Should the driving age be raised to age 18?

[phantasia]

It is 18 here in South Africa, you can get your learners at 17 but then you are cant drive alone or get a proper license untill 18

[tcas4200]

I can see the value on a later age but there are drawbacks. If you wait until age 18, parents will get less time to oversee their teen's driving behavior and less instruction time from them. Also, some families in low income households rely on their teens to pick up kids from events or work a job when parents are disabled or equivalent (though there is a hardship license that people can get). This idea ties in similarly to alcohol. I think the law should allow for people under 18 to buy alcohol so that their parents can observe and influence their children when it is no longer the forbidden fruit to be sought. Look at many european countries with low ages, alcohol abuse is lower due to a different mindset on its use. This however is just an attempt at a transitive example of supporting a younger age.

Overall, I'd recommend learner's permits need 1.5-2 years before teens are eligible to drive.

[SweetSong]

Here its like 16 or something like that. I don't drive but I know people who got theirs at a very young age and can't drive worth nothing ~ Dontcha ya dare ask them to park either becuss they take up two parking spots like a baka!

[Chibicat]

Heres its 16yo under adult supervision, then you get your probationary license at 18yo, then full license at 21.

[Ent]

I think countries in Europe have it right with allowing kids to purchase alcohol (even if just beer/wine) at 16 and having 18 as the driving minimum. BUT, the driving age isn't as easy a fix in the US.

European countries are small and have abundant public transportation in the form of trains, buses, taxis ... the US has far too many rural locations (in every state) that don't have public transportation. Where I live we don't have buses and our only taxi service charges out the ass and is generally only used to goto the Airport (1.5 hours away.) It's just not a feasible system here.

[Cuva]

In my country the driving age is 18 (16 with permission)
So you can see many 16y.o. drivers without many problems because you can think about the permission and people teaches their sons at 16

So, if the driving age would be 16, maybe you would see many 14-15 y.o. drivers, and yes the age is not really a indicator about the driving ability

[Megh]

Here it's 16 you can get your permit, 17 you can get your probationary license, and one year after your probationary license you can get your graduated license. I got my probationary license at 18 and I felt it was a really good age. When I was 17, friends of mine who had their license were constantly getting into accidents. I had 2 years practice with my permit (had to renew it for the second year, but it was worth it). I felt so much more prepared when I got my probationary.

Yesterday I was driving home from Pennsylvania on the highway and my gas pedal just stopped working while I was in the third lane.. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, but luckily I was experienced enough to not panic and was able to make it to the side of the road before my car completely stopped. I'm confident that if I didn't have the years of practice that I did I would gotten overwhelmed and not been able to switch lanes in time (at this time I have my graduated license). So I'm a firm believer that the driving age should be raised to 18.

[Venus]

No. There are kids with neglectful or abusive parents who need to drive themselves to school or work. Pretty sure most fatal driving incidents don't happen because the driver was young, anyway - they happen because the driver was drunk or sleepy (not saying all, just most). Hell, when I first started driving at 15/16, I was actually more careful just because I was absolutely scared shitless that I would mess up.

LOL that was me. I was such a careful driver when I first started driving. My parents also traded in my shit 10 year old car for a brand new one when I was a senior and oh man. I didn't take the highway for months because I was too afraid to mess it up.

[Double.Trouble]

No.
There are some reckless and irresponsible teenagers, but it should remain at 16 due to the working age being 16, and a lot of teenagers needing to drive to work or school. Before I got my license, I had to try and desperately find rides to work because most of the time my parents were at work and couldn't drive me.
Plus most idiot drivers that I do see tend to be 20-40 year old guys, the ones who like to recklessly speed and weave through cars on the highway and scare the shit out of me.

So unless they up the legal working age to 18, I stand by what I say.

[marshmallowking]

It depends on where you live. In the states, its completely necessary for 16 year olds to be mobile and self-reliant. Their parents can't tow them around to all of their events. Preparing for university means visiting colleges, getting a job, doing after-school activities. And, parents should be able to slowly wean their kids off, to make sure they're prepared for doing things on their own. On top of starting university at 18, you now expect children to learn to drive, and make those long drives for the first time on their own? It benefits them to have a couple of years of safe, semi-supervised practice. At 16, they're still not legally adults so if something goes wrong, they have their parents to fall back on for support, and can be policed. Really, since your brain doesn't fully mature until your 20s, there's not much of a difference between 16 and 18.

That being said, I don't drive. I HATE to drive. Which is why I live in Tokyo, where I don't have to drive. No one has to drive, children aren't allowed to drive, there's transportation available for them. And licenses cost 2,000$ +