drinking/driving age

[the simple life]

Where we live driving is a gradual thing.
For one, driving school is required and the parents of the teens have to attend a two hour course at the driving school as well.
The course explains all the rules regarding teens getting their licenses.
They can start their classroom driver's education hours at 15 and 9 months get their permit at 16 and they can get their license at 16 1/2 if they have completed driver's ed.
The driver's ed consists of 40 hours in the classroom, 20 hours driving with the instructor, 10 hours of observations of other drivers at the school and another 40 hours of parents and student's driving together.

Along with the two hour course the parents have to take.
Then you get your license and you are not allowed to have any passenger in your car unless its a member of your immediate family for the first 6 months of being able to drive.
That means no joyriding with your friends or even giving them a lift home from school, if you get caught, you lose your license, get your car impounded, and your registration is canceled and you are denied any car insurance for a year.
You also can't drive after 12:30 at night until you are 18.
I feel its fine for them to be driving at 16 since they have to work so hard to get there with all of the new regulations most of them are less likely to risk screwing it up.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

mom'sfolly :

On a related note, I'd like to see a mandatory national service period, like a draft, but including other types of service as well...military, Red Cross, something like the CCC, teaching in disadvantaged or poor areas, and other kinds of service.

Barack Obama is an advocate of this. If you are interested, you might consider adding your vote to his side come November.

Personally, I like the "staggered freedoms" approach. Too much freedom might equal a "freedom headrush." It's good to take things slowly, in my opinion.

I would be in favor of a special driver's license or ID allowing members of the military to drink if they are 18 as a reward for their responsibility and service to the country.​

 

[mom'sfolly]

I like the idea of everyone having to retake their driver's test every ten years. Personally, I think my MIL is a far safer driver than many between the ages of 20-30. It should be a hardship to do so.

On the drinking issue, I'm old enough to have been drinking legally at 18, when the drinking age was slowly moving to 21. In the town where I went to college there were two small liberal arts colleges, one dry, one not. The one I attended had beer at college sponsered events, a student run pub on campus and a valid ID was required to drink. The other college allowed no drinking. My school had little trouble with binge drinking, but the dry campus had large issues. By forcing the drinking underground, St O>>> created a monster, the only drinking was to excess, as quickly as possible, to avoid getting caught. Drunk driving was not an issue at either school, because they were also car-free campuses. Both schools also had no Greek system. Needless to say, due to changes in the drinking laws the college no longer serves beer on campus. But I find it interesting that it is college presidents calling for the dialogue on lowering the drinking age.

I think the drinking age was initially lowered in response to the draft for the Vietnam war. The argument was if they can be drafted then they can legally drink.

I think this country needs to come a long way in its tolerance for driving drunk. I have friends from Great Britian who are appalled by how casual most Americans are about having several drinks and getting behind the wheel. My friend once tailgated at a UT game; and said that he would never do it again. He watched people who had been drinking for hours just drive home. He felt that if anyone was serious about the problem, the police would have been just outside the parkings lot pulling people over..... so do you have four beers at a ball game and then drive home or do you stop at one?

I keep editing because I can't spell....sorry if I missed any.

 

[JennsPeeps]

I've been drinking illegally from a very young age: under my parents' strict observation. I still remember having a teensy glass of wine at Thanksgiving as a child and feeling so grown up.

When I went off to college drugs and alcohol were no big deal to me because they had no appeal.

My brother, who had been raised the same way, went hog wild. He's now 32 and told me the other day that pot & beer aren't as exciting as they used to be. Go figure.

I think that our case has as much to show about personal maturity as it does upbringing.

 

[TheOLDNewChick]

Stupid teens screwing things over for the rest of us...those of us who ARE responsible. For those of us trying to work, save up, learn about this whole "independent adult" thing, and move out, having the driving age raised to eighteen will make that a whole lot more difficult.

As far as the drinking age thing...if teens want to drink, they'll drink. Regardless of the laws. Seen it...done it. But that's where responsibility comes in, again. Some teenagers ARE responsible enough to drink, hold their own, and know when enough is enough. It's the stupid, immature kids that're screwing it up for the rest of us.

 

[CarriBrown]

I started driving at 16 and buying booze at 21, and I'm still alive and well. Why change if it ain't broke?

Heck, I know people weeelllll over 16 who shouldn't be driving!

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
My thoughts exactly!

 

[WriterofWords]

When I got my driver's license in NM the age was 14 years and 8 months. I was pulling my horse trailer all over the Southwest, and some to the East for my rodeo and shows. The drinking age in NM was 21 but 5 miles away in TX it was 18. Not long after TX raised it to 19, then the National age limit was 21, except on Military Reservations it was still 18. If a soldier can drink on Post at 18, fight and die at 18, then they should be able to anywhere. I picked up a lot of DUI/DWI accidents while on the Fire Dept. and most were not kids, they were mid 40s to 60s who thought they were old enough and experienced enough and of course they all drove better when they were drinking.
If you can vote, serve in the military, marry, and be considered an adult at 18, then it is not up to the Gov't. to tell you that they know what is best for when it comes to alcohol.

I think the three step licensure we have in NM now, start Driver's ed at 15, provisional at 16, fully licensed at 18 works well. If my son had to wait until he was 18 for a license he couldn't have his part time job because I'm not available to drive him to and from work all the time. I don't want to have to stop what I'm doing to drive him to the store for something he needs when he can drive himself. I don't let him drive in El Paso yet, only locally by himself since he is still 16, but it is legal for him to do so.

 

[WriterofWords]

Quote:
I agree there, should all of us over 40 lose our licenses because of so many over 40 drinking and driving?

 

[sweetcorn]

oldtimegator wrote :

Part of the problem with lower the drinking age to 18 is that an 18 years old's frontal lobe (brain) has not completely developed. This is the area that controls
impulsiveness. ..among many other things. They may WANT to be responsible...but many have difficulty related to their inability to make good decisions...

It's like putting a loaded gun in a 10 year old's hands...

If thats the case do we want them voting , applying for credit, bearing arms and deciding to get married at 18 ??

We need to pick a number be it 18 or 21 where kids are considered "legal adults " .

Just because they are high risk doesn't make it reasonable to forbid certain aged adults from performing adult tasks. Imagine the outcry of age discrimination if we said noone over 70 have can have a driver's license because the eldery have more car accidents??

Before 21 I was married, a mother, working and had my first home but could not legally drink a glass of champagne on New Years on my own couch. And I think my frontal lobe was just fine

Bad behavior should be prosecuted , drunk driving , public intoxication , etc but let " adults " be adults, whatever that age is going to be.​