Why aren't younger Americans driving anymore?

Re:Why aren't younger Americans driving anymore? by pixl97 on Monday April 22, 2013 @10:02PM (#5592920)

A better way to word that is 'the poor behavior of young _____', you could put any number of words in there and have the same effect. Youth are not well known for having great risk assessment abilities. At the same time, they do not have property, wealth, and families to add in to any risk assessment they would make.

That said, youth need experience, we are not ready made adults and have to suffer the consequence of our mistakes to learn much of the time. Studies showing that adults make fewer poor decisions should realize a lot of that is because of the previous poor decisions that person had already made.

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Re:Why aren't younger Americans driving anymore? by nitrogen on Tuesday April 23, 2013 @01:27AM (#5593448)

That said, youth need experience, we are not ready made adults and have to suffer the consequence of our mistakes to learn much of the time.

I wonder if an argument could be made that the observed phenomenon of extended adolescence is a direct result of the excessive sheltering of youth.

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Re:Why aren't younger Americans driving anymore? by eli_gottlieb on Tuesday April 23, 2013 @10:41AM (#5595368)

I've certainly noticed that every time new laws are passed restricting young people, a few years later a study is published showing that the brain doesn't mature until even older. I'm not sure which way the causality runs, but I've definitely seen the supposed age of brain maturity rise from 18-20 to 22 to, nowadays, 25.

Which means that apparently by the time my brain actually matures next year, I'll have been able to vote for 7 years, hold all legal responsibilities for 7 years, drink legally for 7 years (outside the USA) and 4 years (inside the USA), and apply for a driver's license for 9 years. I'll have actually lived outside my parents' home for 7 years, been in a single steady relationship for 6 years, supported myself financially for 3 years and held a driver's license for 2 years.

Apparently my legal qualification and actual, demonstrated ability to behave like an adult - all of which is actually pretty normal for someone my age whom I know - either demonstrates unusually precocious brain maturity, or doesn't actually require brain maturity, or these "studies" are showing the effects of society's treatment of young people as barely-functional retards for ever-more-extended periods.

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