause a financial burden on society with all the crashes they get into.

[destructo]

it would never happen insurance companies would lobby the shit out of any bill going against this

[rhineholt]

it would never happen insurance companies would lobby the shit out of any bill going against this

Well, I'm not writing any bills on this... It's just a paper.

[Jondd88]

The driving age in Germany is 18 and they have fewer accidents than we do I think and they have freeways with no speed limit.
You might be able to use something like that for a good argument.

Personally, I believe it should be about personal intelligence and maturity, not a generalization based on age.
I think they should just have really stringent driving tests to weed out the retards.
I have met 16 year olds who were very responsible drivers and I have met people 21 and over who drive like complete fucktards.

[rhineholt]

The driving age in Germany is 18 and they have fewer accidents than we do I think and they have freeways with no speed limit.
You might be able to use something like that for a good argument.

Personally, I believe it should be about personal intelligence and maturity, not a generalization based on age.
I think they should just have really stringent driving tests to weed out the retards.
I have met 16 year olds who were very responsible drivers and I have met people 21 and over who drive like complete fucktards.

I completely agree. I for one think I'm a very responsible driver. However, my friends are complete idiots somtimes and I hate getting into cars with them.
I'm going to use something along the lines of Other countries with higher driving ages have less accidents or something stupid like that.
Idc, the teacher loves me. Everybody else gets 61% and i get 90% on a paper I wrote an hour before it was due.

[Vladimir]

Personally I wouldn't try to write a good paper on the issue, but maybe that is just me .

[Jeff_T]

The driving age in Germany is 18 and they have fewer accidents than we do I think and they have freeways with no speed limit.
You might be able to use something like that for a good argument.

Personally, I believe it should be about personal intelligence and maturity, not a generalization based on age.
I think they should just have really stringent driving tests to weed out the retards.
I have met 16 year olds who were very responsible drivers and I have met people 21 and over who drive like complete fucktards.

I also believe this. There are so many people who are terrible drivers that have no right whatsoever operating a vehicle and do every day.

[vballpro]

At the age of 16, it is a huge burden on parents to be driving their kids around though. After 16 my parents told me it was like they felt they were my personal chauffeur. I agree Jon and Jeff that some people just suck at life and should never get behind the wheel of a car. I have plenty of stupid friends, but I think it all stems from the issue that kids take driving for granted. Having a car is a privilege. You don't just get a car when you turn 16. You need to be mature, and you need to act responsibly.

As far as less accidents in Germany. Germany is A LOT smaller than the US. I just looked on wikipedia, not like it's scholarly, but US has 9.8 Million square kilometers. Germany has 357,000 sq. km. we have some 300 million people, and they have 80 million. Of course there are going to be less accidents.

[Ralleac]

As far as less accidents in Germany. Germany is A LOT smaller than the US. I just looked on wikipedia, not like it's scholarly, but US has 9.8 Million square kilometers. Germany has 357,000 sq. km. we have some 300 million people, and they have 80 million. Of course there are going to be less accidents.

Given that, the U.S. covers a bit over 26 times the amount of land while only supporting 3.75 times the population. Wouldn't it be logical to expect a higher accident ratio in Germany due to the higher population density? I don't think size alone explains the difference.

[fineout]

The driving age in Germany is 18 and they have fewer accidents than we do I think and they have freeways with no speed limit.
You might be able to use something like that for a good argument.

I believe its more because they have to pay thousands of euros on the course and the instruction is much much much more intense rather than it being because of age. and also the amount of accidents is smaller by percentage not just by numbers. Edited December 7, 2009 by fineout

[Jondd88]

The driving age in Germany is 18 and they have fewer accidents than we do I think and they have freeways with no speed limit.
You might be able to use something like that for a good argument.

I believe its more because they have to pay thousands of euros on the course and the instruction is much much much more intense rather than it being because of age. and also the amount of accidents is smaller by percentage not just by numbers.

I totally agree, but for the sake of a grade on the paper, I was just suggesting he imply that it was due to their higher age limit.

As for the claim about them having less accidents, I heard that on some TV documentary about the Autobahn a long time ago so I can't remember if it was per capita or not.
Again, I was just making arguments for a paper.

What class is this for?
If it is just an English class it is probably more important how the paper is constructed and how well you wrote it than how legitimate your points are.

[Tyler]

I'm all for lowering it, the more practice they get at a young age the better they'll get and more they'll learn before getting a lisence. I'm all for the provisional permit,

[Charley]

I say raise it to 30 and lower the drinking age to 12. natural selection will get rid of the idiots before they get a chance to get on the road that way.

[fineout]

Im not for lowering it, rather have people take european style courses, where it takes a lot of work to actually get your permit/license. The amount of money it costs is also a big factor here in germany like i already said. The way america and most cities are constructed, it is pretty much necassary for people to have cars and so having it so expensive that its unattainable for people would be a bad idea but making it harder would definately help a lot.

[Vladimir]

Making it more expensive will hurt those who don't have rich parents.

It needs to stay where it is so 16 year olds can work and start to be independent and shit.

There are tons of people unqualified to be driving, most of them adults.

[destructo]

Personally I wouldn't try to write a good paper on the issue, but maybe that is just me .

thats what i was aiming for but i didnt want to flat out say it because i didnt want to look like a dick (which i did anyway). as for the germany comment, arent their traffic laws way more strict too?

[Tyler]

I learned to drive in Alaska, in Feb. It's so weird how weird people get finiky when they drive and it starts to snow. The best thing to do is to let your child drive in these horrible conditions. Don't take them on the freeway or interstate, but let them drive you to Wal-Mart or something; this way when they encounter conditions in real life and you're not there to drive them they have some kind of experience.

[rhineholt]

Ahhh thanks guys. It's for an english class btw.

[thecyrax]

I think our driving tests should be more strict first...

[rj_skillz]

Sup man..I just finished a paper which I gave in today and some helpful people gave me some good ideas so I feel I should pass on the contribution..

You can talk about UK..where your not even allowed to start taking driving lessons legally until the age of 17! Alot of youngsters tend to have their first driving lesson on the day of there 17th birthday. Talk about more on statistics..dont quote me but I think here in the UK, one in 3 have a crash within their first 2 years and high insurance premiums reflect on that! Link this to possible death rates by car crashes and so on..!

A means of driving tests?..is there a theory and practical test in the USA?..These are evident in the UK and they are planning to increase the number of tests in the attempt to make sure these youngsters have basic skill and knowledge.. before getting behind the wheel. Edited December 7, 2009 by rj_skillz

[Jondd88]

Personally I wouldn't try to write a good paper on the issue, but maybe that is just me .

thats what i was aiming for but i didnt want to flat out say it because i didnt want to look like a dick (which i did anyway). as for the germany comment, arent their traffic laws way more strict too?

In some ways.
You can't drive on the left lane of the Autobahn unless you are passing someone and you can't pass in the right lane.
They also take tailgating much more seriously than we do.
I also heard they base the amount of their fines on how much money you make.
On the other hand, when you get out into the country the freeway has no maximum speed limit.
When I visited there, I saw very few police on the freeway anyways, at least none in marked vehicles...

I think we should model our traffic regulations to be more like theirs Edited December 7, 2009 by Jondd88

[Jondd88]

Sup man..I just finished a paper which I gave in today and some helpful people gave me some good ideas so I feel I should pass on the contribution..

You can talk about UK..where your not even allowed to start taking driving lessons legally until the age of 17! Alot of youngsters tend to have their first driving lesson on the day of there 17th birthday. Talk about more on statistics..dont quote me but I think here in the UK, one in 3 have a crash within their first 2 years and high insurance premiums reflect on that! Link this to possible death rates by car crashes and so on..!

A means of driving tests?..is there a theory and practical test in the USA?..These are evident in the UK and they are planning to increase the number of tests in the attempt to make sure these youngsters have basic skill and knowledge.. before getting behind the wheel.

Theory and practical test?
Are you referring to a written and behind-the-wheel test?
Our driving tests here are a joke, at least the tests I took in CA and NV.
There was a multiple choice written test where you answer questions about driving regulations.
Unfortunately, about half the questions were irrelevant to actual driving such as those regarding the penalties for DUI or speeding...
The rest were retardedly easy.
Then I had to take an actual driving test were a DMV employee sits in my car as I drive around a bit following her instruction.
As long as you don't do anything blatantly stupid in front of her, you pass.
I passed the first time, but the sad thing is that I knew people in High School who actually failed that shit SEVERAL times!
Hell, I spent most of drivers' ed trying to fix the instructor's printer... lol
It is sad how driving is such a complex task for some people.

[fineout]

Making it more expensive will hurt those who don't have rich parents.

It needs to stay where it is so 16 year olds can work and start to be independent and shit.

There are tons of people unqualified to be driving, most of them adults.

my point is that it should be european style with how hard it is not necessarily the money just because its so necessary for people to have cars in the US, it would be really nice if our system of public transport was as good and reliable as europes but thats more a city planning problem than anything

[fineout]

I think we should model our traffic regulations to be more like theirs

Our roads would have to be built as good as theirs as well..which is damn near impossible

[Jondd88]

I think we should model our traffic regulations to be more like theirs

Our roads would have to be built as good as theirs as well..which is damn near impossible

How so?