Special Treatment Behind the Wheel
Weighing in on teen-specific driving laws
September 1, 2014
Some of the Laws Make Sense
- A minimum of 50 hours of supervised practice driving during the learner’s permit stage, at least 10 of which must be at night.
I agree with the this law. I think that is the right amount of hours for day time, but they should increase the hours for night, to 16. Driving in the dark is harder, and more practice is needed.
- A prohibition on unsupervised nighttime driving between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. (11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday) during the intermediate stage.
I agree with this law about the curfew. It’s not smart to let teens drive past 11 o’clock, as driving gets tiring. Drivers need to be focused. If teens drive at night, it might cause a lot of accidents.
- A prohibition on non-emergency use of cellphones and other communications devices until age 19.
I agree with the this law; I think no one should be on the phone while driving, mostly teens. The driver gets distracted and could cause a car accident or, worse, kill someone.
- A prohibition on texting while driving for all drivers.
I STRONGLY AGREE with this law. Texting while driving is dangerous and a distraction that causes a lot of car accidents. It’s impossible to text and drive without losing complete attention of the road. It’s a leading cause of car accidents.
Some Don’t
- A three-stage licensing system beginning at age 15 for learner’s permit, age 16 for the intermediate stage, and age 18 for full licensure.
I disagree with the this law, I think the age for learner’s permit should be increased to 16, not 15, and the age for the intermediate stage should increase to 17. I think 15 is too young. 15-year-olds shouldn’t get their permits because they aren’t mature enough to drive, they are more likely to be distracted with their phone. Also they’re naive and irresponsible.
- A passenger restriction prohibiting more than one passenger younger than age 20 for the first 12 months after licensure.
I strongly disagree with the this law that restricts the number of passengers in a vehicle. I don’t agree with this law because I think teenage drivers should be allowed to have at least two people who are under 20.
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Tomasz Wojtasik • Sep 22, 2014 at 7:29 am
I think you make some good points in the first portion of the article, however I must disagree with the broad generalizations in the second part. When you say “15-year-olds shouldn’t get their permits because they aren’t mature enough to drive, they are more likely to be distracted with their phone. Also they’re naive and irresponsible”, you are unfairly categorizing all 15 year olds as naive and irresponsible. This is simply not true, as there are many 15 year olds that are already in college because they are mature and responsible enough to handle it, while many of their older peers end up dropping out because they lack the responsibility to stay focused. Albert Einstein wrote his “On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field” at the age of 15.
Many 15 year olds are mature and responsible individuals and to generalize them as naive and irresponsible is a logical fallacy.