Teenage Drivers?

James the less

I agree with you that good and capable young drivers are unfairly penalised.

One fault is with the testing system which fails to asses to a sufficient adequacy and seriously fails to test for the right qualities and skills.

Many and various are the schemes that could be brought in to penalise the guilty and encourage and promote the good driver. Sadly governments are not interested in good government and increasingly legislate, even in all areas of life, to penalise everybody rather than those that are guilty.

Governments are failing us in every area of life and driving is no exception.

Standards have dropped and governments have lost contol because they have lost understanding. Consequently, foolish and ill thought out, "desperate" measures are resorted to which don't solve the problem but do cause hardship and pain to many.

The vast majority of drivers are bad drivers but they consider themselves good and the pillars of society. They often think it is easy to slug the teenager but obviously everyone should be required to reach the same standard irrespective of age. In fact the boy racer is probably less dangerous and less of a nuisance than the incompetent driver or, worst of all, the unaware driver.

Rewarding good drivers and penalising bad should be for everybody. Either a person is responsible or they are not. Is the government unable to distinguish? Then they are not responsible to govern.

adviceguy

This assumption is STUPID!! I hate people who lump everyone together.

cuteyes20390

i started driving when i was 16, i even stared going to driving school when i was 15, im a guy and i drove great at that age, i never got tickets, into accidents " none of my fault"... i think it matters on how matture the teenager is also, and how responsible they are, if you have a job, go to school and dont get into alot of trouble then u should be able to show your a responsible person and can handle driving a car.... THE END..

Raj_Hyderabad

Well.. I support ur views.. I think they should check the quality not the age..

Ricvee

I know teenagers that are a lot more responsible than many 21,25 or even 50 year olds I've come across.... You are unfortunately another victim of generalisation... Its a case of one or two rotten eggs giving the majority of good ones a bad name...

Nervously Roving

I don't think that people view this correctly. I think that if we raise the age to 21, people will just be all that worse at driving at 21...everyone (mostly) is somewhat bad when they first get their license...moving the age up will just make the new drivers who are not so good 21 instead of 16 or 17 or whatever it may be in your state.

camm300

im 15 now but im in advanced classes so im hearing all the time about who got there permit and stuff like that, but seeing and hearing some of these people talk about getting there permits makes me want to ride my bike for the rest of my life. I wouldnt get in a car with any of these people. most teens today just dont care enough and think they are invincible. some are even just downright stupid...once again, i might be riding a bike for the rest of my life because i would not like to be on the road with some of my classmates

peacejump

Personally yes,our young age does not mean we are not good drivers but there are many teenage drivers that do not give a good impression.Sure we are beginners and adults may not want us on the road they consider us a 'driving hazard' but adults do it too so yes,I do think adults should accept us a good,responsible drivers.

*****

There are some mature and responsible teenagers around, and I don't think that they should be lumped together with the reckless and immature, but insurance is a business venture, so they have to go with stats when calculatiing ins. premiums. It is one of those sad facts of life.

StingRay

I think teenage drivers should only be allowed to drive cars within a certain bhp limit. Twincams kill teenagers.

Melinda H

It should not be changed to 21 yrs old althrough, I do think a age limit to 70 years old would be good. the elderly do not have the reflexes that they once had.

Flagbearer

A lot of Teenage Drivers (I'm not including yourself in this catagory) are somewhat immature, and for this reason, they get bundled together in the "Boy Racer" catagory. Now, I know you'll say that you are not one pf these, but public opinion is somethig that is very hard to sway, just look at the baseball-cap wearing, tracksuit donning chavs, people also associate them with boy racers. I passed my test when I was 17, now, I got steriotyped as a "Boy Racer" by other road users. but since I have been 18, this hasn't been the case, I do sympathise with you on this, I really do, but as I said, public opinion is something that is either hard or impossible to sway.

Sierra One

It doesn't matter whether your 17 or 70, as long as you are a capable and sensible driver, there shouldn't be any discrimination at all.

LesHug

There are a lot of statistics out there that show teen drivers count for more than half of traffic accidents, and more people between the ages of 16 to 30 loses their lives to traffic accidents than any other cause. But they should not raise the age they should teach more and give teens incentives for good driving. and i mean give the teen the incentive not the parent of the teen.

Derek D

OK Mike, so your a safe driver, don't forget we all were sixteen at one time, and we were all safe drivers. I know I was, a week after passing my test someone smacked into my side, it was her fault, but if it happened now maybe just maybe I could have avoided it. It was raining and dark, around this time of the year and my side window was splattered with rain drops. If I had cleand the rain off I would have had a better chance of seeing the other car. Tought me to always have clear vision, and served me well for the past 50 years. I had two other accidents, one about 20 years ago at a roundabout. A woman started off in front of me and stalled about 10 yards out, I was watching to filter in the traffic, as I started to go forward I suddenly saw she had stopped, I was too close, Â£400 damage to her and it did'nt even scratch my number plate. My fault though I should have checked It was clear. The other happened this summer and was a carbon copy, in both cases I had only just started to ease forward. After my first knock I realised I was'nt Stirling Moss and would have to learn to be a good driver, and i'm still trying. So their is hope for you 'cause your a good driver. It is your job to show what a good and considerate driver you really are, and perhaps your friends may follow you. I would have gone mad if I had had to wait until I was 21, but that won't happen.

Good luck mate and show'em how good you are.

Toniesponge

yea cuz it seems that they don't think that some of the teens driving out there are and want to be responsible and why 21 how old were they when they got there license

George K

I know some teens that shouldn't get near a car much less drive one.But I also know that there are some very responsible teen drivers also.

c.j.davies

I agree with you, Im 24 been driving since 17 - clean licence and no accidents. And I dont moan at speed cameras like some older drivers do - cause I stick to the limit.

sgoldperson

Based on the second answer I agree driving should be banned. Some teenage drivers are dangerous. Some Male drivers are dangerous. Some Female drivers are dangerous. Some elderly drivers are dangerous. EVERY SINGLE GROUP has SOME dangerous drivers. Why raise it based on SOME? If we do as I said we will have to ban ALL driving. Yeah some are dangerous and some like to race around. Guess what, so do some guys who had mid-life crises and go buy that fast car to show off.
OK speaking of accidents, perfect example I was in a car that was hit and totaled by insurance standards. Short answer was the rim was bent on the passenger side and obviously dented into the engine as well. Thank God we weren't a little further up and I didn't have that idiot hit the passenger side where I was sitting. It hit right in front of the passenger door. Anyway guess what we were in a parking lot street. It was rainy. The guy was at least in his THIRTIES. Maybe older but don't know. The speed limit on this road is 15 and posted as such. He was going at least 45 based on the way the rim was bent. So should guys that age be BANNED???

musonic

Well I hope this cheers the questioner up.

I got my first car when I was 17, and drove it very fast. My only accident was on snow, so I then went out to deserted car-parks and taught myself how to drive safely on the stuff.

I am now 57 and drive a whacking great truck, and apart from the accident mentioned above, I have never had a blameworthy collision with anything. That's about 2,000,000 miles of driving in total.

Hand on heart, I can honestly say that I could drive as well and as safely as I do now, even at the age of 17.

Just stay with it and do your best, and when your mates pop pills, smoke dope and drink, before climbing behind the wheel of a car, tall them how stupid they are.

They wouldn't want to meet me when they've misjudged a corner and find themselves going too fast on the wrong side of the road!!

no_life_louis

Hi Mike, you're not going to like my answer but it's my honest opinion. You have to remember that I was a teenager once. I thought I knew everything and adults were full of crap. It got even worse when I turned 18 and thought I WAS an adult. Legally I was. But oh man I was just a kid. Staying out late and partying got me into a lot of trouble. Especially driving. Teenagers are very dangerous drivers Mike. Every year there's a High School kid killed because of their driving. Have any of your friends been killed yet? One of them will. It happens in every school to every student. They'll know someone who died in a car accident due to a teenage driver.

No, not all teenagers are irresponsible. But Mike, even you have to admit that most of them are.

I also believe the age is set as young as it is now so the parents don't have to drive them everywhere. So no worries Mike. They'll never change the law and you'll still get to drive as a teenager.

Kyle

Changing it to 21 will just mean we have more 21 year old idiot drivers on the road thinking they have something to prove after watching too many fast and furious films.

in my opinion, they should put a limit on the car they can drive, stop parents being able to insure the car cheaply with their child as a named driver so the youngest person on the policy is the policyholder and totally ban ALL modifications to cars.

That way, the sensible teens who wish to drive still can and the max power brigade wont be able to show off and kill people.

Just this past weekend, 2 crashes locally made the news because it resulted in the death of 11 teens below the age of 18.
Both crashes were the result of speeding and the drivers having much more confidence than ability.
These were only 2 cases that made the local news, many more have been killed, crippled or seriously injured this past week.
I also think if you get caught speeding within 5 years of obtaining your full licence, you should get a 5 year ban and have to retake your test.

shortsighted

I don't agree that the age should be raised to 21, although i do thing there should be some form of system to allow the safer young drivers to be on the road and to catch the racers and keep them off the road.
I definately thing that after the age of say 60 there should be some form of test to ensure that the older drivers are still up to scratch. maybe a two yearly test. Many accidents i have witnessed have been caused by an over cautious or down right incompetent older driver causing accidents behind them due to their driving.
So in short YES it gets to me too that younger and safe drivers are always the ones to blame.

Alfred E. Newman

i might be able to get round my local mcdonalds drive thru if all those bloody boy racers would be banned.Why do they congregate there?

SUPER-GLITCH

You may be the exception to the rule, statistically it is pr oven that there is a high rate of accidents and road crime committed by under 21. Lets face it at that age, we are nearly all invincible! With an attitude of - it aint gonna happen to me!
Maybe they should be limited to certain car engine sizes?
Having a green L plate for two or five years? I dont know, but there are good and bad drivers at all ages. Maybe, we ALL should be tested every 1O years???? I am speaking as a LADY driver of 38 years, not so much as a parking ticket!!!!!
And I am gettting sick and tired of inconsiderate and bad drivers.

minyandkayo

well yes we do tend to sterio type teenagers but ,these days they get blamed for everything but i think if they up the age on that ,then they should up the age on other things ,i just feel the laws are unfair to all ages we will never keep everyone happy,but if your a safe driver then you should be proud of that ,just keep prooving everyone not all teenagers are the same

Dane'o

well its like the drinking age
the bigger the population the more bad people there are so bad things can been seen faster you what i mean it hard to explain the statistics get higher
so the law has to be set even though you are the good one their is alwasys a bad one too

what you think now

Reading all the conflicting advice and opinion must be confusing!
OK....here is the low down.....
Young male drivers are statically more likely to be involved in an accident than any other group. Particularly when accompanied by other young male drivers.

While the reactions of a teenager are lightening fast, unfortunately the danger perception is seriously lacking. Its not pointing a finger at YOU...its a medical fact that due to the hormone rushing around inside you, you do not perceive danger the same as someone 20 years your peer.

That said....its not all doom and gloom. If you are confident in your ability to drive safely and competently then prove it to the insurance company.

Contact your nearest Branch of Institute of Advanced Motoring and get yourself on a course. You will not be charged for the lessons and will only have to pay for the assessment.

Everyone thinks they are a good driver, but until you do something to prove it, it is just a thought.

Good luck.

Stew

Unfortunately you may be sick of it but facts speak louder than opinion. 60%+ of all injury accidents involve people under 18. The next most dangerous group is the over 70 crowd. Now for the reason to raise the age to 21. The front portion of the brain is in charge of maturity and reason. These portions are not fully mature until possibly in into the 20's.. The term, It will never happen to me," sprang from the under 20 age group. Reality has not yet fully reached a lot of young people. You seem to be the exception but are by far not the rule. Almost everyone knows a young person who has been permanently maimed or killed by a needless and avoidable accident. And we haven't even gotten into talking about the possible effects of drugs and alcohol here.
I support raising the age. I'd bet my next paycheck that in a 5 year study the % of accidents would decrease by a statistically significant number........

klc7770

lets face it,most but not all teenagers drive like complete idiots,when they pass there test they think they know how to drive,driving come with experience,which most teenagers haven't got.you often see them driving very fast when theres young children or old people trying to cross roads,most cant even judge there stopping time,(scary).im not calling young people but they need a reality check,when it comes to driving,i aslo think that the elderly need to drive more safetly,sometimes they drive and there all over the road,i think when a person hits the age of 60 they should re-sit there test,

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