DEBATE: Should 16-year-olds be allowed to drive?

Arguments are always fun...
I'd first start out with the fact that I hate generalizations of any kind (including this one), so saying yea or nea to all 16yr olds isn't quite my cup of tea...it's an individual basis sort of thing. Really this age, in my opinion, should be losely based on what age an average person would simply have the physical capability of driving a car, from there we can do series of tests to determine on an individual basis who should/shouldn't be on the road. I didn't bother getting my liscense until about a month ago (I'm about 17 and a half now) but I was certainly mature enough in one sense to drive a car a long time ago. However, I didn't feel confident in my maturity 'skill' wise I guess you would say. Any person, no matter the age, is going to have at least some trouble when they first get behind the wheel, simply because it is new to them. Mistakes are bound to happen, and I have of course come in a few close calls in the past month of driving on my own, of course some of my own fault. Certainly there are 15yr olds out there with enough maturity (btw, to me there are several types of maturity) in one sense to drive a car with their friends and not do anything 'stupid' while there are plenty of adults that still don't make the brightest decisions while on the road. Teenagers of course are generally more accident prone, impressionable, etc. than others, but again there are also plenty that are just fine. I feel perfectly confident that I could drive around with friends without much of any trouble (this also comes from the fact that all my friends hold a great respect for me and would behave accordingly), but I know also that I am inexperienced, and as such should wait before driving other people around with me. I guess all I'm really saying is that it should be more case based than anything else.
As for a definitive answer to the question, hehe, I'm not going to give one :p . I wish I could, but there are so many factors. Cars allow teens to work (the reason I finally bothered to get my liscense was so I could work this summer at a bio-tech company that I certainly couldn't take the bus to or carpool with my dad to) and do a lot of other great stuff. I know quite a few friends who are perfectly fine drivers who need to drive in order to do the great stuff they do in the community (unfortunatly I also know some, for example one who has recently totaled his car and in the past caused other problems with his car, thankfully only involving his car and not people). Teens can be smart with a car, and they can be danged stupid with it too. It's sad, but I doubt college, what with the stereotype that college is a big drinking party type of place, makes for any better of a time to just start driving. Perhaps even worse? Mixing people completely new to driving and college parties might not turn out so well, but I dunno. Age stuff is wierd.
Anyways, it's been fun ranting...
I hope nobody takes offense, I like arguments, or at least civilized ones, because I like seeing more than one side of the story, unfortunaly that tends to make me a very indecisive person, which may be good sometimes, but bad other times. So...yeah...too many commas and elipses...:p

16 is way too young IMO...at 16 you're hormones are going crazy and also you're pretty immature. Some 16 yr olds might think they're playing a computer game or something. 18 is perfect i think.

And it can't be the ONLY way of getting around...there's always busses or trains.

Ireland was declared the number 1 most exxpensive country in all of europe (to live in) and Dublin is the 24th most expensive city to live in in the world. That's why I amn't driving, buying the cheapest car here would cost me around $4,000 (equivilant) and insurance for me, at my age, would be FROM $5,000 upward for one year. You guys get it easy.. I cycle into work everyday, and it is quite far.

I think 16 is ridiculous.
In fact, I think 18 is too early too.

If I imagine myself behind the wheel when 16, I see nothing but speeding, stupid risks, drinking and driving, and a whooole lot of crashes. lol.

When I got my license, I was 18.. and there still was a whooole lot of speeding, stupid risks, drinking and driving...some minor crashes too.

And someone said that he hates people generalizing;

What other natural indicator would you use in this matter, than age? They can't test every single person with a 'maturity test' of some sort can they? :D
But yes, obviously we're all different.

All I'm saying is that, the average 16 year old I see would be a risk to traffic safety anywhere. heh.

16's too early imo.. i know i would have been a sloppy driver at 16 for sure...

im 18 now, got my license in January.. took me a couple of month i think... so i took it in winter time with ice, snow and **** x)

anyway, 18 is still a 'low' age imo.. i know people at my age that doesnt drive responsibly.. but as paavo said, you cant test everyone 100%, so what else to do by going after age??

Here in Denmark they 'just' started some **** with the license is on 'test' for 2 years.. so they strike harder on the people with a new license.. The risk of loosing the license is bigger..

this is, in someway, a good solution to get a hold of the speeders etc.. but i also think the idea kindda sucks.. picture this: Im driving in my car, crashing into a dude because i ran a red light.. i loose the license, have to take it all over.. sucks.. But if my stepdad did the same.. he would just get a fine and a warning proberbly.. even though it the same OBVIOUS mistake of running a red light.. that has nothing to do with experience or whatever... now that is, in my oppenion so absurd because they made the law because 'young drivers lag of ecperience' .. well, of course they do.. theyre new drivers.. but a thing like this.. thats not 'experience' .. thats 'stupidity...

And i've heard that theyre lowering the 'allowed' speeding limit before you loose the license.. Now you can drive 70% faster than allowed without loosing the license (stille getting a fine).. they want it down on 23%... that means on regular roads here in denmark where youre allowed to drive 80 km/h youre not even allowed to drive 20 km/h faster... I admit that if the road is of good tarmac, just straight ahead and whatnot.. i drive at least 90-100 km/h.. doesnt anyone??

so i guess thats a 'fight' against the imature drivers as well.. allthough the business ppl here in denmark drive über-fast in their biig fancy cars too.. even thouhg theyre way over 30...

i guess its all about how big of a child you are inside.. som never stop loving the rush of driving 170 km/h...

Ok i'm back again, and I'd just like to share a few thoughts:

1. Immaturity knows no age limit. Hitting your 20-somethings or even thirty-somethings, doesn't just grant you maturity. If your not maturing, then you wont ever be mature.

2. Yes I, and other ones my age have no expierance driving. But no new driver would. And the only way I'll get that expierence is if I do drive. But I'm not gonna go driving in the big city 2 weeks after I get my licsence. I'd be scared to. And I live in a small town, so I don't have to worry about driving in the big city.

3. Just in my own defense of my own maturity, I have had quite a few comments from different people that think I'm between 18-20 before they find out my real age.

There are other factors that make me different than other 16 year olds, but I don't care to mention them. Anyways, my sister was 17 (I think) When she got her liscence, and she's a good driver now, and she can drive in the city (Though I prefer mom or dad to :-P) But she wouldn't be if she wasn't able to start as early as she did, (17 that is) And she wouldn't be able to drive the places she needs to now.

thats my point.. thats why one of the reasons i dont like the 2 years law they made.. how can you get experience by not driving?? and running a red light is NOT experience..

and ppl tell i me i seem like 20+ as mostly as well.. but thats not the point.. maturity has to have a 'limit' ... you cant tell on a every singler person if they can take the responsability of safe driving..

but surely i agree.. its has no limit.. but then again.. it has to have.. ehm.. x)

a bit offtopic, but the gecko took up driving in the cities and that..
I've got lots of friends that took their licenses in Espoo, my hometown (it's very much less of a city than Helsinki, where I live now), and they're still afraid to drive into the city. And not only afraid, but they suck at it. Being nervous makes you do stupid things in traffic. :D

I took my license here in Helsinki, just to not be afraid to drive inside any city. I also, as casual mentioned, took my license in the wintertime. Here up north it's a damn good thing to know how your car handles on icy roads and everything that comes with snow and winter regarding cars and handling of them.

Oh, and people talking about experience and nobody having it first, no matter what age...it's true, it's obvious really, but the point is that the older you get, the more experience you have of not having experience of some things.
You learn as you live further in life, that you need to slow down at times and not just rush into things, like you did when you were in your teens. Cybling mentioned hormones, and that's exactly my point. The state...the biological and mental state a 16 year old boy is in, is not suitable for the roads IMHO.
It's not all about how smart or 'mature' you are as a person, but the fact that the younger you are, the more you are 'programmed' to take chances, test your limits and so on...

Bah, you get what I mean. lol. :p

hear hear paav.. you horman dude you...

i took my license in a, kindda big city too btw.. figured it was nice to learn while you had a dude with extra brakes and such ^_^

But don't forget its easier to learn things the younger you are.

that doesnt count from 16 to 18 dude.. lol...