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PartyBullshiit
March, 2024

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I will hang for saying this, but....

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SkiMN
Posts: 4005 - Karma: 38
We need to raise the driving age to 18. Start the permit program at 14 like most states do now, but I don't know any people who are ready to drive at 16. To keep the following rant in perspective, I'm 17 years old. I have not been caught speeding once cause I'm to pussy to do more than 8 or 9 over. I did hit a mailbox once, and I've almost fucked up badly twice. I do not exclude myself from the following rant.

I hit a mailbox and almost t-boned a Ford at an intersection I use every day. I have a fried who drives a blazer that he thinks is roll proof. (he will probably read this, good, cause I'm not gonna help tip it back over) I know a kid who rolled twice in the same spot, on two separate days. I can go on and on.

You get behind the wheel alone for the first time and it feels great. We've all been there. Nothing can stop you, and its all totally safe. You'll never crash, get pulled over, die, all you know is that you have freedom on a whole new level. Great. Now wait until you have that close call, then reality sets in. To overuse an ol drivers ed line, your sitting on a time bomb.

I thought I was a great driver. I've had a few little reminders lately that I'm not. The only, and I do mean only thing that makes you a good safe driver is experience. Exposure to driving (ie permit driving) and some common sense that comes as you pass through the raging hormones that are your teen years, can help you get that experience and live to tell about it.

For way to many teens, it takes a close call, or a tragedy, to really drive home what I'm talking about here. Most people simply aren't mature enough for the responsibility involved in driving. You can do more than hurt yourself, but other people too.

Driving is your first test. You really have to be an adult to pull it off, but theres a problem. At 16, you're anything but. If you're like most of my friends your just a walking boner with a lead foot, and I've heard way to many girls actually say "Do I really have to stop at stop signs?". Not gonna saw which sex is better behind the wheel, but ego has a lot to do with it.

Aight after some random, unorganized thoughts I'm gonna sit back and hopefully some intelligent discussion will materialize so I can keep going with this. I'd like a CIVILIZED discussion of the topic and those who are still waiting for that first set of keys are also welcome to voice their opinions.
Oct 23 2007 11:27PM
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titsLOL
Posts: 7485 - Karma: 396
maybe for the first 16 years of kids lives we could just teach them not to be retards that'd make everyone much better off.
Oct 30 2007 11:23PM
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leckett1
Posts: 6476 - Karma: 294
Well most new drivers want to test the abilities of the cars they drive. They grew up with their parents driving like pansies and now they want to see what it's like to drive fast for a change. I did that for about the first month of having my liscence. Now that I've been driving for a while, I don't feel the need to do so anymore. Sure I do it once and a while just for fun I will floor it coming out of an intersection. But I try to take care of my car a little bit. I don't slam on the breaks, I come to a steady stop. Last year we had to change the break pads AND disks on our car (just worn out) and we couldn't get the disks off. They were mushed so hard into the axle. Even the brute force of a crowbar with me and my dad pulling on the crowbar couldn't get it to move. So we had to take it into the garage and they took it off. So no more slamming on the breaks for me!...Unless someone runs infront of me.
Oct 31 2007 8:31AM
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spudz
Posts: 2564 - Karma: 5

Eh, yeah when your 16 you do dumb shit, but accidents are inevitable, you cannot control what will or will not happen to you. You just have to be ready..  Driving is awesome, i was dumb at one point but definatelly learned from everything that ever happened to me... so really you just have to be smart.. and btw SHIT ADDS up when you get a car.. tickets blow.

Oct 31 2007 12:01PM
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dangerdad
Posts: 2228 - Karma: 317
i feel like no matter if your 16 or 18 your gonna get in the car by yourself for the first time and have that same indestructible feeling. i feel like the only thing that makes responsible drivers is experience, but driving with a parent doesn't give someone the necessary experience. You wont feel the consequences of unsafe driving until you have been in an accident, had someone very close to you injured or killed by one, or gotten a ticket(this may not make you realize the true consequences but it will slow you down).

i feel like 16 is a good age, you aren't drunk as much as you are in college and therefore remove a portion of the risk.

Finally, having grown up in a rural place, my life literally would have sucked had i not been able to drive until i was 18. i would never have experience half the fun things i did, and i also wouldn't have been able to work nearly at all. Being able to drive was defiantly necessary.
Oct 31 2007 12:02PM
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DopeSauce
Posts: 1677 - Karma: 26
In new zealand the age is currently 15 to get a learners permit, then in 6 months you get a restricted licence meaning you can drive without anyone else in the car, then if you do a defensive driving course you can get you full in a year.  So 16 and a half to have a full licence.  BUT parliament just passed a new law last week that you now have to be 16 to even get your learners, so now the youngest person with a full will be 17 and a half.  It takes effect in May, my 15th birthday is july =( so I'm pretty much gutted.
Oct 31 2007 2:06PM
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megh
Posts: 92 - Karma: 16
i completely disagree with you. if the driving age is raised up to 18 some people will move away for college or university before they can drive. how are they supposed to get to their classes or to work?
Oct 31 2007 5:42PM
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anna*
Posts: 1701 - Karma: 10
i live in aus. just to clear that up first.
we have to be 18 before we can even go for the test to get our license to drive alone. (im 18 now)
you can legally start driving at 16, if you have a permit and a licensed driver is in the car next to you.

now, i got my license when i was 16, have been driving quite a bit since then (as in, a couple of hours a week on average) in different places, time, weather all that shit, having lessons etc...

a few weeks ago, i almost got t-boned in an intersection that i go through regularly. it wasnt my fault, the guy ran a red, but when i realized it would have been both my parents getting hit, and only dad telling me what to do in that situation that stopped it happening, it scared the shit out of me.

i get my license in a few weeks, but by no means would i have been ready to drive alone a few years ago. i have friends who think its cool to do 100 in 60 zones ( im using km/h) and get plastered then do burnouts. another one of my (female) friends thinks revving the hell out of her manual before she moves off is the best thing to do.

by no means do i think anyone would be ready to drive on their own at 16. it comes from experience, common sense and listening from someone thats been driving for a long time who can give you some advice.
Oct 31 2007 6:36PM
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midwestfreeski3
Posts: 141 - Karma: 11
I couldn't agree more.  I think raising the driving age to 18 would sve many young kids lives.  However the only real argument I can think of is transportation to and from work.  Kids start getting jobs around 16 and when they have to drive 10 min to get to work I cannot think of how they could do that without a license.  But beyond that I am totally for raisnig the driving age
Oct 31 2007 6:58PM
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