To think 17 is too young to drive

[KimberleyClark]

Three teenage boys (described as mid teens by police have been killed in a crash in the Highlands). I cannot begin to imagine what their parents are going through.

https://news.sky.com/story/three-teenage-boys-killed-in-highlands-car-crash-13421075

My SIL has forbidden my soon to be 17 DN to drive until they are 21. I'm increasingly thinking she is right. She is a paediatrician and not ignorant of teen brain development. AIBU?

For those talking of how younger people get to work, school, uni.
How did they get there before they passed?
Tatbus hos they get there.

Yes, ermployers often have a driving license preference. This is not because they need to drive. It is an easy gauge of ability to learn. If you can't learn until 21, they wouldn't be asking, so there would be no disadvantage

I don’t agree 17 is too young. But I do think there should be a minimum no of hours prior to being able to take your test and learning over a minimum of 12 months. To also include handling cars in either Icey conditions or mimicked Icey conditions. Then a two year probation period for under 21 yo new driver where they are not to have under 21 year old passengers that are not family members or able to drive between midnight and 5am unless commuting to or from their place of work.
edited to add and also a complete zero tolerance on alcohol consumption before getting behind the wheel for the duration of the probation too. (Personally I think we should ban alcohol consumption before driving for all. Not this stupid units system anyway)

For those talking of how younger people get to work, school, uni.
How did they get there before they passed?
Tatbus hos they get there.

I don't think you understand how few buses there are in rural areas. I got a school bus until I was 16. The school didn't have a sixth form so all post-16 education was approx. 10-12 miles away. There were no buses to either town.

Fortunately I had a neighbour who worked in town so I paid him petrol money to give me a lift. He was terrible at time-keeping. Eg I could be stood by his car for an hour or more (sometimes quite a lonely car park) (and if winter then freezing and or wet). Premobile days so no way to contact him. It was a bit shit.

Many of my friends were in a similar position. Some got mopeds etc.

Your sil cannot stop an 18 year old learning to drive

and moreover it means they’ll just be passengers in their mates cars!

i understand the worry as my two are driving and it scares me senseless. But they are sensible as far as I know and I have says no to more than one passenger.

i really do think thete should be restrictions on passengers- it’s the distraction more than anything which is the danger to even sensible drivers. Passengers, chatter, music, etc is recipe for disaster

Then you continue that until 21.
We have many jon drivers at work. They get a lift. (Our workmen inaccessible by alking or public transport)

There’s no need to continue it until 21.

DS is learning currently at 17, but he won’t be getting a car (we live in a city), and won’t need one at uni. We’ve suggested getting the test out of the way now as costs will only go up, and then when he wants/needs a car, to take a couple of refresher and motorway lessons. I’ve told him I really don’t want him getting in a car with a newly qualified driver. I didn’t learn to drive till I was quite a bit older and always regretted it.

Not at the moment but is that not the discussion?

An A2 bike (you can get an A2 licence at 19, limited to 47hp) will still do 0-60 in less than 6 seconds. They're hugely quick.

Well. I guess the thing for me is that my daughter isn’t driving around needlessly or with a car of other teenagers although her friends did come with her on her first solo drive but actually don’t forget some teenagers are supportive of each other and don’t egg each other on. She loved having them sat with her as you go from always being supervised to passing your test and being on your own.
She mainly only drives when she needs too, work or the shops or her horse. I think parents need to take some responsibility for how they educate there children about driving. Not all 17yr olds are driving recklessly and spend their nights driving round the towns one way system.
I spent hours sat next to her in her car while she was learning and also paid for her proper lessons. We did all weathers and all times of day. So did my exHusband, She has a black box so we can see where she’s at. I don’t think all young drivers should be tarnished with the same brush. Obviously I worry and always will but I’m 47 and my Mum tells me this is normal,

I personally think there should be some sort of minimum learning hours before you’re allowed to take your test. If you can’t afford lessons a black box can do it. A blanket ban won’t do anything I don’t think.

17 is reasonable to me. In readiness for work.

Good luck to your friend with trying to stop a post 18 adult from learning to drive if they want to. All they have to do is book their lessons, assuming they can pay for them themselves, and tell her to back off.

I learned to drive at 17. I passed when just a couple of months short of my 18th birthday.

I agree that 17 does seem just a shade young for driving. I think the age could be raised to 18. That's me though. I've personally never liked driving and dreaded my 17th birthday because my Dad would be taking me out for the first time to start learning.

I also know though that driving is necessary for so many young people and as a parent who had been forced to provide the free taxi service of mum and dad for years, I both looked forward to mine being able to drive and dreaded it at the same time. It's a leap of faith.

I hope that the legislation restricting them from carrying young passengers goes through soon.

Having passed by test at 17, yes I do think it's too young to drive.

I've never had any points on my licence or serious accidents but in retrospect I think 25 is about the right age to start to drive! And I had the responsibility of a house aged 21 but driving is entirely different.

Once they are 18 though, they can't really be forbidden by anyone else to not do what they want to.

So much depends on the individual, and also on the friends they are travelling with. I think quite a lot of parents insist on quite a lot of post-test experience before they let their youngsters take passengers.
DD's friend, slightly nervously, offered to drive four friends on a local journey (rather than have to persuade two parents to take the five of them). I think it was actually her first unsupervised journey, but a route she knew fairly well. I warned DD that when they got in the car, the most helpful thing they could do would be to be quiet so the driver could concentrate, letting her choose if she wanted the radio on. I think that's pretty much what they did.

It's interesting that the statement said that they were mid-teens, rather than just teenagers. I wonder if there's anything to be read into that.

Also I see that 17 being the age to drive has been around for nearly 100 years, since the 1930's. By then probably most people had left school and began working.

Obviously the roads, and cars, back then bear no resemblance to now, let alone even 50 years ago.

The age of other 'adult' activities such as smoking cigarettes and playing the lottery has been raised from 16 to 18, so surely the law can be raised for driving.

A close friend of mine lost her DC in a road collision. He was a passenger with another teenager driving. Both were at uni studying medicine, had been very academic & always straight As, never in any trouble.

Both were lovely kids & both of their parents would describe them in the way you describe your DD.

A momentary distraction to a young, inexperienced driver can have devastating consequences. It's not always the mistake of the driver, it can be the fault of other road users - a dangerous or drunk driver for example but a delay or distraction on the part of the young driver could be the difference between life & death. It's not always (and often not) the bad drivers who lose their life.

Surely a very tiny inconvenience of not allowing young passengers for a limited time following passing a test is worth it to prevent devastation to young people's lives & their families.

I think it’s the right age. Myself and my daughters all learnt at 17.
there’s a personal risk with everything we do in life and moving the age may reduce the risk slightly but it will always be there and you can’t not do it forever.

stopping 17 year olds carrying passengers would be a smarter move and one that I enticed with mine and was easy to do as it was my car they shared. I also absolutely drummed into them the dangers of driving and the consequences

Perhaps if the Government made school transport free until 19 not 16 (over 3miles) and improved rural public transport, then teens wouldn't need to be on the roads so the age could be raised to 18?

If you raise the driving age then more young people will get mopeds so I doubt it would help the accident figures much.

It would be easier to restrict the carrying of passengers.

You people let kids drink and have sex at 15

According to the AA, globally car accidents are the number one killer of 17-19 year olds. Not guns,not knives. That’s a sobering thought.

How can they forbid someone over 18 from doing anything. And at 17 it's legal but obviously they could block it by refusing to fund the lessons car and costs associated with it.
But once he's got his own money they can't stop him.
Someone gets better at driving through experience. Starting at 17 or 21 means you're still starting from scratch so it makes little difference.

Our sons learned to drive at 17, as did almost all of their friends - male and female. I don’t actually think it’s too young - I was driving to and from school at this age.

My American nieces and nephews had their learners permits at 15, and were driving SUVs at 17.

The control we did have with ours is that we bought them only 1 litre cars, they were not allowed to take their cars to uni, nor be the drivers on nights out.

Now they’re early 20s and have bought their next cars themselves, we have no control. I still lecture them on having a car full of mates and playing music too loud. 🥴

Yes of course it's a risk, I can't tell you how many sleepless nights I have had about her getting into other peoples cars which thankfully has been few and far between.
But do you also not think that you as a parent should be educating your kids on this? We decided not to buy our daughter a clapped out rubbish heap of a car and have recommended that she decides for herself how safe she feels in a car just by knowing the driver and looking at the car. Drunk drivers and other idiots on the road we can't control. A drunk driver is a drunk driver and can do any amount of harm to us all, I don't see what 17yrs has to do with that. I have just driven over to France and back. A drunk driver could of wiped us all out but its not really something we can foresee either.

Completely depends on the person. Most 17 year olds are perfectly fine to drive.