Feds May Raise Driving Age for Teens

[Amelia]

Feds May Raise Driving Age for Teens

By Seth Fiegerman

May 05, 2010

Mainstreet.com

To any teenagers reading this: Enjoy your driving privileges while you can.

New legislation is currently being considered in the Senate that would rewrite America’s driving laws for teens. If approved, states would be forced to conform to a national minimum driving age, much in the same way that we now have a national drinking age. Under the new law, teens would not be able to receive a learner’s permit until they turned 16 and could not receive a full driver’s license until at least 18.

“Three Democratic senators are pushing legislation to create a national graduated driver licensing (GDL) law. They say it would replace a patchwork of state laws with a single national standard that encompasses proven safety policies for novice drivers,” USA Today reports.

Right now, some states like Iowa and Kansas allow teens to get learner’s permits when they are 14. That may sound too young to some but others like Rob Foss, the director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers, point out that driving is much different in these rural states. “Driving in New Jersey is a completely different thing than driving in Nebraska or Idaho. You have states where people learn to drive on the farm at 12 or 13. You can't have the same rules in those states as in states like Connecticut or New Jersey,” he told USA Today.

Last week, we reported on a movement in South Carolina to restrict driver’s licenses for teens who drop out of school or miss too many classes. Several readers noted then that they do not think kids should be able to get behind the wheel of a car until they are at least 16 and one commenter actually suggested the age should be 25. That certainly seems a bit extreme to us, but the underlying question is valid: When are kids really mature enough to drive? Oddly enough, for some states, the minimum age to get a learner’s permit is 14 1/2 or 15 1/2. The six-month increment seems strange to us, and it’s probably annoying for the traffic cop who is forced to do math when writing a teen a ticket.

[SivartM]

In Tennessee you can't get a permit until you're 16 anyway. And I'm not going to get a license until I turn 18 because of insurance costs.

I think Tennessee also has a special license for people as young as 14 who have some good reason why they need to drive.

[Liz]

My 14 year old is studying right now for his drivers license. He is going for his hardships license when he turns 15 this September.

Truthfully though, I have mixed feelings about this. While on the one hand I do think that teens should wait a bit longer for the priviledge to drive, because "some" need a little extra time to mature. I hope that they still leave the hardship license intact, for special cases--like ours.

[Dr. Shane]

I think close to half the drivers on the road don't know or don't care how to drive. I really don't see it being related to a person's age much at all. I think the federal government would be overstepping its authority by imposing a national driving age - just as it did imposing a national drinking age. Actually, the federal government imposed a national drinking age by making highway funds contingent on states conforming. It was a power grab just as this will be if they do it.

[Outta Here]

Most of the teens I know have not been interested in driving until a later age than 16. With the invention of the Internet, keeping in touch with friends is so much easier now. They have little need to drive.

[bonnie]

I think close to half the drivers on the road don't know or don't care how to drive. I really don't see it being related to a person's age much at all. I think the federal government would be overstepping its authority by imposing a national driving age - just as it did imposing a national drinking age. Actually, the federal government imposed a national drinking age by making highway funds contingent on states conforming. It was a power grab just as this will be if they do it.

Statistically there is a reason why insurance rates are so high for certain ages as teenagers.

Mn is exploring the possibility now of tightening our laws on teenage drivers. This follows a couple of weekends where numerous teenagers were killed in preventable accidents or lack of seat belts.

Vehicle accidents account for the highest number of teenage deaths/16-19 year olds account for four times the accidentas than 25-29 year olds.

23% of all fatal teenage accidents are under the influence.

The states should impose their own regulations.

To bad the power grab didn't stop more drunks from driving. The number of drunk drivers has gone down in many area's where the states are the toughest.

I really don't see it being related to a person's age much at all

Those that deal with the aftermath would disagree with you.

Regardless a 16 year old does not have the maturity of a adult.

[Dr. Shane]

Well, I live on the Mexico/Texas border. In other parts of the state or nation, teenagers may be the only bad drivers.

The biggest point I was making is that the federal government is over-reaching by trying to set up a national driving age. That is an issue that should be left to the states.

[Misty Rose]

Our government has more important things to worry about than upping the minimum driving age. Maturity is different in each child. Some children at 16 are more than mature and responsible to drive while others still need to be spoon fed common sense.

[bonnie]

Well, I live on the Mexico/Texas border. In other parts of the state or nation, teenagers may be the only bad drivers.

The biggest point I was making is that the federal government is over-reaching by trying to set up a national driving age. That is an issue that should be left to the states.

Teenagers are pretty much the same all over. If they were mature at 16 they would not have the track record they have in driving.

I always thought maybe that is why God thought it a good idea for children to have parents to guide them till adulthood

Obviously it should be up to the states

[SivartM]

In many cultures people have families by the time they can drive in ours.

[Dottie]

I agree with Shane.

- - - -

The peer factor is very strong in younger drivers; also more in boys than girls. Most of the teenage accidents happen with passengers in the vehicle because the driver is "showing off."

Even though younger drivers have a faster reaction time, they also have much less judgment.

[phkrause]

Maturity is different in each child.

That is definitely true, but the number is minute I'd say, and there is no way to know.

pk

[Misty Rose]

Originally Posted By: Misty Rose

Maturity is different in each child.

That is definitely true, but the number is minute I'd say, and there is no way to know.

pk

It's only the ones who get in trouble that you hear about.

[SivartM]

It's only the ones who get in trouble that you hear about.

Been there, said that, ignored.

[Misty Rose]

Mine will probably be ignored, too.

[SivartM]

Not by everyone. Just some.

[Misty Rose]

True...true

[SivartM]

Welcome to CA, by the way!

[Misty Rose]

Thanks. Found it on Facebook

[bonnie]

In many cultures people have families by the time they can drive in ours.

I am not sure what that has to do with this.

You don't always get a second chance raising children.My husband and I assumed it was our job to keep them as safe as possible till they were adults and on their own. I have attended to many funerals of these "mature" sixteen year olds with a car.

A young boy in our church was a "mature" sixteen year old. His parents received the call all parents fear. They were among the fortunate few. They were called to the hospital and received the news he had passed away. Unbelievably and thankfully for them when he was to be taken to the morgue the nurse thought she saw the sheet move. After being declared dead he began breathing

He suffered brain damage and will never be the same but he is alive and functional. He was old enough to drive.It was his fault

We had a son that my husband and I always said was born an adult.But at sixteen he was still a teenager. Giving him more time to mature was not a punishment.It was a desire to keep him as safe as possible. Contrary to what some seem to think a teenagers life does not end having to wait for a license. It could likely save it.

Sometimes we as parents get our second chance to go back and redo. We cannot count on the second chance and I had no desire to find out.

Our boys waited till they were eighteen. They each received a car for graduation and the agreement that as long as there were no traffic violations we would pay insurance and upkeep.Violations and they were strictly on their own.

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: Misty Rose

It's only the ones who get in trouble that you hear about.

Been there, said that, ignored.

at least 6,000 teenage deaths a year,killing more teenagers than any other cause shouldn't be dismissed as "just the ones that got in trouble"

That is thousands of parents going thru a hell only those that have lost a child understand

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: Misty Rose

Maturity is different in each child.

That is definitely true, but the number is minute I'd say, and there is no way to know.

pk

No matter who the sixteen year old they are still sixteen and lack the time to mature.

The only way to know the sixteen year old that is mature enough is the absence of accidents or getting that call that strikes terror into the heart of every parent.

That is not a toss up I wanted to deal with

[Outta Here]

Maturity, in my opinion, does not serve as a useful gauge for measuring driving skills. Young and old drivers need plenty of time learning to drive under the eye of a skilled instructor. Only time behind the wheel will make a better driver.

[Dr. Shane]

Maturity, in my opinion, does not serve as a useful gauge for measuring driving skills. Young and old drivers need plenty of time learning to drive under the eye of a skilled instructor. Only time behind the wheel will make a better driver.

I agree with this 100%. I think the reason so many teenagers have accidents is because they don't have experience driving - not because they are 16. This is also the reason so many bad drivers where I live are adults. Many immigrants in my area come to the US without ever learning how to drive. Most people in Latin America use buses. My wife just got her license last year. She was 37. So driving here along the border, we have a lot of inexperienced drivers of all ages. Auto insurance is more expensive here for everyone. When I moved here from Minnesota, my premiums went up and my coverage went down.

[bonnie]

Quote:

I agree with this 100%. I think the reason so many teenagers have accidents is because they don't have experience driving - not because they are 16. This is also the reason so many bad drivers where I live are adults. Many immigrants in my area come to the US without ever learning how to drive. Most people in Latin America use buses. My wife just got her license last year. She was 37. So driving here along the border, we have a lot of inexperienced drivers of all ages. Auto insurance is more expensive here for everyone. When I moved here from Minnesota, my premiums went up and my coverage went down.

Whatever the rate is for immigrants it does not detract from statistics compiled for years.

I would hazard a guess even as a new driver your wife lacks the recklessness of teen drivers.

Sixteen is still sixteen,a teenager in the process of maturing.There is nothing quite as excited as a teenage driver just getting their license and the independence it gives them.

This pretty much says it all......

I think the reason so many teenagers have accidents is because they don't have experience driving - not because they are 16.

How young would you like them to be while gaining experience and maturity.Our boys learned to drive on the farm,no road driving at 13.They were probably better prepared than most to get a license at 16.

They are following the same rule our boys had to abide by with their children.

Sixteen is still sixteen.Mature or not.