Thoughts and opinions on driving at 14?

Amy E

14? NONONONONO!! 16? Not even yet! 14 year olds cannot be held responsible for all of their actions. Until one held responsible for their acitons, and can be trusted and held accountable, he or she should not be issued a license no matter the age. With driving comes a huge responsiblity! you could be the reason for someones life being taken, or for your own life being taken. Behind the wheel is no place for a 14 year old, nor a place for most 16 year olds! oh, and video game driving is nothing like real driving!!

TAF187

i completely disagree even at 18 people can't drive properly and to compare games to real driving your kidding right ?? driving is not just about knowing when to go fast or slow is about being alert and defensive at all times kids now a days don't have that ability or understand it for starters most of them do not understand the value of money since everything is handed to them a car is a big big responsibitlity there is car payments, maintanance insurance and think of the insurance rates if kids were allowed to drive at 14 most of the parents could not afford it and since you can't legaly work at 14 how can you help ? lets face it your dreaming .. a 70 year has been driving for a very very long time and while his reflexes are slower than a 14 year he has a very important skill EXPERIENCE .. yes i know we all hate how slow they drive and cause traffic but when you hear of accidents its usually the young fast drivers not the elderly folks and i know there is exceptions but than again theres exceptions to everything.

(Â¯`'Â·.Â¸(Cookie_ Kittens

ok look, youve asked this 3 times so far. No one agrees with you. you are wrong. move on with your life!!!!

Garden Hoe

Fourteen is too young to drive. At that age they are young teens who think only others could get into serious accidents; they don't realize their actions have consequences.

The very young and the very old are the biggest reasons we have traffic fatalities. Boys are especially careless.

bungee

celly 198 you don't have any good ideas<

Dimo J

You wrote: "I mean, we have 70 yr olds out on the streets. A 14 yr old can drive better than a 70 yr old.
Examples: 14yr old has better reflexes and can think faster. It sounds crazy, but it really isn't. We may think that they will crash or go too fast but reality is reality ... "

At the reality is that teenagers are a menace to themselves and others. You want reality? You want the actual numbers rather than your wishful thinking? You want the truth? Can you handle the truth?

When you want the numbers, go to the Census Bureau:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s1073.pdf

In 2006 in the United States there were 10,719,000 teenage drivers who were involved in 2,420,000 *reported* accidents. That is more than 22% of the drivers being involved in accidents.

Of the 20-24 year olds, 15% have annual accidents.
25-64 year olds run between 7% and 9%

The safest drivers are those 65 and over, of whom only 5% are involved in an accident each year.

Better than one in five teenage drivers are involved in an accident each and every year. Only one in twenty elderly drivers are involved in an accident each year.

Francois

driving is all about decision making and the ability to make fast and good decision making is what is key to driving safely

i feel that a 14 year old are not capable of making these decisions at that stage of their lives

i mean they are going though puberty my goodness

I love him <3

People think 16 year old's drive crazy. Could you imagine 14 year olds? Way to immature to drive. You haven't even gone through puberty fully! Finish growing, THEN think about grown up things.
You are probably 14, and that is why you tihnk this is a good idea.
And video games.. are nothing at all like driving.

Its so much harder and dangerous.

Outlaw Immortal

I'm 19, and I can't imagine what it would have been like not having my license until I was 18. I mean, I was really glad to have it at 16, but looking back, 16 year olds should not even be able to get their licenses. If 14 year old kids could get their licenses I wouldn't even go out on the damn road. It should be raised to 18.

purplebell

In Australia yes kids that age do drive but it is on private outback properties as mail boxes can be kilometres away from the house. it doesn't hurt to learn to drive at 14 if you are on private property that way you can get an idea of how much is actually involved when it comes to driving. Driving is sooo much harder than video games. The games don't include tailgaters the car next to you with music blaring when you pull up at lights, the rude obscene gestures or abuse people insist on sharing with other drivers. To drive a car properly you must be able to concentrate on your driving & be adaptable to the driving conditions. your debate is between 14 or 16 being able to drive yet you site 70 yr olds as having slower reflects they are slower than 16 too keep that out of your argument it doesn't help.There is not much difference between 14 & 16. your ideas can help both sides find some good differences betwwen the ages towards drivng. Kids at 14 can get part time jobs in Australia although under 15s get less hours. Have you considered lawn mowing, car washing, dog walking & letter box drops these aren't top jobs but show willingness to work & be responsible. yes parent pay for the cars because the kids won't take the responsibility of contributing to the upkeep of a car. If you help your parents pay for the upkeep on your car they will remember that because your brothers & sisters wouldn't help & just sponged off them. That would show your parents you can be responsible. I know of a lot of parents that won't let their kids drive their car because insurance goes up for under 25 drivers in Australia. My view is if a kid wants to drive they should be responsible enough to contribute to the upkeep of the car if they want to drive it. that means they pay for their own petrol. if I borrow a car from friends or family I pay for petrol used in their car & they do the same if they borrow mine. we even pay petrol money if we have to take each others kids around.

UCANTCME

14..........No way....Then this would increase....

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 3,174 drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2007, down 9.1 percent from 3,490 in 2006 and down 5.5 percent from 3,358 in 1997. An additional 252,000 young drivers were injured in 2007.

Drivers age 15 to 20 accounted for 13 percent of all drivers involved in fatal crashes and 15 percent of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes. The number of drivers age 15 to 20 involved in fatal crashes totaled 6,982 in 2007, down 6.4 percent from 7,463 in 2006 and down 12.0 percent from 7,936 in 1997.

Thirty-one percent of drivers age 15 to 20 who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2007 had been drinking some amount of alcohol

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