Re: agreeing*

And it was the kind of "research" that was referred to when some adviser to the transport authorities was trying to raise the driving age.

In this respect, the primary reason for raising the driving age is because teenage drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents. Some states have, until recently, allowed 14 and 15 year olds to drive, and it really is terrible to see how many 14 and 15 year olds were dying. They have found that raising the driving age a few years greatly reduces the number of fatal accidents. Whereas these fatal accidents often involved others beside the driver, it is a public safety issue. There is a reason why insurance companies charge higher rates to young drivers.

While I certainly agree that teenagers are adults and that their brains operate at full capacity, there are still substantial differences between a 15 year old and a 25 year old. The biggest difference is experience. This can take on many forms. For drivers, it obviously includes experience on the road, and having more knowledge of dangers and how to avoid them or recover from them. However, it also includes a psychological side: although a 15 year old may have just as much mental ability as an adult, they may be so excited to be driving, and feeling so immortal, that they are more willing to take unnecessary risks (animated discussions with passengers, passing on a hill, multi-tasking while driving) than a 25 year old, or even a 16 year old, would.

In any case, the case for sexuality is quite different from the case for driving. Third-party accidents are quite uncommon, for instance, and risk to life and limb is much less. Also, failure to begin a healthy sex life by age 18 is likely to produce negative psychological effects for the rest of one's life, whereas failure to drive until age 18 likely will not. However, one thing is common to both: it is well accepted that new drivers should start out with an experienced driver to teach them and even to just ride along with them for the first year or so, and with sexuality . . . well for some reason, it's illegal, but it's still a good idea.