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I amd doing an assignement for English, and I need the opinion of a group of people. Youre it .

There has been an increasing number of accident involving drivers with Provisional Licences. How do you feel about youndg drivers? DO you think that 16 is an OK age at which to start driving? If not, then what do you think is, and Why? If yes, why?

Please give your opinion and elaborate, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Just to quicly add, New Zealand has some strict law when it comes to Provisional drivers, sutch as no more that 2 in one car, etc....Do you think this is the way to go? Why?

problem is, Kosta... your deal about 16 only goes for those countries that allow 16 year olds to drive.
Overhere the age is 18

and from my experience, I have much more problems with old people that drive too slow and endager others with this
(heck, if you go 70 where you're allowed 70, and have to stand on your brake in order JUST to avoid a collision on some old fart that's doing 30, they endanger people)

I thought about that, but i am gfetting an opinion on wehat you think of the law in our country, here its 16, so I'm asking if you think thats too young. Most of Europe its 18, so i guess you guys look at it differently, which is why i want your opinion.

I think 16 is too young. 18 is more reasonable I think.

it all depends of the person, some are mature, some never will be

I dunno, most of the 18 (to say) early 20's (not all) are more conscious of drawing up some sort of image whilst 'rolling in the hood', then adhering to safety, particularly amongst males its more testosterone based.

I got my liscense at 16... no accidents, but I wasnt ready for the responsibility and I sometimes was a little crazy. I think that 16 is fine if you are responsible and mature... so not every 16 year old. FYI- here in the US if you are in certain states and live on a farm you can get a liscence at like age 14.

I think older drivers are worse.

-AC

In NewJersey where I live it is sixteen when you can get your premit and eighteen you get your licence.As long as these kids are not driving with loud music or smoking and driving or playing around.
I heard more teens die in car accients then older people.SO IF YOu think you are ready to drive drive.If not don't until you are sure that you really want to drive.JM

funny, cause i live in jersey and it's 17.

unless you live in a parallel dimension?

young drivers suck, but so do ALOT of other drivers. but jersey is an exception to all rules due to overpopulation. too many cars and not enough road.

you dont know road rage like i know road rage.
in fact, ill bet road rage was invented in jersey.

Yes its fine, I can't imagine not having my lisence now... (Im 16)
But in Cali there ARE restrictions, Untill your 16 and a half (Or had your liscence for 6 months) you cannot have another person in the car. (this is a pointless rule because no-one follows it. And you can't be out driving past midnight untill like 5 AM.
(All rules are negated if there is someone over 25 in the car)

I accually was hit by an middle aged person.(long Story, Not my fault though...) So I really don't think that teens are anyworse than middle aged people but cops are more likly to pull over a speeding teen than a speeding adult.

I think 18 is a more sensible age. In the UK you can apply for a provisional licence at 17.

I know, mostly by luck, the only accidents I had when I first learned to drive weren't my fault but looking back having the experience I have now I probably could have avoided those incidents where as when they happened I didnt.

Age isnt an issue when it comes to bad drivers though some people just never get the knack for driving and they tend to be the ones who cause problems for other road users. The big problem is that everyone thinks that they are good drivers and cant see fault with themselves and thus never bother to improve their standards.

I passed my test at 17 and I quickly realised that you don't actually learn to drive till you've passed your test and your out on your own in a car. It took me 2 years before I thought "Yeah, I can drive" and I've had no bumps so far.

All the times that I've ever had problems with how people drive its been middle aged people...

Sixteen is the most dangerous age for drivers, and beginning drivers are the most dangerous on the road. A 16-year-old is twelve times as likely as older drivers to die in a crash as a single occupant. Put two young teens in a vehicle, and the odds of death and injury nearly double.

Three or four unsupervised teens in a vehicle is a recipe for disaster.

Add Alcohol or Drugs and your recipe is complete !

I'm not sure it's as much an age factor as it is sheer inexperience at driving

That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard, where did you find these stats?

Insurance under the age of 25 is very high ; can anyone tell me why ?

I don't think they are. My sister is 17 and she's a better driver then my mom

Here

Here in Florida it is you can get a permit at 15 and liscence at 16. I didn't get my permit until I was 16 but I learned to drive in an abandoned neighborhood at the age of 13.

I would say that teenagers do tend to get cocky behind the wheel, but that isn't enough to higher the age restrictions. People seem to believe that teenagers only use their cars for social events. That's wrong, many of us have jobs in which we need our car for transportation and many of us need our car just to get to and from school. This country as a whole has become dependant on automobiles and unless if you live in a city with good options for public transportation like NYC, you need a car just to get around. Also, I think in a lot of ways getting a car teaches teens reposponsibility.

http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/research/young.html

Take a look at those two charts and then complain about young drivers. People of every age are just as capable of causing accidents, if you are so for changing the age of the permits, why not change the age that people can have their licenses till seeing as there are so many senior caused problems out there.

Mind you that is New Zealand.

And not to mention your alcohol and drug comment is absurb since drinking is illegal here till 19 and in the states till 21 so unless it's illegal done, teens aren't drinking and driving.

Personally I think OAP's are probably worse than teenagers -

1 they often get confused
2 they often drop dead at the wheel
3 they often seem to own clapped out bangers they've owned since they were teenagers or they own high performance cars they cant handle!
4 they're eyes are often bad but they dont want to accept it so dont get them sorted out

need I say more?

please, come to jersey and stay for a week or two.
you WILL change your tune, and cherish every moment of
driving back in new zealand

And in my opinion I would think new drivers would be especially careful anyways.

I'm Canadian
I was just using that as an example

Jersey is crazy. I was born in Bergen County and we went up to visit my relatives up there and driving is a nightmare in Jersey. Its just one big continuous suburb. And everything is some sort of super highway. It's pretty crowded down here but we use the grid system (north south east west) so all roads run parallel to eachother.

too careful. they drive too awkwardly (like i did)
or they get cocky and show off (too many of those around here)

there comes a point when you learn to drive where you kind of become one with the car. where you feel in control because you ARE in control. the car basically becomes an extention of yourself.

kids who start learning have not reached that level yet, and thus are unpredictable, whether they are an awkward new driver or a cocky little *******.

now, we have alot of these soccer moms who buy the biggest s.u.v. possible and have no idea how to drive them. they cannot achieve that relationship with their vehicle because it is just too damn big and they seem to feel like they are driving a yacht. (and it shows). these are the most dangerous drivers imho since most of them wont stop yapping on their f**king cel phones. i know i sound like im generalising, but people from the u.s. and ESPECIALLY from jersey know what im talking about.

also, the usual cowboys who like to fly on a 55-65mph road going like 120mph, weaving around cars and putting everyone's life in danger.

and finally the old people who need to STOP DRIVING. they are very dangerous, and funny thing is, these people cause accidents all the time by stopping short and cutting people off. they never check their rearview and just keep driving. old people cause the most accidents where they driveoff never knowing they caused it.

*counts the duzens of times I challanged death and obviously survived*

the only youngsters that are dangerous drivers are the ones who drive like a$$holes because they think it make them look cool but apart from that id say youngsters are as safe as anyone because there reactions are better than older peoples.

here it is 18, so no idea

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but 16 is not a bad age to have the youth learn to drive. The only thing is that you need to ensure that they know the consequences for their mindless behaviour.

People can be hurt, or even killed, all because you wanted to drive 10, 20 k over the speed limit.

i agree with u samurai guy 16 is a good age to learn to drive. the age is 17 where i live

I'm indifferent on this.

First off, I know, and have seen a whole sh*tload of jackass teenagers, and I personally hate them, even if their my own "breed". Anyway, back to the topic, I'm indifferent on this because, I have my license, and I suck balls at driving, but I don't intentionally do this, I can stay on the road and such, but I just suck period. I have some friends who are really good drivers, others who suck as bad as me if not worse, and others a little better then me, etc. It's all in the eye of the beholder, though I'm glad the new teenagers have to wait until their 18 for a PROVISIONAL license, and we get less of those jackasses on the road because no one likes to have a permit period, 16, or whatever age. Having it for TWO years is even worse on them, where I see it as better, and I'd say 19 is the regular license.

Yeah, not only is the car insurance ridiculous here, everybody (the girls more ironically) have such f*cking attitude problems, that whenever I hear someone who ISN'T Jersey born is here, I go to meet THEM instead of anybody from Jersey who I can avoid at all costs.

Exactly what I think. Younger drivers are usually a little more lucide than older drivers. It's the 80 year old's that make it dangerous.

Experience comes with age. Inexperienced drivers are a higher risk than more experienced drivers. Inexperienced and immature drivers (especially one's who are inclined to rent the fast and the furious and think it's be cool to be like those guys from the movies) are a freakin' menace on the roads.

I agree that the elderly can cause problems on the road too, but quite a few of my friends are cops, and they are always going on about the messes that they and the paramedics have cleaned up. Most of the stories involve young drivers or drunk drivers.

There was an older guy on the road the other day and I swear to you, if his eyes weren't open I would have sworn he was driving while asleep.

-AC

lol. Ye its usually older drivers that go on to motorways down the exit ramp and stuff so end up causing major accidents because they were confused. Also most of the older drivers gotr their licences before u had driving tests so its kind of self explanatory....

In Illinois, you can get a learner's permit at 15 and your license at 16, and you have to complete so many hours of classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel, as well as have your permit for at least three months before you can apply for your license. There's also restrictions on teen drivers here; until you've had your license for 6 months or you turn 18 (whichever happens first) you can't have more than one other teen in your car unless it's a sibling, and if you're 16 and out past curfew your license is invalid. I don't know, though...yeah, I see plenty of bad drivers who are young, but I also see a lot of older drivers who are really bad, too. So I think it depends on the person. Several of my friends have gotten in car accidents, but every single time it was the fault of the other driver, who in every case was and older driver.

I didn't get my permit until I was 17 and just got my license in April, and when I went to take my driving test for my license I was so scared I was going to totally screw up. Well, I didn't get any points taken off And now I have to spend an hour every day driving to and from school...I try to be a good and safe driver, though, I'm not one of those insane people you see flying all over the road and I NEVER talk on my cell while driving.

Oh, and never try driving in downtown Chicago. The people there are crazy

"Sometimes I try to talk to people
They don't get a word I say
Try to keep it plain and simple
They just think that I'm crazy"

from: Leki - Crazy

Yes, We are. You do not want to be around when I'm backing out, trust me.

except if you're suicidal

80 year olds dont have to show off to their buddies.
If you look at the statistics(this is Norwegian statistic, but I dont think it is so very much different in other places) from the insurance companies there is no doubt that younger drivers(espesially boys) is the reason why the premium price is as high as it is.
Cassualties of traffic has an alarming rate of young people, people who just got their licence who have cars with monster machines.
There has been talks about increase the minimum age for taking the licens to 20 for the boys, the girls will still remain at 18.

You need experience to drive and your first car shouldnt be a "thunder road" kind off car.
Learn how to handle an "ordinary" car and gain experience as a driver before you put your ass behind the wheel of a fast car.

Now maybe we should have a limit for the driving license upward too.
Cause some old people irritate the hell out of other drivers and at times causing them to take reckless chances.

Yes i am

overhere it's higher because they don't have the experience yet.
and the mistake they make is to generalise... not every 18 year old drives a modified car

Anybody behind the wheel is dangerous if they do not know how to handle the car.

That is why we licence them to drive... but not to live

(adapted quote(s) from X-Men 1)

Actually, mine was from Smallville

But, anyways... It is not as though every young person is a bad driver, much like not every elderly person leaves their left turn signal on all the time.

It is a matter of chance and choice.

sorry, don't watch the show, but I'll look up some quotes to incorporate into my arsenal

It is true, though. from a certain point of view

your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them

Always the smartass. That is why we all love you

I think young drivers can be dangerous, they arn't very experiencd with driving, so they're more prone to make mistakes. Over here kids are allowed to drive when theyre 14, whit is way to young. but the speed limit is also 35 mph, so there arnt very many accidents.
But where i used to live, the speed limit was 50-60, and people werent allowed to drive till 16, but there were still far more accidents.

no, that's why no one talks to me