Legal Driving Ages

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1241Penguin

1241Penguin

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Where I live, in British Columbia, you have to be 16 years of age or older before you can get your drivers license. Me, being a car lover, have always counted the years before I can get my license.

This is a topic that I would like to discuss. Here's some questions to get started:

1) In your opinion, should drivers be able to get their licences sooner, provided that they pass their tests with a higher mark?

2) Should drivers also have to take part in a high-speed test, where they do J-turns, Scandinavian-flicks, etc.? Just for the sake of safety, especially in Canada, with lots and lots of snow.

Personally, I'm good with current legal age in BC. Based on the people in my school, if they drove when they were only 15, the number of crashes would increase significantly.
 
In Norway the age or older before you can get a drivers license is 18...

And I think it should be at least 18.. Maybe 20...
There are too many, literally, stupid and wreckless drivers out there.

And statistics show that most crashes (70-80%) in speeds over 40 KM/h are made by 18-21 year olds...

So yeah, a higher age limit would be good considering safety on the road.
 
In Australia you can get your L's at 16. I think that we need to teach teens about cars and driving at a younger age like 13. The younger we start educating kids about driving the better.
 
Well, you can get your license at 17 here, but your parents will have to ride with you at all times until you turn 18. That's when you'll get your full license.

Doesn't make much sense to get a license with 17 if you still have to have a parent besides you. The government claims that it helps to prevent accidents of novice drivers, but really. It's utterly pointless, I guess.
 
In the US, each state has different rules about when your get your license and what restrictions you have.

In Oklahoma, you get your learner's permit at 15.5, but you have to drive with an adult until 16.
At 16, you get your full license. Then all hell breaks loose.

I wouldn't care when you get your license if they made the driving test harder. The driving test couldn't be easier here.
 
Here in NY, you can get your permit (DJ Class) at age 16 which I think is fair enough. You'll have to drive with an adult though. When you turn 18, you get your full license (D Class) on your birth date.

Thankfully at my school, they help you during the process of getting your license such as taking the test. They used to provide a car for you to take the driving test but not sure what happened to that step. Regardless, I believe its pretty fair with how early you can get your license.

..& as what they do with the safety procedures in Canada, I wouldn't mind if they did that in NY. Though we don't get alot of snow, it would be nice to introduce that here to prevent accidents from going worse than it would originally be.
 
In sweden its 18 years of age for driving regular cars. But you can drive "retarded" vehicles when you are like 15 years old. Those cars are called "A-traktor", and the speed is limited to 45 km/h. Basicly its regular older vehicles with two gearboxes, looking kinda funny:

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A regular volvo 740, that is modded to fit the regulations..

Another one..

epa_s.jpg
 
In BC, you get your learner's permit at 16 years of age. You have to stick with it for at least a year. With your learner's permit, you can only drive around at a specific time (5 AM - midnight). You also have to have a "licensed adult" with you, and they are the only person that you can have as a passenger.

After a year, you can test for your N. You'll have to carry around your N for two years. I'm not too sure about its restrictions.

You need to correctly answer 80% of the 40 questions to get your learner's permit. I have a feeling that this is relatively easy compared to tests from other countries.
 
1241Penguin
Where I live, in British Columbia, you have to be 16 years of age or older before you can get your drivers license. Me, being a car lover, have always counted the years before I can get my license.

This is a topic that I would like to discuss. Here's some questions to get started:

1) In your opinion, should drivers be able to get their licences sooner, provided that they pass their tests with a higher mark?

2) Should drivers also have to take part in a high-speed test, where they do J-turns, Scandinavian-flicks, etc.? Just for the sake of safety, especially in Canada, with lots and lots of snow.

Personally, I'm good with current legal age in BC. Based on the people in my school, if they drove when they were only 15, the number of crashes would increase significantly.
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I think it's 16 all through Canada (I'm an Ontario resident).

1) Yes, I think they should be able to as they demonstrated superior knowledge.

2) Yes, it should be required.
 
In Malaysia, you have to be 17 years old to do the P test while you can do the test about 3-4 months before your 17th birthday. However, you're allowed to obtain a full motorcycle license when you're 16. That's why most of my friends go to school by riding a motorcycle. I'm not really a fan of it so I'll skip it and wait for my driving license.

Actually since I'm already 17 now I can get my license but in less than a month time I'm having an examination so I'll just wait until December.
 
InvincibleM5
In Malaysia, you have to be 17 years old to do the P test while you can do the test about 3-4 months before your 17th birthday. However, you're allowed to obtain a full motorcycle license when you're 16. That's why most of my friends go to school by riding a motorcycle. I'm not really a fan of it so I'll skip it and wait for my driving license.

Actually since I'm already 17 now I can get my license but in less than a month time I'm having an examination so I'll just wait until December.
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Because of my ADHD and Cerebral Palsy, I have to be accessed before I can go for my license tests. Which is a pain (basically doing everything twice) :banghead:.
 
16 for L's (hold for a year with a legal supervisor in the vehicle whenever you drive), 17 for P1's (Traditional white with red "P", hold for a year with no infractions; limited to 100kph; no turbocharged/supercharged or 8-cylinder cars), 18 for P2's (no plates displayed but all P1 restrictions still apply), 19 or hold your P2's for 6 months, whichever comes last.

That said I got my L's when we didn't have those restrictions and I only had to hold my L's for 6 months.
 
Go next door to Alberta and you can get a learners at 14. I live in Canada and there is no snow here, lol. As anyone who watched the olympics can also attest.

Since the age for consentual sex was recently moved from 14 to 16, I'd say NO! If they're not old enough to open their legs they're certainly not old enough to risk everyones life around them with a car.
 
LickitySplit
Go next door to Alberta and you can get a learners at 14. I live in Canada and there is no snow here, lol. As anyone who watched the olympics can also attest.

Since the age for consentual sex was recently moved from 14 to 16, I'd say NO! If they're not old enough to open their legs they're certainly not old enough to risk everyones life around them with a car.
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They moved it back to 16? Not in Ontario I think...
 
SGTR_2
They moved it back to 16? Not in Ontario I think...
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Moved it up to 16 not back. It used to be 14, I was shocked politicians would move it to 16 as they're usually the ones diddling their babysitters. I'm pretty sure it's a federal law and not a provincial one.
 
LickitySplit
Moved it up to 16 not back. It used to be 14, I was shocked politicians would move it to 16 as they're usually the ones diddling their babysitters. I'm pretty sure it's a federal law and not a provincial one.
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When did this happen? Because we learned in health class 2 years ago the age is 14.
 
In Costa Del Northern Ireland you can drive any bike under 125cc with L plates from the age of 16, start driving cars when your 17 and pass your test anytime after that and get your full license, but as soon as you pass your test (regardless of how old you are) and this is ONLY for N.I and nowhere else in the UK, you must display a red 'R' (restricted) plate for exactly 1 year after passing your test, and for that year you cannot exceed 45 mph and you can only get 6 penalty points in the first year or you loose your license
 
Fezz ST
In Costa Del Northern Ireland you can drive any bike under 125cc with L plates from the age of 16, start driving cars when your 17 and pass your test anytime after that and get your full license, but as soon as you pass your test (regardless of how old you are) and this is ONLY for N.I and nowhere else in the UK, you must display a red 'R' (restricted) plate for exactly 1 year after passing your test, and for that year you cannot exceed 45 mph and you can only get 6 penalty points in the first year or you loose your license
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I would rather have a system like that here. It'd reduce the amount of stupidity witnessed on roads here.
 
Yes, in theory it would keep stupidity down, but I think a lot of the youngsters over here think the 'R' means Race :crazy:
 
You know what place has an outstanding reputation for great drivers? The Nordic countries, specially Finland. That's outstanding:
In Finland, the car driver's training can be obtained either in a private driving school or given by a near relative who has a [driver's license]. If the person is trained by a relative, the relative must obtain a special instructor's permit and have a car fitted and inspected with an extra set of brake pedals for the front passenger. The training for B class license requires 15 hours of instructed driving, including a spell on a slippery driving course, and 20 theory lessons. After this, the person must pass a computerized theory test and a driving test in city traffic with a minimum length of 30 minutes. C class training is similar, but longer.
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In Canada it's 16. But I really hate that they don't teach emergency car control skills to these youngsters. I mean, wouldn't everything be safer like that?
 
I don't think the age matters so much, it's the education/testing that matters. I went to an accredited driving school here in Ontario and it was an absolute joke. Spent most of my time on the road driving the instructor to the bank to pay his bills, or to get coffee, or to pick up his brother. We also watched a movie telling you what to do in various situations, and one of them featured a guy driving into a lake and then being abducted by aliens. My friends all had similar experiences. Then on my tests, I was only ever tested for about half of the things they're supposed to test for, and they even tried to cancel my G test because it was snowing. Snowing in January? No friggen way! I had to tell them that I had driven 20km in this same weather to get here and I wasn't leaving until they did the test. And if you fail you can take it again after 10 days or something like that. If you can't drive today, you still won't be able to drive 10 days from now. Maybe in 3 months if you go and take a course, but not 10 days.

Also, it was just because of when my birthday was that I did everything in the winter, but people can get their licence here and have never driven on snow. Then we wonder why there's a pileup every time there's a storm.

And once you have your licence, it's yours. You don't have to be re-tested again until you're ancient. When you're a brand new driver, you haven't had time to develop bad habits. If we re-tested at regular intervals, it would flush out the people who either had a joke exam or have developed habits they didn't have when they were first tested.

At the end of the day, driving has to be treated as a privilege and not a right, and it needs to be more difficult to get a licence. Then, people need to be checked every so often to make sure they still deserve to have their licence, and if they don't, they need to be re-educated or, in rare cases, banned. There's no reason we should have to make laws like cell phone bans or even have speed limits, these should just be common sense if everyone on the road were properly educated.

I also strongly agree that everyone should have to take an advanced driving course, or at least be taught advanced techniques by someone who has proven their abilities. If you have no idea what your car is capable of, you won't know how to react when something unexpected happens.

Sorry for the rant.
 
alexleighton
I don't think the age matters so much, it's the education/testing that matters. I went to an accredited driving school here in Ontario and it was an absolute joke. Spent most of my time on the road driving the instructor to the bank to pay his bills, or to get coffee, or to pick up his brother. We also watched a movie telling you what to do in various situations, and one of them featured a guy driving into a lake and then being abducted by aliens. My friends all had similar experiences. Then on my tests, I was only ever tested for about half of the things they're supposed to test for, and they even tried to cancel my G test because it was snowing. Snowing in January? No friggen way! I had to tell them that I had driven 20km in this same weather to get here and I wasn't leaving until they did the test. And if you fail you can take it again after 10 days or something like that. If you can't drive today, you still won't be able to drive 10 days from now. Maybe in 3 months if you go and take a course, but not 10 days.

Also, it was just because of when my birthday was that I did everything in the winter, but people can get their licence here and have never driven on snow. Then we wonder why there's a pileup every time there's a storm.

And once you have your licence, it's yours. You don't have to be re-tested again until you're ancient. When you're a brand new driver, you haven't had time to develop bad habits. If we re-tested at regular intervals, it would flush out the people who either had a joke exam or have developed habits they didn't have when they were first tested.

At the end of the day, driving has to be treated as a privilege and not a right, and it needs to be more difficult to get a licence. Then, people need to be checked every so often to make sure they still deserve to have their licence, and if they don't, they need to be re-educated or, in rare cases, banned. There's no reason we should have to make laws like cell phone bans or even have speed limits, these should just be common sense if everyone on the road were properly educated.

I also strongly agree that everyone should have to take an advanced driving course, or at least be taught advanced techniques by someone who has proven their abilities. If you have no idea what your car is capable of, you won't know how to react when something unexpected happens.

Sorry for the rant.
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That's perfect sir. That's just perfect. Just, amazing.
 
In Iowa its,
14 for driving with an adult,
16 for basically a full license (no driving roughly from 1am to 4am),
17 for a full license.

Some kids drive around at 14 by themselves like they have a full license and if the cops pull them over they just give them "warnings". Its fun to know your sharing the road with kids, when most of them barley know how to operate a car.
 
Hotel Soap
In Iowa its,
14 for driving with an adult,
16 for basically a full license (no driving roughly from 1am to 4am),
17 for a full license.

Some kids drive around at 14 by themselves like they have a full license and if the cops pull them over they just give them "warnings". Its fun to know your sharing the road with kids, when most of them barley know how to operate a car.
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That's a real danger. That's just endangering everyone and unacceptable.
 

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