Do you think the UK legal driving age should be raised to 21?

Dry Dreamer

Yes I do, and they should have to sit an I.Q. test beforehand and if they don't achieve a score of 100 they should not be allowed to drive

veggie tree

Good god no!

i can't wait to drive. Not all teenagers are scumbags... in fact I've been nearly run over by older people before, never a teenager. And I see a lot more older people getting road rage as well.

why deny us this, when really anyone can be a bad driver

Donkey

No it should stay at 17!!!!!

But - they should not be allowed car stereos till 21!

That should help them concentrate and keep the noise down at tescos car park all night!

MILL

age doesn't matter many people think they can drive and are thick as f#%k have the reaction time of a dead snail but have been driving for years when i learnt (i'm still learning)took my test and passed it was 1987 i was 17
does it also mean school leaving age should be 20
how are some of them going to get to their jobs because a new law says 21
hgv minimum age 35 then or what
you come with me for a day driving and see the age limit of the people who you think are old enough to drive then look at the kids you'd soon change your mind

mrphaka

i do now, but i wouldnt if i was 17!

WelshLad

No I don't think it should be raised. I passed my test when I was 17 and I am now 24. I have had only 1 accident (not my fault). A clean licence. I was happy to learn and drive at 17 I had my independence. Yes you get idiots who show off and drive recklessly but it happens in every age group.

Archangel Gabriel

No, but we could consider limiting new drivers to 600cc engines until they reach 21.

karen's revenge

the only problem with raising the legal limit on driving is that it penalises the innocent, who perhaps rely on their car to get them to their place of work.. i know i certainly did when i was 18 ! without my car, i would have had massive problems getting a job anywhere, as i lived in a village with a very poor bus service. i agree that something needs to be done to deter young people from driving like idiots, but i'm not sure how that could be achieved.... maybe by having fire fighters / ambulance staff / police officers coming into school classrooms when the kids are about 15 or 16 years old, and showing them videos of real life car crashes, injuries, etc.... i realise that wouldn't stop all of the problems of dangerous driving amongst young drivers, but it may make them think twice if they've heard and seen what the consequences can be.

PAUL F

The trouble with this premise is that whatever age you start at then you will be inexperienced and a danger to yourself and others. Most youngsters are responsible but a few make it impossible for the majority by making the statistics show that under 25s are 10 times more likely to have an accident and cause death. Try getting insurance at 17 or even 24.

Blue

I think it should be raised. 17 is fine for some people, but for most they are far too immature to be in control of something that weighs around a ton and can travel at over 100mph.
Then again I drive for a living and can spot a young driver a mile away. Its the elderly who have no reaction speed, and wander all over the road that are the real problem.

Lets face it we all make mistakes, and at least the teens in their pimped up heaps of dented junk can be spotted from a fair distance

suziejoy

yes but that would mean that there will be more illegal drivers about there mayb should keep them on a p plate for longer

Alex

Most young drivers are pretty clued in to what they're doing, it's just the minority that give them (us, I'm a young dirver) a bad name - Been driving for like 3ish years and never had a crash - So that means not all drive like idiots.

I personally find the elderly are far worse, the reaction times are ZERO. Plus they take the attitdue "they can wait for me" which causes accidents. Then half of them can't even see the car in front of them, so what chance does the cyclist have?

If you look at stats, you'll see most young driver crashes usually happen at night and they usually only involve the car they are driving in, occassionally a second vehicle. However, if you look at elderly stats, you'll see they're mosr likely to be involved with pedestrian or cyclist collisions with cars.
You have more chance surviving having a car go into the back of you, rather than having a car run you clean down on a crossing or knock you off your bike as they knock you at 50mph!

You also tend to find that it's the elderly that tend to drive the older cars which don't have as effective braking systems or lighting systems. The cars aren't usually so well up-kept and so it wouldn't be a surprise to see they only have 1 brake light working or no rear lights working (I've seen it in real life!)

Another point would be that the elderly tend to stick to a speed under the limit - a LONG way under the limit, which is fine on a motorway because people can pass them, however on country winding roads would be a lot more dangerous because having someone coming round the corner doing 60mph coming against someone doing 30mph is going to cause the faster moving car to have to brake, possibly skid and possibly go into the back of the slower moving person - You also have the issue of they slowing down the flow of traffic and driving slower than what the road conditions allow for.
YES, you can fail a driving test for driving too slow so this prooves my point!

Just had to get that out the way after having everyone mock young drivers :)

And no, 17 is fine, but maybe limit the engine size, or maybe limit the ability of carrying x amount of passengers, 1 is safe, a full car may not be.

mattsubconscious

I think nobody should be allowed to drive before they either get a A-Level qualifications or equivalent (which will soon be compulsory education in the UK) or become 21, whichever is first.

I also think that before a learner driver can drive on the road or get a provisional licence they should have to be able to drive a car properly off the road, like on a test track or something. That would stop the thousands of them that drive up and down my street at 5mph and constantly block the road trying to do a 3 point turn when i'm already late for work. I know I was a learner once but i was never that bad!

Lastly, I think that speed limits on most roads should be increased by 10mph, but make the penalty for exceding them much tougher. Imposing an engine capacity limit of 1.3 litres on young drivers (as was suggested by some politicians) is a stupid idea because if a boy racer wants to drive at 70mph through a housing estate, a 1.3L car is perfectly capable of doing that even before its been modded. By the way, I am 21 and have been a good driver for 2 years :-)

des c

You dont get cheap insurance until you are over 25. I would raise it to 25.

Lacey Lottie

Yes I Would Agree With You, I Feel That 17 Is Too Young, You Are Not Classed As An Adult Until You Are 18, So You Are Not An Adult At 17 You Should Not Drive.

tammipup

No, Ma'am, - with RESPECT, - I do NOT agree!

Now, - IF you had said, that you would like to see the legal DRINKING age raised to 21, ( as it IS, in the USA), - then, I WOULD have been in TOTAL AGREEMENT!

A young lad, - aged, about NINETEEN, I'd say, - summed THIS point up, VERY succinctly, a couple of DAYS ago, - I saw him, - DRUNK as a LORD, - wearing JEANS, and T-shirt, - but, also, wearing one of these "SLOGANNED" baseball cap things!

Judging by the STATE he was in, at the time, - he was, actually, INCAPABLE of STANDING, let ALONE walking, - the "SLOGAN" on the cap, was MOST APPROPRIATE! It said, - simply:- "INSTANT IDIOT, - JUST ADD ALCOHOL!!!"

In HIS case, that "CAP" was a PERFECT FIT!

The Transporter

Me. Def. And there should be compulsory 5 yearly retests for the over 60s

Mr Happy

every one of you seem to have got the age you can start driving as 17 when it is 16 according to the highway code

Indy500

You got my vote on this one! They pass their tests and then get into a car that is WAY too powerful and think that they are the next Colin Mcrae.

Either raise the age or limit the engine size to 1000cc for the first three years of driving. And then increase it in stages until they get used to the ridiculous sorts of power they are given straight away now!

trickyrick32

I dont see how it would really make a difference.
16 or 21, there still young enough to want to show off to there mates.
The only way your gonna half way cure that problem is if you raise the driving age to 50.

rann_georgia

Raise it to age 35. That should cut down on a number of accidents, green house gases and the parking problems. Also, make MPs car pool.

Seriously, young drivers generally aren't bad drivers, they're inexperienced drivers except for the rowdy ones you're speaking of. I'm guessing there's more careful young drivers on the road than rowdy ones. It's just the loud ones stick out.

stibbs

raise it to 40 and restrict the speed to 10 miles per hour if they're driving a BMW

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: