When are teenagers mature enough to drive? Florida's thinking 17.
These are not the
words a teenager living in the sunny state of Florida wants to hear, but they could be assaulting his or her young ear
drums if a bill introduced in the Florida State Legislature is passed. HB 975 would require the state’s minimum
driving age to be raised from 16 to 17 years old. Rep. Irv Slosberg (D-Boca Raton) introduced the bill and states the
extra year would give teens more time to gain maturity needed for safe driving.While Inside Line does point out that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety performed a study that shows 16-year-olds were twice as likely wreck their rides as people 18 to 19 years old, this bill still has the stench of political grandstanding hanging overhead. Florida, however, already has a track record for imposing restrictive measures on young drivers, including one that restricts how late at night a driver under 18 can be out on the road.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lee 11:20PM (3/13/2008)
ok, i have a project due tomorrow and i need to get information on how 16 years old are mature enough to drive. I need facts to support me.
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Corey 7:13PM (2/22/2006)
"16-year-olds were twice as likely to get into crashes as people in the 18-to-19-year-old group."
Anyone else see a flaw in that analysis?
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Adam 7:21PM (2/22/2006)
Yes.
Correction:
The average 16 yeard old is twice as likely to get into crashes as the average 17 or 18 year old.
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md 7:25PM (2/22/2006)
"Slosberg was quoted as saying teenagers' brain development is not complete yet: "It's like trying to pour a gallon bottle of milk into a pint...they cant take in all that information.""
Exactly why are teenagers in high school then? Understandably, teenagers' brains are still somewhat underdeveloped, but some independence needs to be taught at some point. For instance, teens are given the responsibility of operating vehicles, yet are not allowed to choose what to do with their bodies or whether or not to attend school. These things are gradual. Suddenly turing 18 does not mean that yesterday you were immature, underdeveloped, and ignorant, and today you are prepared for independent decision making. The older you get, the less willing you are to accept guidance.
Honestly, the focus should not be on age, rather the training. Raising the age will do nothing but create the same inexperience if the driver's training is not reformed.
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Victor 7:31PM (2/22/2006)
Comment #1 -
I also saw the flaw when I first read the article. But, digging into the IIHS site, I found the mention that they are comparing 16 year old drivers vs. 18-19 year old drivers with similar # hours behind the wheel.
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2. How do teenage crash rates compare with rates among drivers of other ages? Teenage drivers have very high rates of both fatal and nonfatal crashes compared with older drivers. This is true whether rates are based on the total number of teenagers, the number with licenses, or miles driven. Both licensure rates and miles driven per license holder are lower among 16-19 year-olds than among drivers ages 20 and older (as a group), so when crash involvement is based on the number of licensed drivers instead of total population, the fatality rate for teenage drivers is even more extreme compared with older drivers. It is most extreme when crash involvement is based on miles driven.
Many teenagers die as passengers in motor vehicle crashes. Sixty-two percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2004 occurred in crashes in which another teenager was driving. Teenagers far exceed all other age groups in terms of per capita deaths as both drivers and passengers, but their fatality rates as passengers are much more extreme compared with those for older drivers. Among teenage drivers, 16 year-olds have by far the highest rates of teenage passenger deaths per licensed driver and per mile driven.
A 2005 Highway Loss Data Institute study reported that insurance injury claim frequencies and overall collision (vehicle damage) losses for cars insured for teenagers to drive are more than double those for cars insured for use by adults only.
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http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/teens.html#2
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Lucas 7:35PM (2/22/2006)
Funny, every week in the news you hear about an 80-100 year old driver in Florida crashing into the fruit market yet there has been no legislation regarding those drivers.
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Jason 7:42PM (2/22/2006)
Yeah, but 80-100 year olds don't draw as much attention to themselves because they're in a brown Buick rather then a '91 Mitsubishi with a spoiler the size of a surfboard, and 21" rims that cost more then the car.
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DaEMoN 7:51PM (2/22/2006)
I live in Italy. Here, to drive, you need to be 18 years old.
And what's interesting is that they did the same insurance reports based studies, finding that the 18 years old drivers were twice as likely to get involved into an accident than those who were 20 years old.
My point: it's not the young age which makes people crash, it's the newly found excitement of having a car and driving on your own.
And I think we can all talk by personal experience here, right?
So I guess it's pointless to raise the driving age from 16 to 17.
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eric01 7:52PM (2/22/2006)
New Jersey's driving age has been 17 for as long as I can remember. At least 15 years since that's when I got my driver's license.
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HemiDakota 7:53PM (2/22/2006)
How pathetic does that sound. I have eight children and none under 17-years old ever involved in a accident.
Here is something for you to watch - as I was told (San Diego area- locally only) you find the 'Village Idiot' drivers have something in common - FORD & TOYOTA owners of all ages maybe responsibility or be part of an accident. I had to laugh when I heard it since I use to own two Toyotas and a current owner of a Roush Mustang. Well, as I watched this pattern for two years now, of those who make mistakes, it is true that Toyota and Ford drivers are top of the list.
Among that crowd is the elderly and truck based vehicles (Ford) and Camry/Corollas owners are tose who do make mistakes more than any other brands. Now as an engineer, this maybe due to the fact there is more of these vehicles in the local area.
However, something to try in your area. LOL
Arizona
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Chris 7:54PM (2/22/2006)
Yeah, and the 80-100 also vote in much higher numbers than 18 year olds. It's called political suicide to go against the that demographic.
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Philip Dunlop 8:02PM (2/22/2006)
I have to agree with whoever made the comparison from one day being ignorant and irrational and the next being a responsible member of society. It's simplistic. 16 is the right age, as long as the education is in place. Here in Ireland the age is 17 and insurance costs are restrictive of anyone under 25 driving (even then it's a bit of a pinch - especially for males). The reason for this is that road death in this country is one of the biggest killers. However, we don't have any form of education. I think if 16 year olds were taught in school (as driving is as much a part of life now as voting or getting married or, indeed, drinking alcohol), it'd lower insurance prices and provide safer roads. I think giving people a sense of responsibility - especially if supervised - at a younger age, will inspire them to continue as they started off.
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Steve 8:55PM (2/22/2006)
Bottom line is that NO 16 or 17 year olds vote in Florida (unless they are filling out fake ballots for a Bush family member, but we're talking the average person here) but most 75 year old drivers have the right to vote. Raising the minimum driving age is politically easy, but it could be a major problem for a lot of 16 year-olds who need transportation for work or other commitments... like taking care of their half-blind 75 year old grandmother who doesn't like to drive anymore but will have to if there isn't an alternative.
Driver's education is essentially non-existant in these days in which schools can barely keep the lights on financially. Tough driving standards for EVERYBODY would be a real step forward but is politically impossible.
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Barry 8:59PM (2/22/2006)
I don't think raising the age limit makes any difference. Here in Holland it's 18 and I had to take lessons and a REAL writen exam and driving exam which is a real test and cost a lot to take (about 50 euro each time you take the writen and about 350 for the driving exam). If I remember there were 50 questions and you could only get 5 wrong.
I have also lived in the US for over 3 years and I had to get my US lisence and boy was that a joke! Answer some 35 of the stupidest questions I've ever come across, get 10 wrong and its all fine, and then drive around the block, and depending on your instructor the critiria might simply be to not hit anything, all in all taking a total of 3 minutes and 25 dollars to be a lisenced driver!
Don't get me wrong, the statistics show here that younger drivers a more prone to accidents than older drivers, but still, I think having a proper driving education is more essential than at what age you start learning.
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rip 9:00PM (2/22/2006)
Having gotten my license in New Jersey at age 17, I have no problem with a 17yo age requirement.
When I was 16, some of my friends in Pa. got their license. BFD. It's not like they got to drive much anyway, considering they had to borrow their parents cars. Either that or they were driving some hooptie deathtrap, since that is pretty much all you can afford from a part time/summer job at McD's.
Raising the age to 17 is sensible and not a big deal at all.
However, they should also require mandatory re-licensing of senior citizens. In fact they should require that everywhere.
And Lucas: the fruit market driving happened in Santa Monica, Ca. An 86yo man drove through a farmers market at high speed, bouncing off other cars and plowing through tents and people. He killed 10 and injured 63.
http://www.smmirror.com/volume6/issue8/ntsb_rules_on.asp
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Adam 9:09PM (2/22/2006)
I received my driver's license in NY, 12 years ago and it has always been 17.
As a current driver in Florida I agree with raising the age to 17 100%.
I also believe that anyone over 65 should be required to do a vision and driving test and then repeat at least every year.
I also believe that Florida should pass a law just like the one in NY stating that you can not drive and talk on the phone at the same time unless you use a speaker phone or hands free.
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Philip Dunlop 9:19PM (2/22/2006)
The handsfree phone-only law has been in force in ireland as long as mobile telephones have. Even the UK haven't brought it in yet. It's generally ignored by the Garda?hough.
A lot of people have said that they agree with the age being raised but without giving a good reason as to why. Doing so without a reason does strike me as a bit dumb.
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WillDaThrill 9:28PM (2/22/2006)
I'm thinking 18! Then they can be held liable for their stupidity. I do think they should be able to start training at 16-17 though, but not be allowed to drive on their own. They make so many restrictions on teenage drivers; to most teenagers, rules are made to be broken. Then when they kill a family of 10 (damn #9) because they were being stupid, the judicial system has to boggle wether to charge as an adult or minor. I say 18, I think they'll be better drivers when mommy and daddy can't bail them out of their troubles.
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JW 9:29PM (2/22/2006)
Im 18, but I agree with Florida, I think the more educated they are before they get behind the wheel by theirself, they might actually drive better. But no one is a perfect driver.
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Conner 9:48PM (2/22/2006)
I live in washington and am 15, but raising the age in florida to 17 wouldnt help because you really don't gain that much maturity between your sophmore and junior year.
I think ,like people mentioned earlier, that instead of spending money and resources on raising the age to 17 they should spend it requiring more practice driving and taking tests, and I admit there are some piece of crap 16 and 17 and 18 year old drivers but the large majority aren't (at least in washington) so instead of penalizing the larger majority with a year long wait they should make the drivers education longer and more extensive.
I agree 100% with making senior citizens get eye checks and "retake" drivers education when they turn 65. My grandma drives with two feet!
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