04-17-2013 at 2:03 PM

I was a terrible driver when i first started. My mother described it as "constant head banging" when i tried to make a complete stop. Practice has definitely helped and i have held a license for the past 6 years. <br /> <br /> I do think that the driving age should be moved to 18 though. Most kids 16-18 have no real reason to drive and most cannot afford the things that come with it. For example, many cannot pay for a car, insurance, gas, maintenance. It falls on the parents shoulders to pay for these just so their kid can drive themselces back and forth to school.

04-7-2013 at 11:43 AM

"I think the driving age varies by state; I know that in Kansas, for instance, you can get your permit at fourteen, but in places with more difficult climate/conditions or whatever their reasoning is, like Minnesota, you can get it the day you turn fifteen. :3"<br /> It does vary by state. Where I live its 15 1/2 for your learner's permit and 16 for the actual license.<br /> <br /> " I think it should be based more on whether you can pass the test and act responsibly in a car, rather than an age; I find it rather arbitrary that at 14 years 364 days there's no way you can drive, but the next day, it's legal? I know there has to be one for logistical reasons, but I know many fourteen year olds that could probably handle driving better than some seventeen year olds I know."<br /> <br /> Just as well as you know many fourteen your olds that can probably handle driving, there are a bunch more that can't. That's a very small sample pool size to look at. Those kids are more exceptions to the rules. Also who is to say when its okay then to get a license if there's no definite age? Should it be like that for when you are 18 and can vote, enlist in the military, etc? If you go to say what difference does 1 day make on that person waiting to get their license, then people will go to say what's the big deal with 2 days? a week? a month? a year? It won't stop and will expand. That's why there needs to be a definite age. Also against your argument.. you say its arbitrary for them to wait the next day but really if they are going to drive a hunk of metal weighing tons, why can't they wait a day? That would be a mature thing. Also who would be the judge of knowing if they act responsibly in the car? I'm pretty sure majority of people taking their driving test will be on their best behavior because they'd just fail otherwise. So who is to judge 'responsibility'? Parents? That's biased. I'm not sure how this is in any way feasible.<br /> <br /> There are studies on the brain that show it's not fully developed until into your 20s. That is why teenagers are more impulsive and mostly 'live in the now'. It has to do with the parts of the brain. I will provide sources if people want but I read this in a psychology magazine so I'd have to dig up a new source. So I do not believe 14yr olds should be driving. Regardless of how 'mature' they may be, their brain still wires them to be more on the impulsive side. Sure, while some 14 yr olds may act responsible, its just a grain of sand. Driving is one of the most dangerous things people do daily (for those that can). I would not want to see 14yr olds or even 15yrs old driving. <br /> <br /> I'm pretty happy with our state's driving ages. It feels like its in a comfortable area. <br /> <br /> Side story that doesn't have to do with the debate part: I tend to almsot get hit every month in parking lots, for some odd reason! It never fails! When I was in highschool it was them speeding down the aisles not paying attention to what they were doing or backing out without looking. If I see someone backing out not knowing I was there, I usually stop and wait. Sometimes its hard to see if you drive a small car and are trying to back out when theres a giant truck or suv by you (ugh). I saw some people get hit and they never exchange info because they are so clueless. Now I'm in college and I almost get hit because people don't stop at the stop signs at the end of each row. They are so comfortable into driving they no longer pay attention to what the heck they are doing. I was also almost hit by some person at a Drugmart parking lot since she wasn't looking either. She came inches to hitting me and some other lady came up asking if I got the info down (I didn't get info because I wasn't hit. It was so close though). Pay attention in parking lots ;___; It's a miracle I never have been hit but I've come close twice. I've never had an accident or ticket since I started driving and I want that record going xD

04-7-2013 at 1:40 AM

I think the driving age varies by state; I know that in Kansas, for instance, you can get your permit at fourteen, but in places with more difficult climate/conditions or whatever their reasoning is, like Minnesota, you can get it the day you turn fifteen. :3 I think it should be based more on whether you can pass the test and act responsibly in a car, rather than an age; I find it rather arbitrary that at 14 years 364 days there's no way you can drive, but the next day, it's legal? I know there has to be one for logistical reasons, but I know many fourteen year olds that could probably handle driving better than some seventeen year olds I know. <br /> <br /> But here, ideally, you take driver's ed anywhere after fourteen, you can get your permit the day you turn fifteen and you get a provisional license when you turn sixteen, which I believe stays in effect until twenty one?