if we raise the age to 18(which i'm against even though I will have 3 new drivers in the next five years in my family)
How will teens date?
How will they get to work?
How will they learn to drive so that when they turn 18 they will be "experienced".
How can we say "your old enough to get a job, pay taxes, be a parent, join the military and shoot people but not mature enough to drive!"?
Life is dangerous, people(teens included) will always be killed doing just about anything. We cannot legislate total safety and we shouldn't even try.
"How will they learn to drive so that when they turn 18 they will be "experienced"."
Put them in a driving school - Sears Point is good on the left coast we're talkin cheap with the potential cost otherwise - there are others - they can drive there own cars or "formulas" - whatever your pocketbook has -
Most city-dwellers don't *need* a car nor to know how to drive. It's a convenience and we're a lazy, gluttonous, obese society full of whining liberals.
A job is not like driving which can get you and others killed. You can start paying taxes as soon as you drop from the womb. Be a parent? So can 11 and 12 year olds if their bodies are matured enough. Drudge just had a story on one girl that young in the UK about a month ago. The military has standards: you have to be at least 17 (with parental consent).
Life isn't that dangerous by itself. Stupidity is dangerous. Teens don't need to be on the road after dark without justifiable cause (leaving work). Safety, especially with driving which is NOT A RIGHT, should be the first priority.
1. How will teens date?
Walk, bike, take the bus, parents take them.
2. How will they get to work?
See number 1.
3. How will they learn to drive so that when they turn 18 they will be "experienced".
Driver's ed, parents, learner's permit. (And there is a huge difference in maturity between 16 and 18.)
4. How can we say "your old enough to get a job, pay taxes, be a parent, join the military and shoot people but not mature enough to drive!"?
Easy: "You are old enough to get a job, pay taxes, be a parent, join the military and shoot people but not mature enough to drive."
5. Life is dangerous, people(teens included) will always be killed doing just about anything. We cannot legislate total safety and we shouldn't even try.
No argument there, but do you not see that life is also based on sound human judgement? Do you want someone driving at 10? 11? 12? 13? Of course not - so society decides on that age.