No, not the speed limit.....well, then again....
There is much talk these days about raising the legal age limit for beginning drivers from 16, 17, and even 18 (in a few states) to something more like 18 or 19 -- even 20, according to some lawmakers who feel such a move would eventually result in saving lives.
Upon hearing such news, anyone alive under the age of 20 will be furious, but anyone old enough to know better (say, 25 or older) will be happy to hear such talk. True, some congressmen and representatives are debating raising the age limit for beginner drivers in their state, as this cannot be a national or federal move. Their reasoning is based almost solely upon two factors: experience, and alcohol.
Sad to admit here in the US that drinking among teens is such a concern that raising the legal age for drivers is seen as an answer. Truth is, few 16 year olds today have the experience of responsibility and rational thinking on their side by that age. In fact, few 16 year olds have never had to think their way through anything more crucial that which friend to text next, as they watch their Tivo while playing video games. And to think that today's overly spoiled, and underly worked teens can get behind the wheel of a car (that Daddy has provided) and go spooling off, texting and talking all the time on their ever-present talkie device they can't live without.
Raising the legal limit would in fact save lives. No rational person is going to reasonably argue that point. Teens disproportionally have more accidents than middle age adults, and the reasons range from hormones (more risk taking) to stupidity (teens are just stupid) to drinking without control (OK, so adults are guilty here too unfortunately), and those factors, combined with little experience, results in lots of wrecks, tickets, and worse.
It is not being argued that all teen drivers are drunken, reckless idiots who careen aimlessly towards certain disaster. Not all. There are some who are sober, drive at a reasonable pace, and are just morons behind the wheel. One day they are driving slow, bolt upright, both hands on the wheel, using their turn signal going around a curve in the road, and after a few days or weeks of that, when comfort begins to take over, they become slouchy, careless, slack-jawed fools who have no sense of speed or direction. Tunes turned up to ten, seat in the fully reclined, fully lowered position, they speed down narrow streets, with that perpetual snide smile on their face, not having an idea of what they are doing. Truly dangerous, and truly needs to be changed.
Making teens wait until 18 or 19 (heck, let's go for 21) has tons of advantages, and no real disadvantages, except for their insipid whining, but they are going to do that anyway. But is raising the legal limit enough? Can we do more, or are there other ways to accomplish the same thing?
Another tactic would be this: make every teen pay for their own car, insurance, and gas. No, really. Pass a law that forces teens to put money into an account that is funded by direct deposits from their place of work. Once they have enough in the account to pay cash for the car, 6 months of pre-paid insurance, and enough left over for a full tank, then they can purchase a car.
This makes all teens find a job, actually work, and learn the value of a dollar. Just think what such a law would do to turn our present crop of rancid, self absorbed, spoiled brats. We would suddenly have a work force of snotty nosed teens who are motivated to work hard, save money, and learn how to do for themselves. The on-going premise of this plan is that after the initial purchase (which will take years to accrue), they still have to make insurance payments, repairs, and buy gas with the fund supplied by the direct deposit account. Mommy and Daddy's money is no longer available for use. The fact that millions would commit suicide if such a plan was actually enacted makes it all the more appealing.
Another plan would be for all high schools to ban any teens driving to school in private cars. And colleges nationwide should limit parking on school property with a private car to just juniors and seniors. Some colleges do in fact not allow freshmen to have a car (on campus) until they have completed 32 hours of work. Raise that to 80 hours and you're getting somewhere! Besides, if a college student can't walk a mile or two a day, they need to thank Nintendo and Twinkies for their atrophy and get off their butts and start exercising.
Nationwide, the legal age for beginner drivers needs to be raised, state to state, to at least 19, and in concert with that move, far more stringent driving tests, both written and actual, need to be put in place to make getting a license something the brain takes part in. One out of every 50 Americans die in a car wreck. Hundreds of thousands a year, and about half of those have alcohol involved. So why not raise the age limit? Why not take away the license of DUI offenders for 5 years minimum, with 1 year of jail time minimum to boot? Why not?
A big reason why this is not happening, is because YOU, the public, are not yelling at prosecutors and judges, demanding that sanity be brought back to our roads. So, write your congress, representatives, chief of police, et al and make your voice heard.
And teen Johnny or Susie can just cool their jets, work a little, and save up for their first heap awhile longer.
Yeah, right.
