Saturday, May 30, 2009

Ok, so here's an argument...

So in the united states there exist laws. One of those laws, here in MA, is the law that you cannot obtain your license until the age of 16 1/2. At that time, after passing a driving test, you are given the privilage to drive. You keep that privilege for about 10 years and then you must renew your license. Here's the kicker. There is no more testing. You simply pay for the renewal and get a new license. You can even keep your old picture if you want.

So now I ask you, if there is a set age to get your license why is there not an age limit to a license? Further, if one must pass a test to first get their license why is there not a test to keep that license? I ask because I hear all too often about how an older person mistook the brake for the gas pedal. Better yet, how about the old man I got behind earlier that drove just under the speed limit and still slammed on his brakes as we passed a cop. All I pose is the idea of some kind of assessment. It would have to incorporate questions and situations from a variety of driving conditions. Much like the questions when going for your permit, there would be hypothetical situations where the tester would have to make a judgement call and be scored accordingly. Along with the written test there would be a driving portion. The tester would ride with a state trooper and complete driving tasks based on age and experience.

Nowndont go thinking this is all dumb. The law could be changed to incorporate the testing. Upon successful completion, the life of a license could run for 15yrs or more. This gives allowance for a larger price for the license as there would obviously be more cost. Moreover, there would be a lessening of needless accidents involving the elderly thereby giving peace of mind to more comsciencious drivers. The testing would also help to weed out plain old bad drivers. Those drivers that follow too close, speed, etc. have the aggresive mentality formed around their driving ability. Their answers to questions regarding safety, road conditions, and more would shed light on their personality giving rise to restrictions. Oh, and another thing, with new legislation come amendment. I was watching a program where a man was arrested. When the cops pulled up his information it was revealed that he had more than a dozen DUI arrests on his record. Why are we, as a society, allowing this man to continue driving. So he has to serve 5 years in prison. That's not going to stop him from being more depressed and drinking and driving. So we basically are saying don't drink and drive and get caught, but if you do you will be ok. Seriously people. When are we going to stand together and start fighting the things that matter???!

I'm done for now. Tootles.

-- Post From My iPod Touch

2 comments:

Robin said...

I couldn't agree more, I was once parked in a spot in front of CVS when an old guy tried to park next to me. His car started scraping against the corner of my bumper and I freaked out. I looked back and I told the guy to watch out. I assumed he would stop and try to park again but instead he kept scraping against my car. At this point I honked my horn really loudly. He finally got the clue. Did he not hear the scraping? Did he not not know what he was scraping? Did he not know where he was? Either way, he shouldn't have been driving.

Kobuu said...

It's funny that you said something. I actually was talking to a friend of mine whose grandmother is turning 90. Shetold me that their actually taking away the grandmother's license at her birthday. The grandmother understands why so she's not really upset so it's a win win for all. Thank you for the comment. Gonna have to start checking other blogs! LOL. Take care!