Have you heard of the STANDUP act for teenage drivers?

[tghockey07]

http://www.saferoads4teens.org/standup-act

This act just makes me mad, are they kidding about not being able to drive at night? Here in Minnesota it gets dark at like 4ish in the winter, so that would be rediculous. Also, many sports now-a-days practice at night and the fun of being a teenager is the freedom to drive where you want to go, when you want to go. I feel that these old people in government don't remember what its like to be a kid and that its unfair.
Anyone else have any comments?

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[blueskyjunkie]

I am 18 (got my license at 16) so don't think I'm some old person that doesn't remember what it's like. I honestly 18 or even 20 would be a better age for issuing drivers licenses. We tend to be very irresponsible, and it seems like every day there is some punk in the news who thought it would cool to race his friend and killed himself and the family in the minivan that he slammed into. Our bad judgment combined with our arrogance have proven fatal in too many instances.

The bottom line is that far too many kids killing themselves and others in preventable collisions. These are the statistics that those "old people" see.

[howarmat]

i remember how i was at those ages, i had my license at 15 too and i got lucky more than i would like to admit too. Honeslty i agree that 18 isnt a bad idea. Too much going on in High School and adding inexperience driving adds trouble. There is alot of drinking and such and its to easy to have something happen and end up with **** happening.

These laws are becoming more common across the nation so its not unheard of at all.

There are people that are responsible but it seems more and more that the majority is shifting to the other direction

[ChuckH0308]

I remember being 16 once! Wow, that was a long time ago...lol! Sometimes looking back I wonder how I made it this far....

Anyway, the younglings will hate me for this, but I am a HUGE supporter of changing the minimum driving age to 18. I believe that kids should be allowed to get a learner's permit at 16, but then drive only with supervision for two years before gaining the ability to drive alone. Let me explain...

Way back in the day kids actually learned to drive at about 8, so by the time they hit 16 they at least knew how to drive, even if they didn't always do it responsibly. These days most kids do not have any exposure to operating a car until they get their permit and then after 6 months they are given keys even though they still can't actually drive. Because of the changes in cars, increases in traffic, laws, poorer training, and increasing peer pressure issues, it makes sense to me that more time in training and tougher licensing standards are necessary.

It's not that I want to pizz off every 16 year old out there, it's just that, well, most 16 year olds just aren't as mature these days as they were way back. Today's 16 year old is about the equivalent of a 13 or 14 year old 30 years ago...seriously. Not all of them of course, but it seems most of them are.

Now, the other option is just to make changes in laws in regards to training and licensing requirements at an earlier age. They could allow learner's permits 6 months earlier or something (at 14 1/2 or 15), require a whole year of driver training (with better trainers who actually have a clue themselves), AND make it more difficult to actually get the license. That would automatically keep the 16 year olds who aren't ready off the roads while allowing those who are to drive. Might be more inspiration for kids to work harder at driving! It's WAY (understatement) too easy in this country to get a driver's license.

As far as the driving at night thing goes, I do agree that's stupid if indeed it means while it's dark. It was not clear to me by reading that whether it meant night time as in while most people are sleeping or night time as in it's dark outside. If it's between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM or something then I'm fine with that, but if it just means when it's dark then yeah, that doesn't really make sense. I know when I was in high school it was dark when I left for school and dark when I came home from school. Even darker after work. My parents would have had to drive me everywhere...lol!

Anyway, I do think there need to be changes in the laws, but maybe this proposal isn't quite right. As I already stated the best thing they can do is require more training and make the driving tests more difficult. And that should apply to people of ALL ages!

[blueskyjunkie]

Oh I forgot to say that I also think that everyone should have to retest (written and driving) for their license every 5 years or so to ensure that they are still capable of operating a vehicle safely.

[devildrifterX]

I'm 21 and have been driving since i was 15 (got my permit, license was at 16) but i used to dirtbike back when i was 9.

A dip[b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b] at 16 is the same dip[b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b] at 18, and at 21. There are those that will still screw up when they get their license. Although today there are too many road distractions such as kids cranking their music to 11 and texting/cell phone (or being a female...sorry ladies you suck at driving,not all of you though) use while driving that exponentially increases accidents for young drivers.

I know plenty of teens such as myself who have yet to get into an accident since getting their license. There is a maturity level involved with getting your license but seeing as how your parent has to sign off for you to get one, this reflects DIRECTLY back on the parent if they let you get one before your 18 (sorry if my kid is an ***** he wouldn't be behind the wheel of a car)

Raising the age for getting your license isnt the solution, stricter requirements are. Triple the required hours driven necessary, and force them to be logged via database. Handsfree device for cellphones in all states and no texting while driving (a severe enough penalty will stop that). Grade requirements as well as attendance (whatever is graduating GPA...usually a 2.5 minimum), make a driving class mandatory, and make the passing requirements higher.

[topdawgoscar]

I am 29 now I had a friend that was killed because of teens racing the got in a accident. clean up groups did not have there lights on they were driving plows it was winter he slamed his brakes to aoid the teens on the side of the road he smashed his mini truck into the truck and died. Here's the best part his wife and kids were following behind him. They got too see the hole Thing. So teens just he relax you will get you dl soon enough.

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[ChuckH0308]

Originally Posted by devildrifterX

I'm 21 and have been driving since i was 15 (got my permit, license was at 16) but i used to dirtbike back when i was 9.

A dip[b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b] at 16 is the same dip[b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b] at 18, and at 21. There are those that will still screw up when they get their license. Although today there are too many road distractions such as kids cranking their music to 11 and texting/cell phone (or being a female...sorry ladies you suck at driving,not all of you though) use while driving that exponentially increases accidents for young drivers.

I know plenty of teens such as myself who have yet to get into an accident since getting their license. There is a maturity level involved with getting your license but seeing as how your parent has to sign off for you to get one, this reflects DIRECTLY back on the parent if they let you get one before your 18 (sorry if my kid is an ***** he wouldn't be behind the wheel of a car)

Raising the age for getting your license isnt the solution, stricter requirements are. Triple the required hours driven necessary, and force them to be logged via database. Handsfree device for cellphones in all states and no texting while driving (a severe enough penalty will stop that). Grade requirements as well as attendance (whatever is graduating GPA...usually a 2.5 minimum), make a driving class mandatory, and make the passing requirements higher.

You have some very good and valid points. The problem is it seems more and more that parents are less involved with their kids. OK I'll come right out and say it; it seems like parents now just have kids, but then don't actually raise them or want anything to do with them.

But you are right, tougher standards, better training, etc will weed out the kids who aren't ready. Then the parents can go on with being uninvolved...lol!

And I agree with Blueskye too...people need to be retested. My only suggestion there though is to put the retest frequency on some sort of scale so that younglings and elderly are tested more frequently.

[devildrifterX]

Originally Posted by ChuckH0308

You have some very good and valid points. The problem is it seems more and more that parents are less involved with their kids. OK I'll come right out and say it; it seems like parents now just have kids, but then don't actually raise them or want anything to do with them.

But you are right, tougher standards, better training, etc will weed out the kids who aren't ready. Then the parents can go on with being uninvolved...lol!

And I agree with Blueskye too...people need to be retested. My only suggestion there though is to put the retest frequency on some sort of scale so that younglings and elderly are tested more frequently.

Yes that does seem to be the case with numerous parents becoming out of touch with their kid. My mom was OK with letting me drive at 15/16 but i wanted to get my endorsement so i could ride a motorcycle. Her exact words were "Not while you live in my f*cking house". Consequently i had to wait till i was 19 when i could get it (cause i had moved out)

I would make a heavy push for tougher standards, my college is like 2 blocks away from the local high school campus and god damn i have almost been run over on my CBR by kids not paying any attention at all on numerous occasions. Now i just dont even go that way or down ISB during schools getting let it, its just too damn dangerous with the way some of them speed doing 60 in a 40.

I do think that the retesting should be done every 2-3 years. This will keep people sharp and keep bad drivers off the road. I know people dread sitting at the DMV but i would contend with it if it meant keeping [b][/b][b][/b][b][/b][b][/b]ty drivers from sharing the road with me, especially when im riding.

[maxiang]

We need drastically higher standards for training and maintaining the privilege of driving in this country. And the problem isn't teens and elderly, its everyone! Some of the worst drivers that I have encountered fall in the 25-50 age group! A little background on me: I did not really learn to drive (despite having my drivers license at 16) until I was 22! That was when I went to the best truck driving school in the country. Since that time I have logged over a half a million miles, accident free, across the entire country. Every major city, in all kinds of weather conditions, and at all times of day and night. One of the most important things I learned was that there are no accidents! An accident implies that it could not be prevented. Which is not the case 99.9% of the time. Teens will only be as competent as drivers as the people they learn from, and the example that their parents set. Better training, more personal responsibility, and no excuses are the only way that drivers will improve in the USA.

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[ChuckH0308]

Originally Posted by maxiang

We need drastically higher standards for training and maintaining the privilege of driving in this country. And the problem isn't teens and elderly, its everyone! Some of the worst drivers that I have encountered fall in the 25-50 age group! A little background on me: I did not really learn to drive (despite having my drivers license at 16) until I was 22! That was when I went to the best truck driving school in the country. Since that time I have logged over a half a million miles, accident free, across the entire country. Every major city, in all kinds of weather conditions, and at all times of day and night. One of the most important things I learned was that there are no accidents! An accident implies that it could not be prevented. Which is not the case 99.9% of the time. Teens will only be as competent as drivers as the people they learn from, and the example that their parents set. Better training, more personal responsibility, and no excuses are the only way that drivers will improve in the USA.

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I don't do it anymore, but I was a commercial driver myself and still have my CDL. I have to say that while I learned quite a bit in CDL school, the actual State test (at least here in WA) wasn't all that difficult. And with all my encounters on the road with other truckers who couldn't drive for isht I would say that the testing is universally inadequate. Anyway, congrats on making it over the half mil mark! I stopped at half a mil (with no at fault accidents...I had someone back into me once at a vendor). I kind of miss driving the truck (the actual driving part), but don't miss a lot of the B.S. that goes with it.

[JillD19]

Safe teen driving starts with parents talking to their kids and making sure they understand the dangers of driving as well as every local driving law. Allstate Teen's driving site: http://allstateteendriver.com/ has a lot of resources for parents to talk to their teenagers, including a pledge not to text and drive and a parent/teen driving contract.

[DrewCSchultz]

I don't know about you guys, but there are just as many horrible adult drivers as there are kids. I can't tell you how often I look over and see some dumbass rocking out to Miley Cyrus, putting on her makeup and yapping on the phone at the same time. Or how often I look over and see some Guy trying to pack a bowl and drive at the same time. At least get a dugout for Christs sake.

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