The age for drivers licenses should be raised from 15 years to 16 years?

On average, everyone agrees with significant nonconsensus between 609 voters.

Reasons To Disagree

If you are going to raise the learners licence age, then you will need to lower the "senior citizens" age to get a drivers licence. They cause a lot of accidents too, I know this from experience!! I agree with the fact that a lot of "young" people with modified cars can be trouble, but surely 16-18 year olds cannot afford all those flash mods without their parents help!

If youngsters are expected to pay for their own things they will need employment. It is unfair on them that, in this age of personal responsibility, to deprive them of a mode of personal transport especially in places void of any public transport.

how can people be expected to work without cars with our retarded overseas owned public transport system

NZ is a rural based country, and most areas have sub standard transport systems, and because most young people need to travel far for sporting, educational, recreational and social reasons the driving age should be kept at 15.

The current graduated system of learners license for min 6 months followed by restricted license for 12-18 months then full license is a good one as it gives the learner a series of steps and tests to complete.

15year olds can be responsible drivers! its the older ones to worry about!

The driving age being raised is outrageous. Plus if you do this there is going to be an outburst by the youth that you are going to have to deal with. Oh yeah and I'd like to make a shout out to my mum. HI MUM! She is the one that raised me to be a polite lady. So to sum it all up I guess don't you F#*&?& raise it.

it should be the same but more restriction on young drivers such as you get chaught going 30 km over the speed limit you should lose you licenses until 18 stundent need to get to school at a young age more people dry from smoking they should somthing about that and leave to driving age alone even 14 is oright for learners i could drive at the age of 12

Any restriction based on age is purely arbitrary. Somebody can be a perfectly safe driver at twelve - and a demonic hoon at 15, 25, 35, 40, 50, 60, 70 - whatever.

Oh leave them alone, most deaths are caused by elder people. Or drunk drivers.

18-year-olds will be going out and getting drunk late at night - and if the age was raised to 18, then what if someone got drunk, and they had to drive themselves home? And the only other sober 18-year-olds couldn't help them cos they only had learner or restricteds? That drunkie could be killed if they crashed - either that, or it would mean one of their sober friends on a learner or restricted license would be forced to drive them home - breaching their own license conditions and breaking the law in order to prserve someone's life. And that's not fair. Also, have you ever thought about WHY we should or shouldn't? other countries need a higher age due to their higher population - and we don't have a high population, so why do we need a high driving age? Besides - the age in places like Iran and Indonesia is 17 - and it hasn't helped them at all. Over there, people are so frightened they have to hire a chauffer and what would normall take twenty minutes ends up taking two hours. So compared to places like those, our problems are MINIATURE. No. A more practical solution would be to abolish restricted licenses (which don't seem to serve any particular course) and increase the period of learner licenses - more adult-supervision. Maybe those politicians need to look at it from a young person's point of view - after all, young people will be the ones affected by it.

i disagree the drivers license should be raised from 15 to 16 years because it would probaly make young adolesence age group to go wild if it was rasied..

It is because of a few idiots that the rest of us suffer.

I very strongly disagree because our parents can't always take us to our practices after school, work, and personal things because my parents work 24/7 and they don't have time to take me to them things. You shouldn't raise the driving age because its not everybody fault that people get ihto accidents at young age. Thats them being stupid and want to see how fast the car can go and etc. So you shouldn't take it out on everyone else because a few of our peers want to do something stupid.

I resent the suggestion that all 15 year olds are immature and do not have mature enough brains. i myself am a 14 year old teenager and there are many teenagers who i know, including myself, that were mature enough to drive at the age of twelve!! Why should the opportunities of those who act accordingly be disadvantaged and scorned because some hoon in a car that is (shudder) "pimped" managed to crash his car after showing off to his mates who have an I.Q. of less than 50!!!! The state of mind that proclaims that 15 year olds and under are too immature to drive a car has surely never met a responsible teenager!

this is pointless because only raising it one year is the same as having it at 15. personally, i think it is good as it is because it doesn't stop anybody driving at the same age anyway. better to learn now than never!

If the driving age is raised we wont get our full licenses until we are at uni. Part of the experience of leaving high school to enter the working work is being able to be independant, although this would not be able to happen if we are still asking our parents to 'supervise' us when we are driving.

When the politicians were getting their licences they only had to be 15, why should it be different for this generation of teenagers?

What we need to do first is look at how many accidents are caused by people with little experience - not the age. It's mostly young people who have little experience so statistics can get skewed to look like "young people = bad drivers" whereas it's probably more like "little experience = bad driver". We need better driver training - a system where lessons are compulsory for all new drivers and not just young people.

it is not the age that causes the issue, it is the actions of the driver. punish the actions according to the driver. Heck - scale punishments according to the safety of the car, the age, the engine size, and the driving history. don't just blame the age.

its not just the 15 year olds. Not everone is stupid so why should they miss out!!!!

Nah thats dumb

No, however, maybe the alternative should be to legally limit the CC rating of a vehicle for young people.

Whenever you start driving, you are inexperienced. I find it ridiculous that anyone is bashing the 15 year olds. We have to drive with a supervisor for 6 months, and by then we have a good feel for the road. If anything, its the older generation that die more because they have more money to buy cars with larger engine displacements. A displacement limit would be good, except the previously stated 1300cc limit is ridiculous. Thats like a motorbike engine, or a stock car. Just because a car has a 2000cc engine doesn't mean that its going to be any more dangerous than a 1300cc one. How about you old folk stop trying to ruin our independence and start focusing on something that is not crucial to city life, maybe like drinking?

raising the driving age aint gonna fix nothing better license tests is whats needed

This is ridiculous, the age should not be limit should NOT be raised, it's just common sense! Why should everyone suffer just because of a few immature they should be punished not the rest of us. In 2006, the most common age group in car and Van Drivers (Involved in Injury) Crashes was adults between the ages of 40-59. Plus imagine if you were just about to turn 15 and news that they would have to wait a whole year or more to get their licence the would be furious, plus it makes it much harder on parents having to try and make time to act as a taxi driving their mature teenagers everywhere. Changing the age limit by one or two years is going to make hardy a difference what so ever plus it will cause hell to break out with protests from our youth! So use your brain and keep the age limit the same!

You expect teenagers to go and work and be responsible and but you wont let them prove themselves get of your high horses and let it go.

ok, look, everybody that has a license has done a test, right? then people should start thinking about making the test a bit harder so that people that have studied and know the road code properly can get their license. that way, others can trust people that have their licenses, no matter what age they are. and i agree with people that say 14 year olds would get really p***** off at the government for raising the driving age then having to wait another year, or longer.

Thats just unfair. Its still takes a year and a half to get your liscense, by then the young mind is more matured. Give us privelages... We feel special

its not just teenagers that drive around like crazy hoons . 15 is a mature age i myself am 14 and i get up most mornings of the holidays at 6.30 and go to work four my uncle amd work a full 8 hour day like any other adult and do the same. then my uncle drives four more than 30 mins to pick me up and i think that if you can do that then you should be able to get your licence and drive to work , if you raise the age then you are introducing two new things in a teenages life one driving and two being aloud to go to pubs so if you get unexperienced driving that go out to a pub and get drunk i think that the disfenceive driving course should be more harder. teenages if they had the chance to prove them selves to every one im sure we could stand up to the challenge . they should make the test harder and teach the person how to react in a situation so that if anything teenagers have a chance at reacting when they need to

ITS UNFAIR!! YOU SHOULD ATLEASTE BE ABLE TO GET IT WHEN YOU ARE 5TH FORM YR 11 !! 1 YEAR DIFFERENCE WILL DO NOTHING!! SO WHATS THE POINT IN CHANGING IT ???????

It doesnt really matter how old you are. You cant put moron drivers in an age bracket . I think that the driving test should be harder. Defensive driving courses and other driving courses essential. Its all about educating. Just because you drive 10 km under the limit every where pissing the normal people off doesnt make you a good driver.

So long as the 15 year old is fully capable of driving or at least getting a learners allow them to get restricted at 16 and then full at 17 or 18. It is best to do it this way for work reasons eg when the kid grows up they can actually drive to and from work or study. Its very hard to do that if you dont have your full lisences by 18.

its better for it to be 15 as drivers will have more experience however they should be taken on a driving test before they can get thier license

people need there licences theres is no point rasing it it will just make the road worse

This was a stupid idea. its the drink drivers that are irresponsible. not just the young ones. thyr good drivers. its only learners and they hav to drive acompanied anyway. what was the point in raising the age?

As the parent of three young adults the idea of raising the driver licencing age is ridiculous. Focus on the actual issue at hand whch is education. Remove the time restrictions around when they can drive as many of them work shifts which require them to be able to travel outside the restrictions of their licences. Remove the rule that forbids them from carrying passengers as this just requires more of them to be on the road. Restrict what they can drive to 1,500cc with "NO" modifications. It works for motorcycles. In some European countrys kids can drive on tracks as long as they can touch the pedals and race along side adults. They have to learn safety procedures and handling skills and they have the lowest accident rates in the world. If you're going to ban young people from gaining independance then it would be fair to say that you should also ban the parents as in many cases they are the ones that have taught them the rules only apply to some. The adults of our community sell them the hot exhausts, lowered springs, fast cars and boom boxes. Stop penalising our young for doing what we teach them and enable them to be and do.

The age should definitely not be raised. This will anger youths more. What needs to be done is put stricter rules in place and bigger fines! Hopefully this'll make young drivers think twice about their actions. 15 is the age when they start work so they to be able to get their restricted license earlier to stop parents running around. Make the Learners test harder and have a defensive driving course in between the learners and restricted.

I may be old enough that ageist treatment of youths is no longer a factor. But I can say that if I was only days away from turning 15 and my birthday just happened to fall one day over the deadline, I would extremely letdown and jaded by the ridiculous legislation that our so-called lawgivers and half-witted politicians make. Don't blame and punish an entire demographic for the foolishness of a couple stupid kids with nothing better to do. All thanks to the welfare state brought about by the labour government.

I Think this is stupid, My mum can't afford to drive me around all of the time, I have had to miss out on sports and activities after school because my mum can not afford to drive me around all of the time. If I can get my learners when I am 15 and my restricted when i am 16 then I can start playing sports again and my mum can go to work to get enough money to pay our rent and have enough food for the week, it is especially hard for her because she is a single mum with three children at home and two she has to send money to most weeks because they aren't getting enough hours at work to pay their rent. I think that raising the driving age is very inconvenient and it is discriminating against our age.

Strongly disagree, getting a licence enables our young people to get out & explore the world. They exercise caution & become less carefree earlier. Especially for young people who find employment we do want them to be independant. 12mths could be the difference between being able to drive themselves to work sensibly & legally.

16 isn't old enough.

Most teenagers have to sit exams for the first time when they turn 16. They don't need the added pressure (or distraction) of learning to drive. Better they have mastered that already.

End!

Reasons To Agree

It is well known the huge increase in young driver accidents. All these situations increase others insurance and kill and maim the innocent. I believe young people should be able to drive farm machinery when trained and only off road but should be required to drive 1300cc or lower engine size vehicles without any mods and drive with L plates and be tested every six months at their cost if wanting to drive on public roads. If these young people are keen on racing cars then they can join a club and race off road on a specially formed track and leave the rest of us using roads to commute in a much safer environment.

The age should be raised to 18

15 year olds are too immature on the whole

it is best 17 or 18 than 15years old and 16years

I believe that it should be at least 16. It has been proven that their brains are not mature enough to deal with the responibility of driving a vehicle at that young age. I also strongly beleive that introducing a defensive driving course as a compulsory part of attaining a driving licence will help with not only youngsters, but adults from other countries who get thier licences here but certainly dont know how to drive properly, especially on NZ roads and in the weather conditions of this country.

should be 17 actually

15 year old minds are unable to connect cause and effect. The age should be raised beyond 16 years to 18. Rural situations can be treated as per the suggestions noted in the first comment above.

20 would be better

Cars are becoming much more powerful. It is certainly a worry that young people can get behind a wheel at the same age as we did years ago when cars were much more sluggish - times change, technology improves and laws need to be adjusted accordingly!!

the police need tyo toughen up - often people are caught on their restricted with passengers and there is no punishment for this and it is at this age where the youth are experimenting and putting others at risk.

i think that over the years the youth have tryed and tryed and tryed to lower the age limit and they got it but waiting untill the end of the year to change it man thats is pothetic i say they change the driving age now before someones son or daughter is killed by a youth because lets face it 15 year olds can't be trusted but thats not all teens some actualy deserv a linces but its just the imatuer ones that rowen it for those people.

I think learners should be possible to obtain at 16, but it need to be a learners and that does not mean you can get out on the road without supervision!!!

I agree because the amount of crashes caused by youth are not proportionate to their population. A higher age to get a licence and longer time spent on the learners licence could help combat this problem. Maturity levels around 15, in general, seem to be to relaxed when it comes to big responsibility such as driving.

Look at the statistics on the road!!!Look at our young men killing themselves, boy racers...and how do they pay for their petrol??? Amazing that they can burn around with not a care in the world

The youngest to obtain Driver's licenses should be 16 for Learners, 17 for restricted, 18 for full.

i think there are more important things they could be focusing on at this age. New zealand city's public transport systems work fine for students/youth ect to get around on :-)

People who are disagreeing are obviously young teenagers! NZ should raise the driving age to at least 18. A vehicle can be a very lethal weapon when in the wrong hands and when used erratically without caution. A 15 year old is not mature enough to be a responsible driver. Also, NZ driving tests are very easy and should be much, much harder! It should also be made compulsory to take part in and complete a defensive driving course before getting issued with a license to drive.