Driver's licenses

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Driving is an incredibly unsafe activity.  If it was just dangerous to the driver, then I wouldn't care, but it becomes dangerous to everyone else.  You want to know that your airplane pilot is licensed just like you want to know that the other cars on the road are..which is worth the minor hassle of having to get licensed yourself.

It's not that burdensome to take the DMV test..it takes, what, 10 minutes?  I don't want 13 year olds driving on the freeway at 90 miles per hour, I'm sorry.

I'd raise it to 18, just to match a universal age of adulthood.

But the consequences are so great that people will think twice.

You overestimate people.

I don't know about you, but I needed to be able to drive 4 years ago. It's not great to have your parents taking you everywhere.

I say age 15 for a learner's permit, 16 for a restricted license and 18 for a full license.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't think anyone argued that no younger drivers would be safe.  Hell, I think a majority of them would be.  But all it takes is 5% of those 12-14 year old drivers to really do some harm.

Parents won't let them drive.

What about all those alcholic parents who don't pay attention at all to what their kids do that you hear about all the time? And then some that are just dumb. Geez. I know of parents who have bought their 13 year old kids cocaine.

If people would only drive when they safely could, there would never be any drunk drivers.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That's an extreme minority, and they'll die off pretty quickly

taking how many others with them?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

alright, Philip, why not legalize drunk driving? We need to create a culture of personal responsibility, and besides, most people won't do stuff that dangerous anyway.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Behind the Wheel is just where you get in a car with the instructor and then go on a drive around a certain area, and are graded based on how well you follow all the requirements, of course you automatically fail if you run a red light or anything like that. I had to take one, and I was lucky to pass it on my first try. I had to take the written test 4 times to get my learner's permit.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It is still a useless requirement that should be done away with, but at least I can bypass it by waiting until I'm 18.

useless? Keeping people without sufficient driving skills from driving is not useless.