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?

??Are you on the correct thread? Whose 'you people'?

Maybe where you are they do, but mine most certainly do not.

I was driving my siblings to school at age 17 (not in the UK)

Of course they should be able to drive. There’s a general trend now to baby and coddle teenagers and not to treat them as the young adults they are. The earlier they learn, the easier it is.

If they’re old enough to vote, they’re old enough to drive…

Let's say you make it 18yo.
Most drivers won't have passed by the time they leave school at end of year 13.

Some will not be able to get the job/apprenticeship they want because they're restricted to public transport.

But those that go off to uni. Some may have passed - not many, but having passed, then they're in the position of having just passed, and then not getting experience except between terms. Or they won't have passed and are then trying to do it at uni or between terms.

I don't think that will lead to safer driving.

However I would support a year's provisional pass where they aren't allowed to carry passengers who aren't related to them.

I agree. We live in Cornwall and I believe driving is an essential skill to get around the County for pleasure and for employment.

DS2 learnt to drive at 17 as it meant that he no longer relied on me to drive him to football matches ( he’s a referee). It meant that he could officiate at matches further than my imposed 15 mile radius of our home.

He's now 18 and has had the chance to drive in the US. Being able to drive has given him (and me) so much more freedom.

He’s a sensible driver and would never take any risks, as he would know that there would be serious consequences.

I learned at 17, as did my kids. I still feel anxious when they drive and they are 21 and 22. I just think of them in charge of this huge heap of metal and it makes me anxious, but that is life. They don’t drive much as we live in London and I think that probably makes me more worried, as they do not have as much practice as they would in rural areas.

And isn’t it 15/16 in the USA? That blows my mind. And in some states you can get your learners permit at 14 I think!

Yes, 17 too young to drive and should be changed. It's a throwback to many, many decades ago and needs to be updated to match the current traffic levels and increased risks and speed.

When sentencing, judges take into account an offenders age, up to the age of 25 I think, as the brain isn't fully developed in certain things until then.

I agree OP, the current age was set when the majority of kids left school at 15/16. They had been in the workplace over a year, developing the maturity.
Teens now, as often described on here, are children still.
There are many being given cars and driving lessons but can't be trusted to be home alone for more than an hour! Parents on here hand ringing because they want to go away and junior can't be left aged 16/17/18.
I know the argument that some 'need' to drive to get to apprenticeship/ college but if they got to school OK by bus, train, parents they can do so for the 18 months or so that was also the case when kids left school earlier.
Mine are in 30s now, one learnt at 30, one is now learning at 36 the other not interested in driving and is a whizz at public transport apps!

This is true.

I just don’t think the way society is set up makes it realistic. 18-year-olds are legal adults.

As I said before plenty of under-25s are qualified professionals and work as teachers, midwives, police officers, paramedics, nurses and many other roles. So we would really need to shift the way society works if we want to view that age group as practically children with under-developed brains.

I think some additional rules to improve safety if much more realistic than raising the age.

It does very much depend on the teenager. Mine passed his test at 17 1/2 and is genuinely an excellent driver - I genuinely feel safer in the car with him than with my DH. But he has been a petrolhead since he was a toddler, had regular 'Young Driver' lessons from the age of 10, and has also been a keen karter since he was 10. Plus DH took him out for at least two hours nearly every evening for about eight weeks before his test, on top of 40 hours with an instructor and a two-hour motorway lesson the day after his test. He's had the Highway Code next to his bed for about five years for bedtime reading, and he's genuinely a very, very cautious, sensible driver. He needed to learn to drive to get himself to college, having had an awful time with travel sickness on packed trains in his first year, and he's now working in a job he wouldn't be able to get to (and probably wouldn't have got in the first place) without his own car. I know he would never contemplate driving after even a single drink. I worry more about him being a passenger, but he's the first of his friends to pass so I haven't had to deal with that yet. It breaks my heart when I see news stories about teens losing their lives in accidents and I wouldn't be against rules about when they can carry passengers, especially in the evenings. DS has said himself that he thinks the driving test as it stands is too easy and needs to be reformed.

Yes I think it should be older. Then they should have lots of restrictions for the first year. So no passengers/ a black box etc.

Their frontal lobes just aren’t sufficiently developed (particularly boys).and I’m sick of hearing about groups of teenage boys dying in car crashes.

They could maybe have lessons for a year but then raise the age to at least 18. I’d prefer older.

17 year old boys and fast cars are not a good mix. They need to be more mature.

My daughter needs to drive to work (she's now 18). No driving no job to save up for university. Once she's at university she will need to drive for her work placement. We live rurally. There are no other options. My husband and I work full time. No driving = very few life opportunities. I absolutely get the reasoning but the reality is not that straightforward.

It is…

I have three 20-somethings who learnt to drive as young as possible and have all driven a lot since 16.

None of them has caused an accident. They have been hit by cars driven by people older than them. One person hit DS head-on because she fell asleep in the middle of the day. Another backed into DD in a parking lot.

My kids all got 70+ hours of driving experience before they took their tests, and the probation rules here are pretty strict eg no passengers other than immediate family, no driving late at night, absolute ban on drinking, zero tolerance for any driving infractions.

The test should also be harder and require a certain amount of hours of practice/ time spent driving before. And motorway driving .

I passed my test one month after I was 17. I felt very inexperienced at first, but would still have felt nervous being a new driver no matter what my age. Young males are the biggest concern due to them likely speeding / showing off. I certainly didn’t do any of that. I do think we should have rules about not carrying any young passengers until x amount of years after passing like the US does.

I think it’s inexperience rather than age which makes all new drivers a higher risk. I would support a probationary period where they have to have new driver plates on the car and limitations on carrying passengers. Like anything driving takes practice and you need driving hours under your belt on a variety of roads/conditions. I’m interested to hear learners are allowed on motorways with an instructor. I always thought it was ridiculous they passed and expected to drive on motorways with no instruction at all.

I got my licence at 16. In NZ you used to be able to sit your driver licence tests from 15. There is still a restricted licence where you can’t drive other young poeple and in the evening. Many young people need a car to go to work or college.

DS has currently had 52 lessons from an instructor and around 25 hours practice with DH or I. He is 18yo and hasn't sat his test yet. Taking ages to get one!!! He isn't in a rush.

The pass rate for driving tests has dropped to around 45%. Also, a significant proportion of the population does not live anywhere near a motorway. Someone living in the north of Scotland, for example, would have to travel for hours to reach the nearest section.

My DD (17) is doing really with her driving and should pass before her 18 birthday if she passes first tim. DH and I were successfully driving at 17 and have no significant accidents since. Our 15 year has an American friend who already learning to drive and will be allowed to pass at 16…

DS passed his test not long after his 18th birthday and bought his first car the next day. Five years on and he’s a far more sensible and patient driver than I am.

You can join the army at 17, learn to use a machine gun and die for your country.

I don't think 17 is too young..

You don't get sent to war at 17.

I think it’s all about risk though. And being in a car accident is probably one of the greatest risks for a teenage boy. So if we can reduce that even a bit we should.

Maybe the UK should introduce a graduated license program. My kids and most of their friends got their learners permit at 15 and were driving themselves to school by 16. They were in driver's ed classes and for the 1st 12 months have restrictions around what time they can be out and how many passengers they are allowed.

I banned both mine from taking teen passengers, as both passed at 17. Cars full of kids are a serious danger. It should be illegal for a 17yo to have teen passengers. In other countries it is.