Feds May Raise Driving Age for Teens

Feds May Raise Driving Age for Teens
By Seth Fiegerman

To any teenagers reading this: Enjoy your driving privileges while you can.

New legislation is currently being considered in the Senate that would rewrite America’s driving laws for teens. If approved, states would be forced to conform to a national minimum driving age, much in the same way that we now have a national drinking age. Under the new law, teens would not be able to receive a learner’s permit until they turned 16 and could not receive a full driver’s license until at least 18.

“Three Democratic senators are pushing legislation to create a national graduated driver licensing (GDL) law. They say it would replace a patchwork of state laws with a single national standard that encompasses proven safety policies for novice drivers,” USA Today reports.

Right now, some states like Iowa and Kansas allow teens to get learner’s permits when they are 14. That may sound too young to some but others like Rob Foss, the director of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers, point out that driving is much different in these rural states. “Driving in New Jersey is a completely different thing than driving in Nebraska or Idaho. You have states where people learn to drive on the farm at 12 or 13. You can't have the same rules in those states as in states like Connecticut or New Jersey,” he told USA Today.

Last week, we reported on a movement in South Carolina to restrict driver’s licenses for teens who drop out of school or miss too many classes. Several readers noted then that they do not think kids should be able to get behind the wheel of a car until they are at least 16 and one commenter actually suggested the age should be 25. That certainly seems a bit extreme to us, but the underlying question is valid: When are kids really mature enough to drive? Oddly enough, for some states, the minimum age to get a learner’s permit is 14 1/2 or 15 1/2. The six-month increment seems strange to us, and it’s probably annoying for the traffic cop who is forced to do math when writing a teen a ticket.

What do you think? Should there be a standard minimum driving age across the country, or should states get to decide what’s appropriate for their teens?

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/fa..._ven=msnetzero

I say yes, because even though where they live may be rural, that doesn't stop them from driving in a city at 14 years old -- and at 14 years old, I know I didn't have the maturity/experience to make the best decisions...

I know a lot of kids who have afterschool or weekend jobs - how do they get to work if they only have a learners permit which requires a passenger who is a icensed driver over 18... or is it 21 ?

I think its a good idea. They're letting kids handle a dangerous vehicle when they don't seem to have the capability to do it. Not to mention the text messaging and cell phones they use while driving.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

I know a lot of kids who have afterschool or weekend jobs - how do they get to work if they only have a learners permit which requires a passenger who is a icensed driver over 18... or is it 21 ?

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You either need a friend or family member to drive you.

That is pretty much a universal problem unless you live in a city and are able to walk everywhere.

I agree with you on the text messaging and cell phones...

Car Crashes Leading Cause of Teen Deaths in U.S.
By HealthDay Reporter Steven Reinberg -- 45 mins ago

WEDNESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Of the more than 16,000 teenagers who die in the United States each year, most are killed in automobile accidents, but murder, suicide, cancer and heart disease also take their toll, a new government report finds. In fact, among black male teens, homicide is the leading cause of death, said report author Arialdi M. Minino, a statistician at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. "This is a group of people we don't pay much attention to when we talk about mortality," Minino said. Teen deaths account for less than 1 percent of all deaths per year in the United States, he noted.

Still, Minino thinks that more needs to be done to cut the number of teenage deaths. "These are preventable causes of death," he said. "So, this is a group where we can extend ourselves so kids won't die, by extending common sense ideas."

Each year in the United States, an estimated 16,375 children between the ages of 12 and 19 die. Nearly 50 percent die in accidents, with car crashes accounting for more than one-third of all deaths, Minino found. But among black male teens, murder is the leading cause of death. Moreover, the highest teen death rate is among black males at 94.1 deaths per 100,000 people. "That's 50 times more than among white males. That's a very large disparity," Minino said.

The leading causes of death among teens stayed the same during the period studied, Minino noted. Accidents accounted for 48 percent of deaths; homicide, 13 percent; suicide, 11 percent; cancer, 6 percent; and heart disease, 3 percent. In addition, from 1999 to 2006, the annual death rate for teens has remained constant, at about 49.5 deaths per 100,000 population, Minino said.

But the risk of dying is not the same for all teenagers. Boys are more likely to die than girls, and older teens are at higher risk of dying than younger teens. For example, for 12-year-old boys the death rate is 46 percent higher than for girls. At 19, the death rate is three times higher for boys than girls (135.2 deaths and 46.1 deaths per 100,000, respectively), Minino found. "I wish people would look at these groups with an eye toward intervention," Minino said. Teenagers are a "relatively neglected group when it comes to public health."

Another expert sees the human cost of teen deaths and stressed that even though the number of deaths is low, teenage deaths should not be ignored. "I hope when people read this report they realize how sobering it is and are not falsely lulled by the fact that these adolescent deaths 'only' make up 1 percent of total deaths," said Dr. Karen Sheehan, medical director of the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Children's Memorial Hospital and medical director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids in Chicago.

When thinking about deaths of young people, it is important to consider the years of potential life lost, she said. "Every one of these 16,000 adolescents who died will never get married . . or contribute positively to society," Sheehan said. "We should be appalled that this many deaths happen to children this age, and we should be ashamed that these deaths occur disproportionately in certain populations."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100505...FyY3Jhc2hlc2xl

Here you can get a permit at 15..Restricted license at 16..Unrestricted at 17..and full license at 18. So basically its a pain and more money to get it that young. Alot of people, that I know anyways, just wait until theyre 18 to get the permit then you can go straight into license without the hassles. Of course it means you cant drive anywhere until then lol which alot of teens hate but I know myself I was NOT mentally ready to drive at 15 and I didnt. But here you can get a hardship license to drive at 14(like say if both your parents are handicapped and youre the only ride etc)

I think eventually its all gonna be the same but Im thinking their gonna have a hard time on the age. 25 is way to old to be the MINIMUM geez...

Here it is a permit at 15, drivers license at 16 with restrictions untill I believe 17.

18 years old??? I didn't turn 18 untill after I graduated highschool. That's a little ridiculous. Some kids have so many school functions and a job going on and with parents working etc.. it is a great help for the child to be able to drive to help out with their commute.

I know it was nice here a couple times when I sent my DD into town to the grocery store to pick up some things!!

I do not let my DD drive in the city, we live around small rural towns.

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Breezin I say yes, because even though where they live may be rural, that doesn't stop them from driving in a city at 14 years old -- and at 14 years old, I know I didn't have the maturity/experience to make the best decisions...

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That is where "parenting" comes in ... instead of the Goverment making LAWS to control all the people because of 1% - 2% that do not behave responsibly.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

That is where "parenting" comes in ... instead of the Goverment making LAWS to control all the people because of 1% - 2% that do not behave responsibly.

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thanks!

pretty soon the government will be in control of when we take a piss

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

That is where "parenting" comes in ... instead of the Goverment making LAWS to control all the people because of 1% - 2% that do not behave responsibly.

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I disagree maturity comes with age/experience, not parenting.

At 14 odds are it's more likely that 1-2% of the population are mature enough and 99% aren't.

I don't know how much it's changed since I grew up but here it was a permit at 16, a jr license ( could drive to work and home only) at 17 and a full license at 18 -- I grew up and still live in a suburb, to get to anything you have to drive -- just because it's inconvenient doesn't mean that public safety should be cast aside.

yes, 14 I believe is way to young to drive, but here at 15 with a drivers permit, they can only drive with an adult licensed driver, then they get there drivers license at 16, and then there are still restricted to have only 1 passenger, if more than 1 then there has to be an adult licensed driver in the vehicle also, plus there is curfew for driving so they can't be out after midnight or before I think 5 in the morning(unless proof of driving to and from work etc.). By the age of 17 these restrictions are lifted, then they can drive like normal.
I just think that not letting them drive untill 18 is a little much, I didn't turn 18 untill 2 months after I graduated.

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yes, 14 I believe is way to young to drive, but here at 15 with a drivers permit, they can only drive with an adult licensed driver, then they get there drivers license at 16, and then there are still restricted to have only 1 passenger, if more than 1 then there has to be an adult licensed driver in the vehicle also, plus there is curfew for driving so they can't be out after midnight or before I think 5 in the morning(unless proof of driving to and from work etc.). By the age of 17 these restrictions are lifted, then they can drive like normal.

I just think that not letting them drive untill 18 is a little much, I didn't turn 18 untill 2 months after I graduated.

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These are similar to the rules here ... 15 - permit w/adult at all times
16 - extended permit - no passengers, curfew 11:30pm -5:30am
17 - extended permit - 1 passenger, curfew 12:30am - 5:00am
18 - fully licensed driver.

See how much driving experience they can aquire [u]with supervision[u] rather then just realeasing them onto the highways.. Alot of 18 yrolds need to mature as well ...

also, how many times do you feel like yelling out the window at full grown adults (30 yr. olds or so) asking them where in the hell they got there license from? LOL

Even if the law did permit them to be able to get there license at 14, it can still be the parents decision on wether to allow them to or not, you can simply tell the child no, that they have to wait untill they get a little older and more mature... You as a parent, know when your child is perhaps mature enough to handle driving.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Alot of 18 yrolds need to mature as well ...

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absolutely true -- but a lot more 14/15 year olds need to mature before getting behind the wheel...gosh my son is 15 a great kid, and I'm in no way an over protective parent (normally) but I'd like to put him off driving as long as possible.

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Originally Posted by jasmine

Even if the law did permit them to be able to get there license at 14, it can still be the parents decision on wether to allow them to or not, you can simply tell the child no, that they have to wait untill they get a little older and more mature... You as a parent, know when your child is perhaps mature enough to handle driving.

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but honestly how many would?

But this law takes the decision out of the hands of the parents ... and into the hands of the goverment.

I have a fourteen year old. He could ( if it applied here ) get a permit at 14 - it is my call to say NO. If his grades are good and he proves he is responsible thru the summer he *might* be allowed his permit when he turns 15. This means that he only drives with a responsible adult in the car - my choice of adult - mom, dad, aunt becky. Disobedience results in loss of car keys. He will be riding the bus to school until at least his Junior year ... my decision - the parent. NOT "Big Daddy" Goverment.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

But this law takes the decision out of the hands of the parents ... and into the hands of the goverment.

I have a fourteen year old. He could ( if it applied here ) get a permit at 14 - it is my call to say NO. If his grades are good and he proves he is responsible thru the summer he *might* be allowed his permit when he turns 15. This means that he only drives with a responsible adult in the car - my choice of adult - mom, dad, aunt becky. Disobedience results in loss of car keys. He will be riding the bus to school until at least his Junior year ... my decision - the parent. NOT "Big Daddy" Goverment.

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It is up to the gov't to make laws in the best interest of public safety.

You have rules like that in your home, but there is no guarantee that the majority would take your stand. (and imho most people don't)

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Originally Posted by Breezin

absolutely true -- but a lot more 14/15 year olds need to mature before getting behind the wheel...gosh my son is 15 a great kid, and I'm in no way an over protective parent (normally) but I'd like to put him off driving as long as possible.

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Here I believe it is 15 1/2 for a permit and 16 for a license. I am currently teaching my 14 y/o how to drive. Flame me if you want but she is very responsible and when she goes to get her license she will be confident/practiced enough to be safe(r).

I started driving when I was 11 yrs old. I grew up in rural NW TN and for the most part I only drove on the back roads.

As for maturity not being based on parenting...in a big part it is. A child's maturity is mostly based on the responsibilities a parent gives their child. A child that has little or no responsibilities will most likely not mature at the same rate as a child that has more responsibilities in their life. Especially those children that are not made to take responsibilities for their actions. I taught my children at an early age that for every action there was a consequence, whether good or bad.

Alot more old people scare me driving than teenagers lol. Maybe they should look at that!

My son got his license at 16. He went to school, then work everyday. Bought his first new car at 17 and paid for it himself. I feel it should be the parents choice.

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It is up to the gov't to make laws in the best interest of public safety.

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How many people are resisting the proposed ban on cell phones and texting while driving ?? It "interferes with their rights"...

How many people resist restrictions of older drivers - who can be quite dangerous - but wait they can vote and have a powerful lobby

How many people drink and drive ... by your reasoning we should outlaw booze - wait, tried that - didn't work out so well....


BTW- the 1% or 2% i was refering to was the PARENTS who don't usually let a 14/15 year old drive.... not the kids themselves.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

How many people are resisting the proposed ban on cell phones and texting while driving ?? It "interferes with their rights"...

How many people resist restrictions of older drivers - who can be quite dangerous - but wait they can vote and have a powerful lobby

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People resist laws all the time, doesn't mean that we shouldn't have them.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

How many people drink and drive ... by your reasoning we should outlaw booze - wait, tried that - didn't work out so well....

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By my reasoning, we should have laws that make drinking and driving illegal, by your reasoning it should be up to the person or person's parent whether or not they should drink and drive.

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Originally Posted by stresseater

Here I believe it is 15 1/2 for a permit and 16 for a license. I am currently teaching my 14 y/o how to drive. Flame me if you want but she is very responsible and when she goes to get her license she will be confident/practiced enough to be safe(r).

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Point in case, there are people out there no matter what the law is, won't follow it -- it is a parent's responsibility to teach children they are not above the law -- if you can break it by letting her drive at 14 what is to stop her from breaking the law?

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Originally Posted by tngirl

I started driving when I was 11 yrs old. I grew up in rural NW TN and for the most part I only drove on the back roads.

As for maturity not being based on parenting...in a big part it is. A child's maturity is mostly based on the responsibilities a parent gives their child. A child that has little or no responsibilities will most likely not mature at the same rate as a child that has more responsibilities in their life. Especially those children that are not made to take responsibilities for their actions. I taught my children at an early age that for every action there was a consequence, whether good or bad.

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Again I disagree, being responsible and being mature are two different things.

You can be a very responsible kid, but you are still a child with a child's perception of the world -- and immature.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

How many people drink and drive ... by your reasoning we should outlaw booze - wait, tried that - didn't work out so well....

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By my reasoning, we should have laws that make drinking and driving illegal, by your reasoning it should be up to the person or person's parent whether or not they should drink and drive.

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My point was that people ignore the law. Bad analogy ... it was late and I was tired.

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Point in case, there are people out there no matter what the law is, won't follow it -- it is a parent's responsibility to teach children they are not above the law -- if you can break it by letting her drive at 14 what is to stop her from breaking the law?

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There is not law prohibiting you from teaching your child to drive on private property at any age. But if we don't start teaching them early - and that is the purpose of a permit - then you are releasing a lot of inexperienced, immature drivers onto the road.

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How many people are resisting the proposed ban on cell phones and texting while driving ?? It "interferes with their rights"...

How many people resist restrictions of older drivers - who can be quite dangerous - but wait they can vote and have a powerful lobby

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But your point was the SAFETY issues involved ...

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People resist laws all the time, doesn't mean that we shouldn't have them.

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My point it they are targeting a group that is statisticly LESS dangerous then those above ... but since they don't VOTE

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

My point was that people ignore the law. Bad analogy ... it was late and I was tired.

Yes people ignore the law, does that mean there shouldn't be any?



There is not law prohibiting you from teaching your child to drive on private property at any age. But if we don't start teaching them early - and that is the purpose of a permit - then you are releasing a lot of inexperienced, immature drivers onto the road.

Let's be serious for half a second here how many people really have enough property to teach a child how to effectively drive a CAR, not a piece of farm equipment, well enough that it would be considered real road experience, with other drivers?


But your point was the SAFETY issues involved ...

and your point is?? all of those things are safety issues, people resist laws like that all the time and they still get passed, voters or not.





My point it they are targeting a group that is statisticly LESS dangerous then those above ... but since they don't VOTE

But they've passed laws against cell phones and texting

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Perhaps it's time to just agree to disagree :)

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Originally Posted by Breezin

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

There is not law prohibiting you from teaching your child to drive on private property at any age. But if we don't start teaching them early - and that is the purpose of a permit - then you are releasing a lot of inexperienced, immature drivers onto the road.

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Let's be serious for half a second here how many people really have enough property to teach a child how to effectively drive a CAR, not a piece of farm equipment, well enough that it would be considered real road experience, with other drivers?

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We live in a rural community ... people tend to use church store parking lots "after hours" - you have space, few people and built in "obstacles" and painted lines for "roads" and parking

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Perhaps it's time to just agree to disagree

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But what is the fun in that ??? :rofl: :flowers:

ok, considering I live out in the sticks..... call us hicks, what ever you like LOL

but we have LOTS of back roads, lots of people teach there kids to drive

Back to the original point ... why does the Federal Goverment need to take over a STATE designation ?? Why don't they concentrate on enforcing EXISTING Federal laws .... like the ones covering Immigration ??

Cause we all know what a National Crisis underage drivers have become ??

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Originally Posted by Breezin

Point in case, there are people out there no matter what the law is, won't follow it -- it is a parent's responsibility to teach children they are not above the law -- if you can break it by letting her drive at 14 what is to stop her from breaking the law?

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Maybe it teaches her that not all laws are based on common sense. It doesn't take much common sense to realize what a bad idea it is to cut loose thousands and thousands of drivers on the general public who have only been driving for a little while unsupervised.

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Originally Posted by Breezin

Again I disagree, being responsible and being mature are two different things.

You can be a very responsible kid, but you are still a child with a child's perception of the world -- and immature.

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I disagree with this as well, kids become mature with responsibility.

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Let's be serious for half a second here how many people really have enough property to teach a child how to effectively drive a CAR, not a piece of farm equipment, well enough that it would be considered real road experience, with other drivers?

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I have 52 and 1/3 acres. MORE than enough room to teach a child how to handle a vehicle in a vast array of situations. You know what they say about people who assume, right?

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Originally Posted by Breezin

Again I disagree, being responsible and being mature are two different things.

You can be a very responsible kid, but you are still a child with a child's perception of the world -- and immature.

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Dang! I wish I had known that when I was 14, working to support myself, living on my own and going to school. Or hey, what about when I was 17, working to support myself, living on my own, paying my own medical bills and had to pay for a bus ticket for my mother to travel to where I was to sign papers giving permission for me to have a surgery that I was paying for on my own. Yeah, I had a lot of responsibilities...dang, how immature was I?:rofl:

Have you ever looked up the definition of maturity? You can take 2 kids raised in 2 separate circumstances. One is mature and one is immature. The reason? The mature child was raised to be responsible while the immature child was raised with none.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

Back to the original point ... why does the Federal Goverment need to take over a STATE designation ?? Why don't they concentrate on enforcing EXISTING Federal laws .... like the ones covering Immigration ??

Cause we all know what a National Crisis underage drivers have become ??

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Because the Federal Government is busy trying to take away ALL STATE RIGHTS. How else can we be controlled?

I think that is ridiculous, I would go for stricter testing, but 16 is a fair age for driving. At 16 I took college classes and worked after school and on weekends, I live in a rural community where I couldnt take public transportation, without being able to drive I wouldn't have been able to do any of that. I went thru drivers ed, and took defensive driver classes, maybe they should make it a prerequisite but I could not imagine not being able to work because I couldnt drive to work

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Originally Posted by tngirl

Dang! I wish I had known that when I was 14, working to support myself, living on my own and going to school. Or hey, what about when I was 17, working to support myself, living on my own, paying my own medical bills and had to pay for a bus ticket for my mother to travel to where I was to sign papers giving permission for me to have a surgery that I was paying for on my own. Yeah, I had a lot of responsibilities...dang, how immature was I?:rofl:

Have you ever looked up the definition of maturity? You can take 2 kids raised in 2 separate circumstances. One is mature and one is immature. The reason? The mature child was raised to be responsible while the immature child was raised with none.

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I completely disagree, you can have 2 kids raised in completely the same circumstances and they one us mature and the other not, and more often than not it's the kid who was given too much responsibility that rebels.

You'd also be hard pressed to find many 14 year olds working to support themselves. Talk about the typical 14 year old.

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Originally Posted by stresseater

Maybe it teaches her that not all laws are based on common sense. It doesn't take much common sense to realize what a bad idea it is to cut loose thousands and thousands of drivers on the general public who have only been driving for a little while unsupervised.

I disagree with this as well, kids become mature with responsibility.
I have 52 and 1/3 acres. MORE than enough room to teach a child how to handle a vehicle in a vast array of situations. You know what they say about people who assume, right?

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so you don't have to follow laws you don't feel follow common sense so if the posted speed limit on a road is 30 and you feel that is silly you can go 60 ??

If you had 100 acres it still wouldn't give real driving experience with lights traffic and other crazy drivers to think otherwise is kind of silly.
AND P.S. I didn't make ANY assumptions -- what I actually said was "Let's be serious for half a second here how many people really have enough property to teach a child how to effectively drive a CAR, not a piece of farm equipment, well enough that it would be considered real road experience, with other drivers? " -- I didn't say that no one has that much property

You don't start driving lessons by dropping them into downtown L.A. or Midtown NY - you start with the simple stuff and work your way up. The differences between a rural community and an urban setting ... something you seem to refuse to recognise.

And - again - it is a case of the Federal goverment overstepping into States perogitives... something esle you refuse to recognise.

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Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge

You don't start driving lessons by dropping them into downtown L.A. or Midtown NY - you start with the simple stuff and work your way up. The differences between a rural community and an urban setting ... something you seem to refuse to recognise.

And - again - it is a case of the Federal goverment overstepping into States perogitives... something esle you refuse to recognise.

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But driving on a 52 acre piece of land is also not real life driving experience To say Ive been driving since I'm 13 but it's all been on private property means very little anyone can turn the wheel and hit the gas/brake pedals but it's dealing with other drivers. Name me a single state that is 100% rural??