Raise the legal driving age

[Shounak]

I think they should raise the legal driving age to 18 in all States and Territories across Australia..

1. You should be an adult to drive by yourself due to serious nature of driving. Ie. You can do heaps of damage in a car and cause a lot of legal troubles, things I think you should be an adult to deal with.

2. Immaturity. Whilst a lot of 17 year olds may be mature enough to drive, I don't think the demographic as a whole should be allowed to. These are secondary school kids, greater responsibility I think is needed..

I have more points, but I'll leave it at this for now..

Make the uniform driving age in AUSTRALIA 18 and do away with speed restrictions etc..

Who's with me?

[maxy0987]

Yep i agree.
I think people should be 18 to start driving, starting to drive alone at the age of 16 or 17 or whatever it is in other states isn't a good idea.

The maturity factor you mentioned is the main thing, and yes you can argue (and would be right) that age does not mean maturity. However, a lot of accidents are caused by peer pressure and showing off, not to mention lack of concentration.

So, at 16-17 you are still at school, driving to school (like in american movies), you have a few friends in the car and are distracted by them talking to you, have an accident and bingo.
Or, at 16-17 you are at school showing off in the schools carpark and hit another car, another bad point.

Yes this can happen when you are 18 and going out (and is often when accidents happen) but why would you want to give younger and less mature (for arguments sake) people that situation?

I just dont think it's a good idea, i know plenty of peopel 18-20 who are ****ups when it comes to driving and i wouldn't feel safe with them in the car when there is any more than myself and the driver (because their other friends are a bad influence)

[Jecs]

Not Me.

Everyone falls off the ladder, and you learn from it. Sometimes its best to be chucked in the deepend and learn your limits and what can happen in a rough situation. my old man was driving trucks when he was 16 and he still driving them to date (hes 56) and only time hes been in an accident was when he hit a kangaroo and when a tourist didnt give way (and hes had his share of hot cars).

on the news, when u see an accident involving a P plater, they really focus on a that red sticker on the window as if to say "thats why he crashed" but u'll find its the kids whose parents buy them everything. when a kids has to buy his own car, pay for rear tyres, and engine tune ups then thats when he says "hey i can be a smart arse, but i dont have the money to do it" where as the rich boy "its ok my daddy will pay for everything"

Jecs

[253@7k]

I voted no. Take New Zealand for example, you can get your drivers when your 15.


This means that people have been driving long before they get into the whole "lets go get drunk" thing.

As they are driving at such young ages, when they are 18 and can drink, driving is less of a novelty and therefore they are less inclined to drink and drive.

So if the driving age was 18 in Australia then we would just have more teenagers (like myself) just jumping in thier cars and driving even if they have had a couple of beers.

Not that I ever drink and drive though, I value my life, licence and car too much to do anything stupid like that, but not everyone thinks like me.

[maxy0987]

jecs how does that relate to age?
A parent can buy their kids cars at any age, by your reasoning the kids have the same attitudes through 16,17,18+ I think giving a kid a 16th bday pressie of a new car would be a lot mroe dangerous than giving him a car at 18.

Falling and getting up is one thing, being 16 and feeling like you are superman after watching a movie that's just come out is another (idea being that younger you are the more involved you get with movies and the ideas shown in them can bring you in over your head)

[maxy0987]

slundy - they have fewer cars :P

I wouldnt trust a 15y/o washing my car let alone driving one

[Shounak]

Slundy O Grundy.. The reason the NZ driving age is 15 is due to remoteness of a lot of places. Kids can't get to school unless they drive. Public transport is shit in those area's and it's either drive or not go to school..

They have heaps of restrictions though. Like only allowed to drive between 8-11am and 3-7pm or something ridiculous like that and the passenger restriction is taken very seriously..

But driving age does change with age. I'd love to see a breakdown of accidents by age though.

[bangers]

jecs how does that relate to age?
A parent can buy their kids cars at any age, by your reasoning the kids have the same attitudes through 16,17,18+ I think giving a kid a 16th bday pressie of a new car would be a lot mroe dangerous than giving him a car at 18.

Falling and getting up is one thing, being 16 and feeling like you are superman after watching a movie that's just come out is another (idea being that younger you are the more involved you get with movies and the ideas shown in them can bring you in over your head)

lets see how many accidents there are after a viewing of the new Fast & Furious movie. all the little showoffs trying to drift their corolla and roll it over some innocent bystander.

[253@7k]

slundy - they have fewer cars :P

I wouldnt trust a 15y/o washing my car let alone driving one

Valid point, they do have fewer cars.

I was driving a $520 000 harvester, stripping crops when I was 14, so I dont have a problem with 15 year olds driving cars. As long as they knew how to drive (everyone can be taught to drive, does not matter if they are 15 or 21.) then there would be no more danger than having drunk 18 year olds on the road.

[Shounak]

Valid point, they do have fewer cars.

I was driving a $520 000 harvester, stripping crops when I was 14, so I dont have a problem with 15 year olds driving cars. As long as they knew how to drive (everyone can be taught to drive, does not matter if they are 15 or 21.) then there would be no more danger than having drunk 18 year olds on the road.

This is the point everyone misses.. Looking back, a lot of individuals COULD drive and had the raw skills to drive, but the right attitude? Most P platers can drive properly. They can do turns and handle themselves adequately, it's when they become ****y that the problem occurs (in most cases)..

Anyway, this isn't about individuals. Otherwise nearly everyone abotu 18-21 would say, oh a few years ago I was fine to drive. It's about the collective, people in the 16-17 demographic..

On the whole do you think 16-17 is an ideal age to start driving? Not could you drive a car at 16-17..

[Jecs]

well shounak would you feel better if, when you get your L's (and your P's) you have to do a 2 Day course on learning how to control the car in different conditions like losing it in the wet and tryin to regrab control of it. (like that defensive course or what ever) i think they should make it a rule for when you get your L's then when you get your P's. This would have to make a difference on crashes.

Jecs

[Shounak]

well shounak would you feel better if, when you get your L's (and your P's) you have to do a 2 Day course on learning how to control the car in different conditions like losing it in the wet and tryin to regrab control of it. (like that defensive course or what ever) i think they should make it a rule for when you get your L's then when you get your P's. This would have to make a difference on crashes.

Jecs

I think it's a good idea but it will make a lot of drivers even more c0cky.. Whoa I'm good I can control my car whilst losing traction. I did skids in a controlled skid pan, I could definitely do em here..

It was found that drivers doing defensive driving courses were more likely to get into situations where they would have to use what they learnt. So it increases the risks people take because they feel better equipped to deal with it..

I would only support it if it applied to everyone. But if it did apply to everyone the cost would be too huge.. So whilst in theory I do agree with it, I wouldn't support it..

[253@7k]

This is the point everyone misses.. Looking back, a lot of individuals COULD drive and had the raw skills to drive, but the right attitude? Most P platers can drive properly. They can do turns and handle themselves adequately, it's when they become ****y that the problem occurs (in most cases)..

Anyway, this isn't about individuals. Otherwise nearly everyone abotu 18-21 would say, oh a few years ago I was fine to drive. It's about the collective, people in the 16-17 demographic..

On the whole do you think 16-17 is an ideal age to start driving? Not could you drive a car at 16-17..

Touchy subject yes. I suppose when I think about it no matter what age we start driving, there will always be a minority to f**k the whole thing up.

From the heros who think they are hot sh1t when they plant thier foot and the left front tyre of thier corrola chirps to the p plater who wipes out some granny when he has had one too many.

I started driving (legaly) when I was 16 so I am slightly biased but I have no problem with 16-17 year old drivers. And yes (law authorities please overt your eyes) I was driving when I was about 13-14 on public roads. (18 km between farms)

[crazyspoon05]

I think it should be 18 across all states and territories with an emphasis from Year 10 onwards of compulsary driver education classes (both practical and theory).

A lot of the two day 'advanced' driving courses offered at the moment are a joke, if you pay your course fees you'll get your certificate regardless of if you hit the witches hats each time or not, and most of these courses don't go anywhere near a skidpan.

I think that all learner drivers should have log books just like student pilots and they need 'x' amount of hours behind the wheel in all conditions (under a professional driving instructors guidance, not falsified log books from parents, etc to bump hours up) and only when they have enough hours they can go for their licence test.

But as mentioned previously a lot of it comes down to attitude and there will always be the idiots out there..

[minux]

Everyone is saying they should be able to drive etc, or anyone cand rive etc.


The point is it's not about being able to drive. Hell if that was the case i could have got my licence at 5 when i used to drive the paddock bomb around.

Fact is, no child is mature enough to handle the road at 16/17 hell even 18/19 and 20 for us males.

Something needs to be done to bring it into line, some 18/19 year old drivers scare me, let alone 16/17 year olds.

[Shounak]

What's your proposed solution Minux? Drive with a fully licensed driver beside you until males turn 21 and females turn 19?

[minux]

What's your proposed solution Minux? Drive with a fully
licensed driver beside you until males turn 21 and females turn 19?

No solution, just saying what i thought...doesn't mean i have to provide a solution.

I think maybe pysch tests could be done to determine wether someone is mentally capable of driving, could solve ALOT of problems. Who know's, all i know is, i try and pass all new driver's ASAP or i give them loads of room

[HoZy]

As much as i say I wish i lived in another state, I still think 18 is the perfect age to get your P's an should have a logged ammount of hours necasary, they dont even check your log books in vic...... I got 372hours lol....

Just sayin I rekon waiting til your 18 is better....

Cheers
MaT

[EvoVIIIJDM]

Not Me.

Everyone falls off the ladder, and you learn from it.Jecs

What a stupid anallergy to use. :b: Young people die because they dont know there limits. They aint getting back up after falling off the ladder are they.

Raise the age.

[vh-holden]

nope, silly idea. what's good for some places isn't good for others. the NT is a bit like NZ in the whole remoteness, not many cars thing. why should young people up here suffer?

also, by learning earlier, you are developing your skills earlier, and at a time when you learn better. i know i could learn and memorise things a lot easier when i was younger. we should be teaching people when theyare at their prime.

another thing. i was off my p's by 18. this was a great relief for my family as when we'd drive the 3200km to adelaide at christmas, we would have an extra driver making it safer as we were all more alert while driving.

[_Mukas_]

look at it from this angle, if one is allowed to drive at 16/17 but cant drink til 18, people will be so used to driving by the time they are allowed to drink, there would be a "ive been driving for a couple of years, so ill be right after a few drinks" mentality. this is the thing one has to look at, if KIDS are allowed to drive and develop confidence driving before they are allowed to drink, do you not think that they will be more inclined to drink and drive, because they're "experienced" drivers, and "ive been the back way a million times"... this will most likely become a statistical phenomenon for the TAC because of their(the kid drivers) confidence in their own skills, before they start hitting the gas legally. could you imagine a group of 16 year olds goin to a party and half of them drive? the majority will drink too and there is your c0cktail of destruction...Of course there are exceptions, the NT for example where it is a necessity to be driving at a younger age...generally though, i still think it would be a good idea.

[maxy0987]

How about we solve all these problems by putting in a law that everyone will hate?

Drivers under the age of 21 can have 1 passenger only.

Hows that? solves the majority of 'showoff' based accidents because one passenger in the car rarely causes a problem.
Means the driver can take his/her sister/brother/parent etc to school or to church or whatever.

Win win situation, sure the whole carpool thing reduces polution but who under the age of 21 uses it anyway? Going out at night becomes a bit of a problem because you cant get as many people into the car, but hey, shit happens true?

I think my idea is a winner, as unpopular as it is, it will solve 80% of the young accidents im betting

[_Mukas_]

your obviously over 21?
im gonna disagree, because then you will have more young people driving trying to compete to see who is the most "hardcore" driver, who has the fastest car and who can do the best burnout...
80% hey? where did you get that stat from, www. imakestatsup .com???
of course you think your idea is a winner, you thought of it

more young drivers, same amount of drinkers...do the math...

oh and yes i am under 21 if your wondering

[maxy0987]

nope, im uder 21, im 19.
The burnout comps etc account for the 20% i factored in.

Being under 21 you will realise that when you have a car full of mates and they are talking shit like they always do you can get distracted.
If you pull up next to a ricer you will be more inclinded to have a go otherwise you'll be called soft etc. Not everyone is like this (my friends arent) but i know a lot of people who are.

I also never said my stat was official, i just said i bet it will solve 80% of our problems, i couldve pulled any number but i think 80% is fair.

50% would be due to showing off, this includes speeding, burnouts etc.
50% would be lack of concentration.

So say you cant knock off 10% off each of those stats...
10% of people will still show off and do burnouts and can cause accidents
10% of people will still die due to accidents not being their fault but they could've avoided (car pulling out infront of you for example)
That leaves you with 80% of the people who will be still alive.

For the record its not my idea, it's been thrown around for a long time, i just happen to agree with it.


EDIT: I went over your earlier post about the 16yos at a party and i dont follow your logic. If you have 16 year olds driving you're saying they will drink? if so you support my original position. People under 18 shouldnt be driving alone because they are easier to influence via peer pressure.

[vn88calais]

i voted no, i mean people who live in the country can get there licenses when they are 15 because they r so far away, a mates cousin of mine had to do that.

i see imature people on the road nowdays people who arnt p platers, i have been talegated by a p**** in a purple ford xr8 ute and i didnt do n e thing to him, how the f*** is that mature?? the guy driving the car was like 40!!

I have had people pull up next to me in vn's, vp's, etx wanting to drag and i look in the back of there cars and they have kids sitting in there!!! wats so mature about that!?!?

it doesnt matter what age the person is, because anybody can make a mistake and the situation will be gone, getting your license is all about making mistakes and becoming better at it so you wont make them in the years to come.

Peer Pressure has been mentioned above, yes its quite a big factor, but its the drivers fault if they dont or do wanna do that, i have only had my p's since November of last year and i have had a tone of friends in the car, they have egged me on, but do u think everytime, let alont the majority of the time id do something stupid if they egged me on to, hell no i wont, i only do wat i wanna dooo....

thats my reasons for no...

cheers, Todd