Raise the legal driving age

[_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, **** 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??? :rofl:
of course you think your idea is a winner, you thought of it :bop:

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

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 **** 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

 

[MBS206]

The biggest issue I see with raising it, and from people I actually know from my school, they would just drive without a licence.

No licence = no insurance = no pay out when they do still crash the car at the same age.
Give them a licence, they have rego and insurance, so when they crash, victims are covered.

 

[GLD-086]

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.

Yes that is correct, but you must remember, the average age for a P Plater is 18 anyway.

I'm a bit mixed on this subject. On one hand it would be good, because they would most likely be out of school and working, but on the other hand, I think the drink driving death toll would rapidly increase.

Not only that, but if some 18 year old goes out drinking and jumps back in his/her car, after only having his/her licence for a couple of weeks, the results will be catostrophic.

IMO I think the only way to instigate a new legal driving age to 18, would be to change the legal drinking age to 21. (Like in America)

Peer pressure is also a major factor, in the way young driver behave on our roads. I'm 20 and I'm on my green P Plates and I much prefer to jump into a car by myself, then a group of friends.

Why? My mates are the type who edge me on to do something stupid and I feel uncomfortable, so that's why I try to avoid driving with alot of people.

They say I drive like a granny and stuff, but 1 of my mates lost his P Plates for 3 months and another lost his P Plates for 4 years, for drink driving. Yet I've never been pulled over and I still have all of my points, because I have much more maturity and common sense, then what they do.

 

[_Mukas_]

the one thing about raising the legal age of say drinking to 21, does that mean that all 20 year olds, who wouldve been drinking legally for over 2 years have to suddenly stop and cant drink anymore? geez that'll go down well. can you imagine a 20 year old guy having to ask his mum to go and buy him some grog...LOL

 

[SlyVR]

i voted no, its good to get ya licence young, and also L and P's i sure as hell looked forward to gett my l's @ 16 n half.

if anything lower the car the p plater and l plater can have..

its a good system now, i wouldnt change it

 

[greenfoam]

I can't see any reason not to change the driving age to less, people are coordinated enough to drive a car at a much younger age than 18 and are no more likely to be stupid at 15 than 18 (less likely I'd say). But the age where you are first allowed to drink needs to be seperated from the age you are allowed to drive, when they are both the same age that's just asking for trouble.

Drinkings a stupid idea anyway it mostly only starts out as a simple way for scared kids to get over telling someone of the oppisite sex they want them, which means they weren't socially ready for that anyway , biggest trouble is people that then never learn and just keep on needing the drink