At what age do you think people should be permitted to have a driver's license?

Come and share your opinions with agree and disagree what do you think of driving legal age...


To me, driving legal should be 18. Why? Because I rather to have teenagers to consider their school education and enjoy their experiment to any experiences and laws first then......

THE NUMBERS
Statistics on teen driving and crashes
— Car crashes are the leading cause of death for American teens — more than drugs, guns, or any disease.
— A teenager’s first 500 miles of driving are the most dangerous. During that time, they’re 10 times more likely to crash than an adult.
— In 2003 alone, teens were involved in an estimated million and a half accidents.
— Two-thirds of the teenagers who died in car accidents last year were not buckled up.
— During the most recent five year period for which records are available, nearly 35,000 people died when a teenager was driving.
— Teen drivers killed in motor vehicle collisions had a youth passenger in the automobile 45 percent of the time.
— For every 10 "close calls" in a car, there’s one crash.
— 16-year-olds crash at a rate that’s nearly one and a half times as high as 17-year-olds.
— 15 to 20-year-olds make up 7 percent of licensed drivers, but suffer 14 percent of fatalities and 20 percent of all reported collisions.
— 53 percent of teen driver deaths occur on weekends.
— On the basis of current population trends, there will be 23 percent more 16 to 20-year-old drivers on the road in 2010 than there are today — 26.1 million.

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The perils of teen driving
A painful lesson for one family: 16-year-olds may be too young to drive
FREE VIDEO

SILVERSPRINGS, MD.— Like a lot of parents, Dr. Arturo Betancourt and his wife Lulu struggled to strike a balance between protecting their 16-year-old daughter Alicia and overprotecting her. Alicia was the kind of child parents never worry about: a bright talented artist and popular pom pom girl known for her perpetual smile.

Alicia was about as responsible a 16-year-old as you could find. So when she asked to go out for ice cream with a 16-year-old old boy one Friday night, her parents said yes — but they still laid down some strict ground rules: The boy has to pick her up from her house, get out of the car, ask for her, and meet her dad.

“I want to speak to him,” Dr. Betancourt told Alicia. He even reminded her to avoid distracting him when he’s driving.

“Sometimes she would complain about all the rules,” says Alicia’s mother, Lulu. Rules included a curfew that Alicia always obeyed.

But that night she didn’t come home on time.

The Betancourts began to worry, and finally, filled with foreboding, they called the police.

The dispatcher told them to stay at home, and that two officers were on their way.

“At that point, I knew that my daughter was dead,” says Arturo Betancourt.

Alicia, who was wearing a seatbelt, had been killed instantly in a terrible crash. Police say the boy lost control of the car. He hit a utility pole and was seriously injured.

“The day after my daughter had died and we were at the funeral parlor, the funeral director, who was a very kind man, said, ‘It is time for you to pick out a casket.’ You feel that you’re just sinking into an abyss for which you don’t feel that you’ll be able to escape,” recalls Dr. Betancourt.

In the weeks after Alicia’s death, her father found himself on the Internet searching for anything he could find about teenage driving. Among all the information, he learned that teenagers not only have the highest crash and fatality rates of any age group but 16-year-olds specifically are at the greatest risk.

A 'national health epidemic'
The National Institutes of Health has conducted a study which sheds new light on what parents have long suspected: that teenagers often lack good judgment. The study shows that there may be a biological explanation — the teen brain may simply lack the capacity to make critical driving decisions.

Using brain scans, NIH saw that teenagers' brains are not fully developed — particularly, the portions that regulate risk-taking and impulse control, crucial to driving. The process of the brain maturing are not complete until after the age of 20, four years after most teenagers start to drive.

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, calls this a “national health epidemic.” Runge is also an emergency room doctor who has treated too many teenage crash victims.

“If we had any other disease that was wiping out our teenagers at the rate of thousands per year, there would be no end to what we would do as a society to stop that,” says Dr. Runge.

Reducing the risk
Some attempts have been made to reduce teen driving deaths. About 44 states and the District of Columbia now have something called graduated licensing for young drivers which have restrictions on everything from how late they can drive at night, to how many passengers they can carry.

And although graduated licensing laws have lowered the rate of teen deaths by as much as 25 percent, Dr. Runge and other safety experts say a lot more needs to be done.

A growing number of people think raising the driving age would save lives. They look to Europe, where in most countries you have to be 18 to drive and fatalities are much lower.

However, in the United States, there is less public transportation and more dependence on cars. And each state makes its own laws.

In America, driving at 16 has been considered a right and rite of passage since the early days of the automobile—and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

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Cheri said:

Our legal limit is 16 and I don't agree with that, I believe the age of 21 is more please to me. We have too much teenagers involving in accidents because of their teen ways. Teenagers are being teenagers, I think 21 is the most mature age of responsible of driving on the roads.

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Is 16 too young to drive a car?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-02-teens-cars-main-usat_x.htm

hears both sides of the argument. "We have parents who are pretty much tired of chauffeuring their kids around, and they want their children to be able to drive," he says. "Driving is a very emotional issue."

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:jaw: I can´t beleive after read those link that the parents complaint for "chauffeuring" their kids around... I can´t believe this... *goose bumps". Here in Germany, a lot of parents are happy to drive their children to anywhere... of course including me... All what I think is their SAFETY.... No matter what...


What other nations do

By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY

U.S.-based highway safety experts often point out how much harder it is for teenagers in many other countries to get a license. Some European nations don't allow learner's permits until age 17 or 18. Even when 16-year-olds in Europe are allowed to drive, the costs of required driver training and insurance often delay licensing until they're older.

Here are some of the approaches to teen licensing around the world:

Germany
Once they turn 18, teens can be taught to drive at driving schools. Fairly rigorous — and expensive — training is required. After that's completed, teen drivers earn a two-year probationary license. That license can be extended for two more years — or revoked in case of a driving infraction, such as running a red light.

France
No licensing until age 18, but teens can begin driver training at 16 if they sign a contract that's also signed by a driving school and a supervisor. During this period, teens must drive at least 12 mph below speed limits. One study of this practice, though, found it had no effect on the likelihood of crashes.

Britain
Learner's permits, called provisional licenses, are allowed at age 17. New drivers can drive only with people 21 or older, must display red "L" plates on their vehicles and cannot drive on highways.

Nova Scotia, Canada
After obtaining a learner's permit after they turn 16, drivers spend two years with licenses that restrict late-night driving. To get an unrestricted license, teens must complete a defensive-driving or other driver-training course. Graduated licensing has cut crash rates by 50% for beginner 16- and 17-year-olds during their first six months.

Victoria, Australia
Sixteen-year-olds can get learner's permits but are ineligible for unrestricted licenses until they're 18. During the probationary period before teens are fully licensed, their vehicles cannot surpass a certain ratio of horsepower to vehicle weight.

Denmark
Requires driver education that includes defensive driving, hazard perception and driving maneuvers. Fewer crashes were reported in the first year after tougher licensing rules were imposed. Teens can get a learner's permit when they're 17 1/2. They can get a probationary license at 18; they must hold that for three years before all restrictions are lifted.

Ontario, Canada
Drivers with learner's permits, which can be issued at 16, can't drive on high-speed roads. A "probationary" license can be issued at 16 years, four months. Teens can take the test for a full license 12 months later or at age 18, whichever is later.

New Zealand
In 1987, it became the first nation to use graduated licensing. At 15, teens can get a learner's permit, which they must hold six months before they can get a restricted license. For 18 months, those licenses bar nighttime driving or any teen passengers in the vehicle without a supervising adult present. At 17, full licenses can be issued. Early evaluations showed about a 25% drop in fatal crashes. Longer-term studies found graduated licensing cut teen deaths about 7%.

British Columbia, Canada
Teen drivers in an 18-month novice stage after the learner's permit period (which can begin at age 16) must display an "N" on their vehicle. Teens who complete driver education can reduce, from six to three months, their time with a learner's permit. But though the rate of crashes fell 16%, crash rates rose 27% among teens who needed learner's permits for only three months because they'd taken driver's education.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-02-teens-cars-main-usat_x.htm

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Reba said:

I don't see the learners' permit ages for Europe.

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Germany
Once they turn 18, teens can be taught to drive at driving schools. Fairly rigorous — and expensive — training is required. After that's completed, teen drivers earn a two-year probationary license. That license can be extended for two more years — or revoked in case of a driving infraction, such as running a red light.

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FreeWoman77 said:

<18 ok to drive, imo, cuz they're old enough when they are going to college/university, i dont think their parents to drive for them and pick for them like forever if i was them i wouldnt like that

did u know when was mine? i got driving license at 25

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FreeWoman77 said:

<18 ok to drive, imo, cuz they're old enough when they are going to college/university, i dont think their parents to drive for them and pick for them like forever if i was them i wouldnt like that

did u know when was mine? i got driving license at 25

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Mama2AFTIV said:

in CA Law, I don't know if it is still law or not. My mom told me that you can get permit at 16 along with an adult with DL till 18 when you graudate and DMV will give you real DL. So that was way back umm maybe around 1998 or 1999.

My cousin didn't get her DL till she graudated from HS I think. I can be wrong...or she was lucky to got it before the law changed. I can't remmy.

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Liebling:-))) said:

Yes, I got my driving licesne at 29... (I save up money to get driving liecsne).

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Banjo said:

If you ask me, I don't think it would make that big of a difference. People at 18 are just as rowdy or worse than these at 16. Have you ever been to a college?

You ever seen how people party at these places? Yet you feel that they are mature enough to drive at 18?

I started driving at 16 and I still have nothing bad on my driving records. I'm 22 now, and I'm glad I obtained my license when I was 16. Of course, they don't get all the privileges here. Beginners get G1 license (learner's permit), then G2 license but you cannot teach anybody how to drive till you've completed 4 years or obtain the G license. That's how it is done in Ontario, and from what I know, we have a better safety record in comparison to the other provinces in Canada.

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FreeWoman77 said:

save money? expensive in Germany? here only 15 dollars, i havent had a car in my childhood in my home country we used to walk taking by public transport/subway/underground so here in USA i see they need own cars, i have 3 times failed driving test studying/reading book by myself, finally passed

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Heath said:

Age 14 would be a good age to have a driver's licnese.

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