16-year-olds are generally insanely immature. How can they be let out in the traffic? USA is one fucked up country: you can drive a car and carry/fire a gun, but there are one billion laws against sex in all forms. It makes no sense.

Plus, what the fuck is the point of getting a moped at age 15 if you'll only have it for a single year anyway?

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American (scratch that) Californian here. I cannot drive and I am 18 years old.

Driving is a form of independence for young people and I wish I had a job right now and knew how to drive.

I feel imprisoned right now.

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as someone who just finished drivers education herself, I think you are underestimating teenagers' ability to be responsible. Also, for some weird fucked up reason, Americans seem to be a lot more worried about sex than violence. I'm pretty sure this is because of the heavy, far-right Christian influence we have.

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@52,782

I'm sorry to hear that. :[ is there a reason why you never learned? It's never too late to learn, by the way.

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@52,784

Because my mother won't teach me and my brother refuses to drive since he got a DUI for being stupid one night. He rather much just get a bike for transportation to work. He likes to be in shape. Anyways, my mother doesn't want to teach because she is fucking paranoid about shit all of the time. So either I have to teach myself or I don't know what the fuck to do.

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> 16-year-olds are generally insanely immature. How can they be let out in the traffic?
Nice blanket statement there, friend. This is probably going to blow your mind, so take a seat: I was driving *before* I was 16. On public highways. In fact, I was probably all of about 13 or so. Growing up in a rural area that has like one cop (whom your dad knows from college) has its perks!

I'm happy that I could get my license when I could, since it meant an end to having to get my parents to drive me to work and take my friends places. Ah, the heady days of $1.50 gasoline…

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@52,818

Er, has its perks, like only having one cop.

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I drove for the first time when I was 12 and that was on a public street. I'm 19 now and got my drivers license last month. I don't have a car but i use my sisters occasionally.

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they can drive a car, but its forbidden to fuck them. Europe > America

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Er, they are legal to fuck in most states if I'm not wrong.

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What the hell do you mean one billion laws against sex in all forms? The only limitations I'm aware of are statutory rape and child molestation, and statutory rape isn't even a big deal. Are you trying to tell me other countries enjoy lawless child molestation?

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I live in America, and I agree with the OP. I'm going to disregard any anecdotal evidence to the contrary, because I highly doubt that anyone here was an average, undereducated, undisciplined American teenager. The point stands that 16 year olds are currently too immature and irresponsible to be in charge of a motor vehicle. Here is a simple list of facts as to why this is true, most taken directly from the government CDC and DOT websites (Bear in mind here that only about 30-40% of 16 year olds even have their licenses to begin with):

-Teenagers 16-19 account for about 6 percent of the U.S. driving population and 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.

-They account for nearly 30% of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

-The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group. In fact, per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

-Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers.

-16 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers of any other age.

-Teens are more likely than older drivers to underestimate dangerous situations or not be able to recognize hazardous situations.

-Teens are more likely than older drivers to speed and allow shorter headways (the distance from the front of one vehicle to the front of the next).

-Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use.

-Among male drivers between 15 and 20 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 38% were speeding at the time of the crash and 24% had been drinking.

-In 2005, three out of four teen drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes after drinking and driving were not wearing a seat belt.

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If America did a better job of disciplining and educating their children this wouldn't be such a huge problem, but they don't, and it is.

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and if the driving age was increased, the ages in the statistics would probably go up with it.
i feel that the accedents are mostly due to inexperiance and ignorence of laws, but i do agree that some young people may be less responsable.
i, as a barly 16 year old driver, think that i drive better than most of the illegal imigrants around the city, simply because i know the laws. (and ive been driving around the ranch since i was 12)

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