DONT MESS WITH THE DRIVING AGE!

By Yvonne Dasler in All Sorts

The writer defends the right of fifteen year olds to drive a vehicle.

Today there will be people driving around on their normal Sunday business - off to church, taking the kids to sport, heading to the corner dairy to pick up the papers, going to Nana's place for a Sunday roast. By tonight some of them will be dead. Each day the road toll grows, and the people grieve.

Successive governments have tried, with varying degrees of success, to make our roads safer by clamping down on drunk drivers, realigning unsafe roads, bumping up taxes to pay for emergency services, and targeted advertising campaigns. But the latest scheme to reduce carnage on our roads by increasing the legal driving age to 16 is just plain barmy.

Of all drivers on our roads, 15 year olds are probably the safest. At that age they have swifter reflexes and better vision than those who are older. Few own their own cars, so drive vehicles borrowed from Mum or Dad who would not allow their much loved teens to drive if they thought they would endanger themselves or the vehicle. Those who do own their own cars have either had the vehicle purchased for them - with care and attention to ensure it is safe and not too powerful - or have worked hard at after-school jobs to buy it for themselves. However they come to be behind the wheel, 15 year olds are very aware that it is a privilege to drive.

At that age they cannot buy alcohol, so are the least likely of any age group to drive under the influence. They cannot purchase tobacco, so are less likely to be distracted by lighting up while driving. They are also still at school, and subject to the discipline of school as well as home should they break road rules. And, under the rules of a restricted licence, they are also under curfew. While other youngsters may stay out till midnight, most parents are keen to loan the kids a car on Saturday night because, by law, they must be home by 10pm.

Country kids who do not have access to public transport will be hit hardest if the driving age is raised. Most of them have driven motorbikes, tractors or quadbikes from a young age, and have been taught practical skills. Obtaining a licence means they can play team sport, join youth groups and socialise with friends in town without having to rely on someone else to provide transport.

Most employers require staff to have a driving licence, which means 16 year old school leavers will not be able to accept apprenticeships, work in the Public Service, do shiftwork or work in the rural sector if they have not already had a licence for at least a year.

The proposal to raise the driving age is yet another example of the move toward infantilism. We are the first generation of adults to want our offspring to remain children for longer. We raise the school leaving age to 16, then wonder why truancy numbers have ballooned to 30,000! The kids want out because they want to work, rather than study subjects they perceive as irrelevant to their career choices.

We make it legal to drink alcohol at 18, yet threaten to reduce the alcohol level to zero for drivers under 20. And if the zero limit is brought in we will still be able to give our toddlers a spoonful of cough mixture before they ride their tricycles to kindergarten, but teenage drivers will not be able to take a simple cold remedy for fear of arrest. No wonder they accuse us of hypocrisy!

Although they are physically able to become parents while in their teens and can legally marry at 16, many parents actively discourage their sons and daughters from marrying till they are close to 30 - then we wonder why, after a string of failed de facto relationships, they cannot commit.

The Bible tells us in many different ways that it is our obligation to raise our children to be socially responsible, hard-working, compassionate adults. Let us witness our Christianity by showing faith in the values we have instilled in our children. Let's allow them to grow up.

-- by Yvonne Dasler, guest contributor from the Blenheim Parish.

This item was originally printed as a Connections article in the Dunedin Parish Bulletin for 28th March, 2010.