Agree or Disagree

[QuorumCAll]

As I have always understood it, the faster you go, the more deadly a potential accident will be; and that accidents (involving multiple cars) are not caused by high speed, but rather by those cars traveling at different speeds.

[dinanm3atl]

wow this guy had some good points but 1,000 dollars for a drivers license? wtf? seriously how many 16 year olds can swing that?

but i do agree that most drivers (women) cant fucking drive for shit (some men too) i think the test should be standardized across the country i mean in nyc its easy but i do feel that driving in the city for extended periods of time heightens your awareness and makes you a better driver. always gotta look out for kids playing in the streets and taxi cabs cutting over w/o signaling. shit like that makes you a better driver no matter where you go.
as far as highways are concerned i definately agree that in certain areas speed limits should be raised to maybe 80 but then i think about the soccer mom that was mentioned above and say nah keep it the same. and if they do raise it they should make everyone retake their license test with a harder test to ensure they can handle a car at those speeds.

I was a shitty driver at 16 years old. You were too. I don't think you should be driving at 16.

Uh Oh I said it!!!!

[dinanm3atl]

$1000 for a license is ridiculous, that would just mean, Rich kids get a license and poor kids like me don't, and i bet us poor kids who work for their cars and pay for everything are a bit more careful then the kids that have been handed everything their entire lives.

as for the speed limit part, Agree! the speed limit needs to change with technology, think how much better our brakes and vehicle in general are now compared to 40 years ago yet the speed limit is only 15-20 mph higher.

I think by the time my generation is 40 limits will have increased significantly.

It is 1,000 dollars AND A REAL TEST... I can bet you 100 dollars 4/5 of these "rich kids" could NOT pass a real driving test. Thus they would be taking the bus or riding a scooter or riking their bike just like the "poor kids"

This does not seem to be a problem in Europe. But over here you have the "RIGHT" to have a license and drive. In this country the government "owes" you a license.

[JGood]

I think everything should stay the same, except for the test. There should be training and testing of actual car control skills. The test should be retaken every 5 years. If you fail, you go back to the training, and do the test again, and repeat until you pass.

[sticksdaman]

ok so raise the price now were going to have a bunch of shitty driving 18 year olds? 19 years olds? what difference does it really make i mean inexperience is still inexperience i know people twice my age that have been driving waay longer than i have but are still shitty drivers.

and yea i was a shitty driver at 16 but because i was driving from i was that age i have more experience and am better because of it

[Ryan Stewart]

ok so raise the price now were going to have a bunch of shitty driving 18 year olds? 19 years olds? what difference does it really make i mean inexperience is still inexperience i know people twice my age that have been driving waay longer than i have but are still shitty drivers.

and yea i was a shitty driver at 16 but because i was driving from i was that age i have more experience and am better because of it

Welcome to the European model, the model that has a considerably lower death rate on their roads.

The DL is very expensive and the tests are much more challenging to pass. Therefore the beginner starts with more experience than ours AND since they are older they are less apt to do stupid things. Let them crash a stakeboard a few more times to realize it hurts before they go hilltopping in their car.

[FJ40]

I am all for faster speed limits, but without more stringent license tests it just seems stupid. The average kid that drives here is just too damn stupid to say "no" to a 90mph limit if their taurus cant handle it.

Also, its kinda like supercars now, just because they are obscenely capable at this point doesn't mean the user is, most people just SHOULDN'T be driving 100+ outside of a closed environment.

I'd prefer to simply be an exception, just let me haul ass when the roads are empty...hahha

[Jscotty]

Until we can force people to become better drivers we need to keep the speed limits low to protect people from themselves. I would even suggest making them lower. Other bad drivers would be the only reason why we need to keep speed limits where they are at. I think that too many people have lost touch with the seriousness of a car and truely do not know how fast they are REALLY driving.

I have heard so many stories about people losing control of their car and getting into a wreck only to later say, "I don't know what happened. I was just driving down the road and the car wouldn't stop" or "I was making the turn but the car wouldnt steer and I went straight into the guard rail." When in all actuality they were simply drivng too fast and didn't realize it.

So as much as I would like speed limits to be higher and I know I can handle it, I am not so sure that it would be good for society as a whole.

[YAN-3]

dude i have been preaching this for about 3 years now to all my friends back in the states. i am going to cry when i move back to the US. people drive however they want and no lane discipline. makes we wanna yell at them all as they fly past you in the right lane!

[JGood]

Whoever mentioned not taking driving seriously hit the nail on the head. I see people eating french fries, drinking sodas, reading directions, talking on a cell phone, texting, pointing and gawking at things on the side of the road, etc... The car is swerving, slowing down, speeding up, hittin shit, rollin over, people are flyin everywhere, it smells like dead babies...

I fucking hate people.

[PiercedE30]

I know in my last E30, with my suspension set the way it was (aka on rails), I was comfortable and capable of driving 75-80 mph. I took it up to like 90-95 once and I said to myself: "I need to slow down, this isnt going to work." I knew I was uncapable and uncomfortable to drive that speed, so I slowed down. A lot of people dont know how to do that. Especially unexperienced drivers who think they know how to drive.

[Massive Lee]

I would be curious to see the correlation between speed limits and accidents in such countries such as France, England and Germany, compared to US and Canada. Does speed really kills? Or is it the lack of good cars, good training and bad habits?

Also, these days, France is often taken as an exemple for introducing photo radars, which have reduced the number of fatal incidents. Nonetheless, what is never said, is that they introduced at the same time driving permits with points (before you only paid but lost no points on your driving license). Loosing points came as a shock for French drivers. Also, speeds are strictly enforced with photo radars... at legal speed limits of 130Km/h (80Mph).

US governement doesn't trust its drivers, because they haven't had any real driving education.

[Kman]

even in modern cars it still comes down to the drives, i am 17, the first time i was put into my uncles m3 alone i thought it was the coolest thing, and on my way back to his house at night i opened it up to around 110, it was scary given my little experience at those speeds and unfamiliarity with his car. i now drive at the speed limit and where i feel safe and in control.

[Jon325i]

Whoever mentioned not taking driving seriously hit the nail on the head. I see people eating french fries, drinking sodas, reading directions, talking on a cell phone, texting, pointing and gawking at things on the side of the road, etc...

Very well put. Its the distractions or lack or focus on the drivers' part which is the result of so many fender-benders and pile-ups. If people just paid more attention to the task at hand - driving - instead of eating/texting/phoning/hitting crack then there would be a significant drop in the statistics. I also believe that a more stringent testing/screening process for applicants would weed out the braindead looking to drive. Heck, jack the cost of obtaining a license to a grand, I'll gladly pay it. Remember, driving is not a right it is a privilege. A lot of people seem to forget that last part.

Jon

[Jscotty]

Someone once told me that it is the DIFFERENTIAL speed that causes problems on the highway more so than excessive speed. The basis of his arguement came from the fact that they had this really bad accident at LeMans back in 1955 where a bunch of spectators were killed. There was a multi-car pileup and the front axle assembly from a Mercedes Benz flew into the crowd killing 80 people. After the investigation they concluded that because there were a bunch of different kinds of cars and because all of the cars in the race traveled at different speeds, the accident would have inevidably taken place had it not happened that day.