Recently in Autoweek there was an article about Graduated Drivers License (GDL) thats shows that more teens are waiting to get a Drivers License. The editors of Autoweek have placed the article online for all. Teen driver safety: The GDL Kickback Now I do not have any kids so this is not a pressing issue to me at first glance but if we dig a little deeper it does effect all of us, children or no children. For me one of the rights of passage was going to the DMW on the date of my 16th birthday, passing the tests and then proudly showing off my brand new license to terrorize. The cars I had to drive at the time were some of most mediocre products the late 70's produced. I survived...even without airbags and the host of other protections now built into vehicles. Are we doing the latest generations of drivers a disservice with the GDL? As more young drivers forgo the privileged until later years to avoid all the restrictions are they also passing up the huge learning curve involved when first driving. We as a populace are only moving the learning to later years, is a 19 year old new driver any safer than a 16 year old?
I am more of the opinion that a better driver learning course be implemented not age requirement. Even a drivers defense as well as practical basic skills training on a track. And that the testing be done similar to getting a Pilots license. That means hours of experienced co driver before a solo. We can all attest to stories of really bad "older" mature drivers out there that should go back and learn from square one how to drive.
How about mandatory car control clinics and driver training? Not the silly classes we had in high school (Class of '85, here), but true car control clinics that are done at various tracks and venues. Make the drivers pay the cost. It should be part of the responsibility, just like insurance and gas. My dad said he quit worrying about me so much after I took a Skip Barber racing school in '87. He said my driving skills were such that I drove better than a lot of adults he knew.
My son was 18 before he got his license because he was living in Germany at the time and their program requires age 18 before you can get one. He was almost 18 when he came back to the states to live with me, and started taking his driver training that summer. In general - I don't think you can state that all 18 year olds are more mature than all 16 year olds and therefore make better decisions behind the wheel, nor can you say that all 18 year olds have better motor skills/eye-hand co-ordination and so on....however I think those terms are accurate for most kids. So yes, I would like to see the driving age raised and graduated. I think having an adult in the car madatory when you're 16 (or until you've proven to have the maturity and skills to "solo" as Nitro put it) could be a good thing. It could save the lives of those kids who get the new BMW convertible for their 16th birthday and kill themselves and 4 of their friends - as happened here last year. I'd be for that.....and yes, I'd be for mandatory car control clinics as part of the curriculum - definitely. I think the point that was missed by Autoweek is how many 16 year olds are not getting their license - voluntarily - it's just not the same rite of passage for them as it was for us. A lot of kids simply don't care about it anymore, preferring to let their folks squire them to soccer practice or whatever or hitching rides with friends, using city transportation or using their skateboards or bikes to get around. The cost of owning or even using a car has gone up so much that a lot of kids just don't see the appeal anymore. Also, they view cars as more of a means to an end than the end itself, they way it is/was for many of us *ahem* older folks. I also am all for madatory testing once you go over a certain age too, and refresher courses for those of us who have attained that age. I do see older folks who I think should probably not be behind the wheel, but until this country figures out how to support those folks with better public transportation, I'm afraid it's going to be the only way they can get around and live for a lot of them. Before you come down too hard on us tho, think about your own parents and realize that we're probably just doing the best we can, and give us a little room and a little extra patience, please. Some of us (I like to think of myself in that group) are still active, capable drivers with plenty of skills (as a couple of the younger members of our MINI club found out at the last go-kart get together) so it's not fair to make judgements based or apparent age or hair color (or lack).....any more than it is for us to judge the youngsters.
It is a given that for the most part the driver training requirements we have in the US, while they vary state by state, are for the most part terrible. Hence the popularity of programs such as the BMW CCA / Tire Rack Street Survival program. I have not looked into what the current requirements may be compared to when I took Drivers Ed in High School. Back then at my school the Football Coach also taught Drivers Ed. Three of us would pile into the vehicle donated by the local dealer and roam around with the instructor for 1/2 hour or so with all of sharing that time. More emphasis was placed on the classroom time than actual behind the wheel time. God forbid if during your wheel time you learned how to deal with a skid or other potential life ending issue. It would seem to me that many parents would think that if a child was taught the limits and how to handle them in a safe manner their own children would be out exploring these limits at every opportunity. Like many of you I learned the hard way. Bent a lot of sheet metal from 16-18. heck I wrecked three in a week once. Funny how all that stopped when I found and participated in Auto-X. IMHO what we really do need is a National standard for drivers education funded by the student. We cannot expect our public school system to train our teens reliably.
On another note: A girl I was dating once told me that 99% of the women drivers in this country were taught how to drive by men - their fathers, brothers, uncles, grandpa's or driver's ed teachers - so if I don't like the way women drive, we men only have ourselves to blame! There's a lot of logic in what she said, but honestly! I realy doubt any man taught a woman that cranking the rear view mirror around and applying lip gloss, mascara or whatever while steering with your knees and texting your girlfriend at 80 mph while weaving around in rush hour traffic is the right way to pilot your Toyota! I also seriously doubt that any man taught his honey to enter the highway, dive for the left lane and park there at 20 mph under the speed limit till she see's her exit, then dive across 4-6 lanes of traffic without checking the mirrors, all while blithely chatting away with a girlfriend or two on the cell either! So, men may have taught them the mechanics of how to drive, but I think they added those little specialties all on their own! I think women are the worst drivers on the road, and young women are the worst of that group! Women may have fewer accidents than men (although that statistic is rapidly changing) but I think women cause most accidents, with their timid, tentative, frightened and unskilled car control. So how did they get that way, and why aren't men taking an active role in improving their wives, girlfriends, mothers or sig other's skills? For my own case, I was instrumental in teaching my current wife many of her skills and habits behind the wheel when we were both a lot younger, but today - she willl no more listen to "advice" from me than from the man in the moon! I've tried to interest her in doing an HPDE - I think she would really enjoy it - and I think she would take direction from a stranger that would only piss her off if it came from me, but so far no go. So men, if we want our female SO's to be better drivers, how do we accomplish it?
I totally agree with that. Same training here, high school gym teacher let you drive, once he realised you had driven before it was the end of your seat time. Then came all your friends, you had to drive, hold a beer and smoke a cigarette while pulling off the highway onto a turnabout. Back then, 77 you have no DWI penalitys or really anything for that matter. But the first stickshift car and some autocrossing brought all that around. Yes, they had autocross back then, lol.:cornut:
I was 18 when I got my license (parents rule). I didn't care... all my friends had cars and drove me around But if they didn't have their licenses... well, then that would have sucked!!!!! :cryin:
I got my license right before my 19th birthday before I started college. My boyfriend drove me everywhere in high school, or my parents. I waited until I got a job and could pay for the insurance, my mom's 12 year old civic was my graduation present. I didn't have time for, nor want to have, a job during high school. I did get my permit when I was 16 though and drove with my parents for those 2 and a half years. I wrecked the car once, about 6 months after i had my license. I don't think 16 or 19 would have made a difference - the experience does. I also think having a car that you feel comfortable driving and feel like you can control makes a huge difference. I feel much safer in my MINI than I ever did the civics and accords I have driven - I never really felt like I was the one driving them. More like riding in them and trying to steer. Ps. You might want to watch what you say about women drivers in general
I grew up driving tractors and trucks on the farm... in situations where you could absolutely kill someone if you did something stupid. I still do stupid things now occassionally (minimark witnessed one), but starting young in a controlled environment was absolutely an advantage for me that very few kids have now. I'm taking my kids to an on-track car control course as soon as they're old enough. Good one at the BMW facility in SC. Kids need to learn what "out of control" feels like... and understand just how easily it can happen if they're not paying attention... One thing that's still lacking is zero-tolerance policies for infractions by young drivers. Park out in front of any high school during lunch hour and just watch the chaos. It's terrifying. If the idiots immediatly lost their driving privs for 6 months on the first stupid tire squeeling fishtailing speeding offense (as in, the officer says "give me your keys"), learning might occur.
Like Blimey, I was driving things around the farm at the age of 9, old beat up VWs around gravel pits in my early teens, stock cars on country back roads, and I got both my learners permit, and my drivers license on my 16th birthday. The fact I'm alive today is pure luck, even though back then I figured I was invincibleut:. Mark
Overall, I suspect that an 18 year-old is going to have somewhat better judgement than a 16 year-old. However, I think training would be a much more important factor. I'm all for skid-pad training, as they do in Finland. Handling traffic, and training on what not to do while driving (texting, makeup, cel phone, etc.) is also important. Got my first car at age 15. It was a purchase of opportunity (used Alfa Romeo), and a bribe to keep me from buying a motorcycle. My Dad frequently took me to a dead-end private road with speed bumps were I could drive without a license (at 5-15 mph). It allowed me to learn the clutch, and get a feel for where the right side of the car was. Essentially, a very slow intro to driving. By the time I got my learner's permit at 15 1/2 I had a good sense of the car. In CA a learner's permit requires an adult to be with the driver. I was comfortable enough with the car that I could concentrate on traffic. At 16, I'd been driving in Los Angeles traffic for quite awhile and was ready for a solo license. My brother was not so eager to start driving as I was. When he got his leaner's permit, he'd never driven a car. So, he had all of the acclimation to handling the machine to deal with. Dad was a little impatient with his wanting to stay on quiet side roads and pushed him into driving on Sunset Blvd. (West LA). He got flustered and turned left into oncoming traffic. Totaled the car, but no one was hurt. The point of all this is that the amount of training is what's important. Getting a 15 year-old into driving very gradually is, IMO, more desirable than putting an 18 year-old into a car with little training.
The way kids soak up things, they should begin training while they are in their early teens. This whole "oh, you're 15, now we will teach you haw to drive..." thing is a bit ridiculous. I was handed keys by my dad when I was 12 or so and he taught me the basics very early on. By the time I was 15, I was ready and had a bit of time under my belt, but like the others, we had access to farm areas and that type of thing away from traffic and craziness like we have here in Atlanta today.