[RahulNagaraj]

According to reports, two House representatives are proposing to lower the age a teenager can get a driver's permit and license in the state of Pennsylvania, USA.

Reports state that Stephen Kinsley and Eric R Nelson stated in a memorandum that they would like to end the "arbitrary age discrimination" and want to see 15-year-old teenagers start driving in the state. The current age limit to obtain a driver's permit and licence is 16 years.



Both state house representatives stated that if teenagers in Pennsylvania wish to work and are legally permitted to do so, then they should also be allowed to travel on their own to their place of employment.

The proposed legislation would change the age of eligibility for a junior driver's licence to 15 years old, enabling the teenager to get a learner's permit. However, the 15-year-old will have to go through the same safety and training standards that are currently in place for young drivers.

The representatives from Pennsylvania even mentioned examples of states like West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. While West Virginia allows 15-year-olds to apply for a learner's permit, Ohio and Maryland require teenagers to be 15 and a half years and 15 years and nine months, respectively, before getting behind the wheel.

Source: WTAE

Link to Team-BHP news

[Gautham_v6]

Though I am not aware of how MVD works in America, allowing 15 year old humans to drive is not a good precedence. Age band of 13-18 is mostly adolescent age and at this time, teenagers go though various emotional phases. Surely this could impact their driving and road sensing confidence and abilities in some way.

Even the present 18 year age limit feels early for obtaining driver's license. Perfect age limit in my opinion should be 20 years.

Mods , please feel free to provide your feedback if it's off topic.

[avira_tk]

Totally agree with this, the older generation infantilizing youngsters with their "you're not old enough" garbage has to stop. 15 year old can drive long distances without causing any catastrophe. Millennials like me have faced this idiotic attitude from school, if you are not OK with 15 year olds driving, how are you OK with voting at 18?

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

. While West Virginia allows 15-year-olds to apply for a learner's permit, Ohio and Maryland require teenagers to be 15 and a half years and 15 years and nine months, respectively, before getting behind the wheel.

IMHO, The motivation comes from paying starvation wages for several menial jobs, that only teenagers will be willing to do. As there's no public transportation, kids need a way to get to work. Lots of people are lobbying to modify curfew hours, and max hours per week to allow teens to work.

Both my kids got permitted at 15 and half in CA, it was not easy mentally. I have seen lots of kids get injured at current age limits. I hope parents can see through the motivation for this proposed change.

[msdivy]

A welcome move. Anybody who clears the driving test must be allowed to drive.

The key is passing the driving test. I believe driving is a test of 2 competencies:
1) Control of own's vehicle (braking, accelerating, turning, backing up, parking, etc)
2) Communicating with other road users (pedestrians, turn indication, overtaking, etc)

Anybody who demonstrates competency in these 2 should be allowed to drive.

PS: Along with these, the general competency of reacting in emergency situations will be required, like what to do in case of an accident and so such other. But this competency is required in non-driving situations too.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

IMHO, The motivation comes from paying starvation wages for several menial jobs, that only teenagers will be willing to do. As there's no public transportation, kids need a way to get to work. Lots of people are lobbying to modify curfew hours, and max hours per week to allow teens to work.

Both my kids got permitted at 15 and half in CA, it was not easy mentally. I have seen lots of kids get injured at current age limits. I hope parents can see through the motivation for this proposed change.

Pretty much. There is currently a crippling labour shortage in menial and entry level jobs and the cheapest and easiest way to fix it is just letting kids do it. The alternatives include increasing wages or bringing in immigrants. Or even just investing in proper public transport. But why do any of that when it's so much easier to just make the kids get their own car. As always, the bottom line wins out.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by msdivy

A welcome move. Anybody who clears the driving test must be allowed to drive.
The key is passing the driving test. I believe driving is a test of 2 competencies:
1) Control of own's vehicle (braking, accelerating, turning, backing up, parking, etc)
2) Communicating with other road users (pedestrians, turn indication, overtaking, etc)
Anybody who demonstrates competency in these 2 should be allowed to drive.

It has to be much more than competency for driving alone. My son was 6 ft tall at 15, very athletic with good hand eye coordination. They sucked up everything that was taught, and passed the driving test relatively easily.

The bigger issue is the one related to brain development, which affects risk taking in several ways. The sensation seeking urges are at its peak in these years. Teens have less developed brain regions that are responsible for cognitive control that affects their ability to control impulses and emotions. This has an evolutionary basis - it has helped adolescents explore new environments and gain independence. That said, 16 and 17 year olds have higher rates of fatal crashes right now. Its directly related to their ability of hazard perception, and decision making skills.

Teens do not realize the risk they are taking by giving into their urges. We had Life 360 app installed on our son's phone, even with that he would cross the boundaries that we set for him, he would not know why he did that, and be very apologetic later on. Thankfully, there were no major incidents. None of these propositions are supported by child psychologists, its just politicians trying to appease small business owners trying to drive down wages without any benefits. A teen will not ask for benefits, healthcare, sick leave, vacation, etc. They simply salivate at such a prospect.

Its similar to hotels/dhabas in the 90s who used to employ kids in India, but they do all this legally in the US. That said, my kids did work blue collar jobs, and I do support such summer jobs. But allowing them to drive long distances, and late at night is a bad move. Currently kids under 18 (for first year of being licensed) need to show that they are on their way to school/work, they cant drive between 11PM and 5AM. They cant have a passenger under 20. There is certainly a section of our society that does not like these restrictions.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Pretty much. There is currently a crippling labour shortage in menial and entry level jobs and the cheapest and easiest way to fix it is just letting kids do it. The alternatives include increasing wages or bringing in immigrants.

Yep, there is always a shortage of people willing to work for starvation wages. One of the reasons people gave not to abolish slavery was wage inflation. duh!

[shree_shell]

This is a grey area decision. Kids in the United States are a lot more independent compared to Asian countries like India where we are raised under the umbrella of parents for a long time. Moreover, these kids join the workforce very early, so it makes no sense to have their parents drop them to work! Public transport is laughable here at best. Cycling is not practical.

I also think this move may be motivated to push vehicle demand. We are already seeing Gen-Z showing no interest in the US for driving cars.

For more context:
Age of Consent in USA: 16 in 34 states, rest is 18.
Right to Vote: 18
Minimum age of Employment: 14 !!
Minimum age to fly aircraft: 14 (glider/ balloon) and 16 for an Aircraft !!
Minimum age to join the Military and own an Assault rifle: 17 !!
Youngest American Olympian Gold-medalist: 13 !! Marjorie Gestring (diving)
Minimum age to face Prosecution: 14-18 (depends on state)

Driving a car, why not?

[RunGaDa]

With supervised mentor / parent by the side, there should be no problem for 15 year olds to drive. And this is specifically for USA.
The rules are sorted out, low level corruption is not there, heavy fines for breaking rules, high insurance rates for all under 25.
They have laid out the framework correctly.
There’s apprehension that teenagers will use cars for joyriding but it’s not completely true. There will always be cases like this but since kids there start being independent from early age this will help them to commute.

[kadanaJ]

Strongly agree with the members suggesting that unscrupulous capitalism is behind this move. It's driven by greedy elements who want access to a cheaper labour market of teens.

Realistically, this is incredibly unsafe. 1 tonne and above cars are capable of massive amounts of damage. We have enough cases of 20-21 year olds over-speeding and crashing.

A 15 year old may be capable of controlling a vehicle, but their mental discipline that isn't quite as developed at that age.

[Mafia]

15 year old driving a car seems like a bad idea. The insurance premiums will be super high for these kids.

[Piyush Kanthak]

This is not a good idea, I follow some channels on YouTube who points out mistakes when an accident occurs, some of them have teens who where either preoccupied with thoughts or where busy on their phone while driving. The ideal age should be 20 imho.

[AJ56]

The human brain matures till age 25, that doesn't mean the government gets to stop young adults from driving, flying, getting married or signing up for the military.

As for reflexes, anybody who's seen a 15 year old gamer can attest easily to how quick their reflexes are (much quicker than non gamer adults) if they can successfully pass a driving test (theory + practical), they should be allowed to drive.

[Sedate]

Age is just a number. As long as there is a test and individuals are required to pass the test legitimately, there shouldnt be any ageism. I have seen many youngsters who are better drivers than many on the road currently. Also some people never grow up and we do have many of them on road with their kindergarden mentality.

Speaking about age being a criteria to amny things - If we are to have a test and pass criteria before being allowed to vote, I dont know how many of us will be eligible to vote.

[inwester]

Originally Posted by shree_shell

For more context:
Age of Consent in USA: 16 in 34 states, rest is 18.
Right to Vote: 18
Minimum age of Employment: 14 !!
Minimum age to fly aircraft: 14 (glider/ balloon) and 16 for an Aircraft !!
Minimum age to join the Military and own an Assault rifle: 17 !!
Youngest American Olympian Gold-medalist: 13 !! Marjorie Gestring (diving)
Minimum age to face Prosecution: 14-18 (depends on state)

Driving a car, why not?

Can kill, die, drive, fly, work, vote, go to jail, but can't have a beer?