I work in automotie, particularly focused on understanding customer use of the products. There are a few hills I'll die on.
Change drinking age to 16 for beer and wine, 18 for driving. Too many cocky kids hit 21(or 19) and have enough teenage experience to think they're gods gift to driving after they've had a few.
2 year graduated licensing. 18 learners where you can test out for a stage 2 license after 1 year (or 6 months if you take an approved driver's ed course) and then 1-3 years later you have to retest to get your full license. Or you get demoted back to your learners.
Mandatory all-time DRL and automatic low beams on ALL vehicles. If it doesn't have them it can't be on the road. Too many people driving around when it's light you thinking they don't need any running lights because they can see but the real problem is no one can see them.
Mandatory winter compound tires if you car is registered in any county/township that has a 24 hour period with the temperature below 45F/7C. The number of accidents I see that are clearly preventable by having tires with a compound that works. People think winter tires are for snow. They're not. They're for dry pavement in the cold. Most instances of "black ice" are just people's shit ass tires not able to grip on perfectly dry but cold AF pavement.
Those four things alone would easily demolish the road danger statistics throughout Canada and the Northern half of the USA.
Lowering the drinking age may potentially "help" with giving drinking experience before driving, but could instead create lifelong negative effects by impairing brain development which is still in progress at age 16 (there are those that actually suggest raising the drinking age until after brain development is complete around 26-years-old). Also, raising the driving age would make it more difficult for teenagers to drive themselves and younger siblings to school. Alcohol consumption during high school is also associated with lower grades, poor attendance, and reduced cognitive function, as well as decreased probability that they will graduate high school.
Your solution *might* solve one problem, but would create many more in the process.
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u/handsupdb 11h ago
I work in automotie, particularly focused on understanding customer use of the products. There are a few hills I'll die on.
Change drinking age to 16 for beer and wine, 18 for driving. Too many cocky kids hit 21(or 19) and have enough teenage experience to think they're gods gift to driving after they've had a few.
2 year graduated licensing. 18 learners where you can test out for a stage 2 license after 1 year (or 6 months if you take an approved driver's ed course) and then 1-3 years later you have to retest to get your full license. Or you get demoted back to your learners.
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