Posted on 05/19/2006 8:32:12 PM PDT by devane617
"At 10, I was driving a 1948 Farmall "C" tractor pulling Peanut trailers from the fields to the drying sheds"
Sounds like work, my first 17 hour day on a time clock was when I was 14, (busboy in a restaurant).
People probably said the same thing about you and me and other teenagers too when we were that age.
I could not reach the breaks on the tractor. However, all that was necessary was to close the throttle, especially if you had 14,000 lbs of peanuts behind you, and it was instant stop.
Some farmchildren do learn to drive early. True.
On the job training isn't working. :-)
And you carried your own supply of telephone books too?
How about a 51 Willy's Jeep.....in-laws still have one on their orchard....
The elderly can be bad, but I've seen worse among "mature" drivers as well. As a pedestrian, I was attacked twice by two different middle-aged men because I cost them a few seconds while crossing a crosswal,
I hit a lady one time going about 5 miles an hour. She was fine and moving around the whole time, but when the officer came, she kicked off some part that was already broken and then also asked my insurance company for buckoo bucks for "treatments."
Young people have less freedom and rights every year - this is just one more step.
Ed Kennedy didn't, but he got out of hot water though he should be in the drink himself.
Ted Kennedy didn't, but he got out of hot water though he should be in the drink himself.
That's pathetic of them. I don't know why people act the way they do behind the wheel sometimes. You can take two cars in the same place and have them drive to the same destination. one of them traveling at 80mph and the other at 55mph and there won't be a great deal of difference between them in arriving where they are going. For people to go nuts like that over a few seconds because someone is waling across the road is crazy.
A person who waits until 30 to get a license is going to suck too.
There's a whole lot of motorized scooters and dune buggies going through the neighborhoods here. Some you really have to watch out for.
My grandson is 12 and drives the haytruck when we're in Eastern Montana helping his Great Grandpa and I do the haying. He also hauls gear back and forth from the ranch to the field and does so on his own, sometimes as far as 5 miles away. It's all on private land so there's nothing that the law can or will do.
It depends alot on the responsibility level of the kid in question.
I raised two responsible drivers. I've got the grey hairs to prove it. But, I truly believe driving is a learned skill. Kids should be getting their permits earlier, maybe at 14, and then only allowed to drive with their parents. I have no problem with kids getting an unrestricted license at 17 or 18, as long as they've had two years experience with Mom and Dad. I mean, do you truly want kids learning to drive when they're away from home, in college or whatever? Yikes!
In my Florida neighborhood it was Golf Carts. They had the right-of-way and most drivers were 80+.
Yes, they would. You are right. My dad expected us to be responsible or else. We had to EARN the right to drive the car. It was always a battle, but I loved hearing the words, "I suppose" from my dad. One time though, my brother and I were going to a dance and hit my dad's boss' parked car. Needless to say, we were scared s---tless. We got out, saw there was no damage, and went on our way.
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