[undead]

Originally Posted by Harrie

I voted for 21. I feel that driving has lots to do with maturity. The more mature, responsible a person gets the better and safer he drives IMHO. Have seen quite a lot of 18 year olds burning the tarmac living in a frenzied state enjoying their new found freedom.
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I agree with you . I voted for the same. Also the accidents are happening more to these 18 yr old due to immaturity in driving. I feel for their parents.

[lancer_rit]

I think 18 is fine. You need to be able to handle the consequences and be accountable for what happens when driving. So, this is the right age.
And I did start driving only when I was 18, so not everyone is driving underage!

[gendarmee]

Originally Posted by Harrie

I voted for 21. I feel that driving has lots to do with maturity. The more mature, responsible a person gets the better and safer he drives IMHO. Have seen quite a lot of 18 year olds burning the tarmac living in a frenzied state enjoying their new found freedom.

I completely agree with that.
But then, maturity isn't programmed to manifest with age...It comes with experience, more when one understands the what responsibility means, from experience.
There are dozens of guys driving taxi's and autos, they hardly care for other people using the road nor about rules. Their age is any where from the minimum to two and a half times the prescribed limit.

Minimum age def isn't a deciding factor/criteria for how responsible a person is. but teaching road manners & imposing rules with Zero tolerance can definitely teach even a teenager.
I feel 18 is fine. Right now one can still get a licence at 16 for an un-geared scooter under 50cc, some guys get that and ride un-geared scooters.

Look at it from this point of view too, If mass transport systems are a choice for an easy commute, a higher age can be enforced, Otherwise its crippling if one cant drive them self around.

[Torque123]

I think the minimum age should be 21. It will lessen the number of 2 wheelers which come on road (keeping the college going guys and girls in mind). I stay very close to a college and i see everyday what nuisance they cause. they drive or ride so rashly causing inconvenience to the public.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by Harrie

I voted for 21. I feel that driving has lots to do with maturity. The more mature, responsible a person gets the better and safer he drives IMHO. Have seen quite a lot of 18 year olds burning the tarmac living in a frenzied state enjoying their new found freedom.

20 seems to be fine. But the happenings around shows that 18 is early.

[sujaylahiri]

I think it should depend from state to state like in the US.
If someone has successfully completed driver's ed and passes the test, I don't see why they should be denied a driver's license because of their age.

I think 16 years is appropriate for the minimum driving age (with some restrictions). India also needs to have an experience based car insurance system like North America and Europe. Younger drivers could be charged higher insurance premiums to discourage them from driving rash.

But I also don't think that just because a person is young, he'll be an irresponsible driver. In fact a significant percentage of accidents in the US is caused by people over 50. Also with proper law enforcement, I don't think there should be a problem with younger drivers.

[phamilyman]

Age is just a number in our heads. There's nothing physically/mentally wrong with a 10-12 year old that prevents him/her from responsibly driving (except his legs reaching all the way ). And when they can take all that gyan in school, learning to respect traffic rules is a no brainer. In Europe, kids use cycles a lot. They do learn the same rules much before 18, no?

and all the call center cab walaas are above 18 no? They are a horrible nuisance!

[mithun]

Age does not make any difference !

Only the Grey cells make any difference !

[girishglg]

Nowadays there are cars in many households and the kids have a feel of them right from their younger days unlike many of us who acquired a car after being in employment. So it would be good to rethink the age limit to below 18.

Not sure if this requires a lot of legislation changes but worth considering due to changed circumstances.

[Parthasarathig]

I learnt driving a car at a very young age. Used to sit on my dad's lap and steer. And finally took to the wheels when i was in class 7. Thats when my dad took me to a field one day and taught me all the basics.
I dont like driving rashly as it not only increases the risk for other road users but also for my fellow passengers.

I feel restricting or making the legal age 21 isnt going to help at all. Then people will try to unleash their pent up emotions every time they are lucky enough to drive the car just like youngsters getting fake ids to go to bars and drink. Till this day i see teenagers coming out of bars and vomiting on the streets.

Proper guidance by the parent or the instructor is the key. My father never gave me a license till i was 18 years old not even a learners one. That restricted me from driving on main roads and mostly drove on private compounds. But nowadays you see youngsters driving around cars with full families without a care for the others on the road. But then you see some good drivers too and they may not be 21 or just 18 years.

Restricting something completely is only going to make the person more impatient in turn making them rash drivers, or binge drinkers.

Formula one drivers learn to drive at a very young age and yet they are very responsible drivers on public roads. So one cant say that raising the age is going to give maturity. In my day to day observations even 25 30 year old men act immature. As spotted in the Bad Driver's thread.

Regards.

[shankar.balan]

We are generally an irresponsible race of people when it comes to driving and road manners and following rules etc.
I think 18 is perfectly fine. If you ask me, I would make it 21 accompanied with some very stringent tests for the license applicant, his teacher and possibly his parent as well!

[man_and_machine]

The most irresponsible is the colleague lot! Rather than age I would prefer a more stringent and responsibility driven test. But then 18 is okay for normal people.

[aseem]

Legalizing things makes them safer and can only help our kids going forward when they grow up. Rather than having 16 year olds sneak up and drive your car bike without telling you, or running away from cops, its better to train them and give them a license. When at 16 years old you have europeans racing carts and on their way to become gp2 champions, Indians have to wait to be 18 to get behind the wheel...

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by man_and_machine

The most irresponsible is the colleague lot! Rather than age I would prefer a more stringent and responsibility driven test. But then 18 is okay for normal people.

Haha sir you and i should meet up sometime. Not all college goers are bad. Id say the most irresponsible ones are the illiterate people. But then thats because they are illiterate about the rules.more than college lot it is the illiterates i see revving around like idiots on the roads like its nobodys business. For example two days back i see a guy in a red r15 leaning on a public lane almost knees touching the ground. He is wearing a kurta and pyjama. I asked him after i managed to catch up with him when he had to stop at the signal that where did he learn to do like that? He said that he sees the same in some bike lubricant ad. Then i say what will happen if his knees touch the ground? No answer. Only adds sir this is my boss sons bike. Im taking it after service. Hmm you get my drift right. If this guy had a knowledge of what he was doing he probably wouldnt be doing it. If someonehad taught him that.

Giving the license isnt wrong. Whats wrong is to give a scalpel to a layman. Either he is going to hurt himself trying to figure out what the thingamajig is or he is going to end up hurting others. Give the license only after the person knows and understands what he is supposed to do and not do with his vehicle.

P.s Hope to change your opinion about college lot sometime.

Originally Posted by carzone

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Theses a misconception that younger the lot, more rash they drive. But i feel if one is educated on the driving skills appropriately and the family has a strict vigil on the ongoings of the child (atleast 15 or 16 years of age) one has an ability to drive. Also to drive, one must have real interest in driving and not just drive for the sake.

The only solution is that there should be proper driving tests and some proper knowledge about driving sense.

Comments are welcome.

Exactly.my point.
Cheers.

[carzone]

My take on this is that the age dosen't really matter. Even i have taken my bike out at the age of 15 but that was with the consent of my parents and some strict restriction.
My father had taught me most of the rules (some I learned due to Team-BHP! ) and had kept in mind that I strictly follow them.
1. I was not allowed to touch the bike keys after 7 in the morning and before 11 in the night.
2. I was handed over the bike (with above restriction) only after my father thought that i will be able to handle the bike.
3. I was not allowed to take the bike out of the 1 k.m. strict radius laid out.
4. If i was found speeding at even 1 instance, that was for sure that i would not get to touch the keys till i was 18.
5. If i wanted to drive the bike during the day time it was to be only in the building compound.

After driving for a couple of days, some kind of feeling of maturity itself came in and i myself started driving sedately.

It was only after i turned 18, and got my driver's licence, i was allowed to take the vehicle out on the highway.

There's a misconception that younger the lot, more rash they drive. But i feel if one is educated on the driving skills appropriately and the family has a strict vigil on the ongoings of the child (atleast 15 or 16 years of age) one has an ability to drive. Also to drive, one must have real interest in driving and not just drive for the sake.

The only solution is that there should be proper driving tests and some proper knowledge about driving sense.

Comments are welcome.