Driving Regulations

Robbie Comeau

Robbie Comeau

Como's back. back again
Warning: I hope this doesn't get to political, as I'm not debating or going against anything. I'm just stating the new rules..

You guys hear of our (Canada's) new driving regulations?

Before this new law passed, we had freedom. We could have as many passengers in the car, we could have tickets and not lose our license, and we could have .8 alcohol in our system. (I'd never drink and drive anyway so that's not a concern for me)

Some new rules that apply, that I know off the bat are:

-After one speeding ticket, you lose your license
-Driver can only have ONE person in the car. Any more you lose your license.
I think when you're 18 or 19, you can have as many as the car can fit.
-Absolutely no alcohol in your system (Good).

It just sucks. It's all the carless, drinking and driving drivers who ruin it for everyone else.

I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I guess we'll find out.

I just got my license, and my car, so I'll let you guys know how it is :)

Robbie
 
Are you sure it's not only where you live?

What does this apply to? People under 18?

I'm here in Quebec and haven't heard anything. Usually the province decides these laws. (I think)
 
Quebec is the worst to drive in! Lol.

I'm not sure about Quebec, actually.

You know, now that I think of it, I think it's just Ontario.

Under 18, yes, you can't have ANY alcohol.

under 19, no speeding tickets or you lose your license. (Or it's 18 not sure)

Under 18, not more than one driver. But if there over like 23, you can have as many in the car.

It's the teenage kids who show off for there friends that are ruining it for us.

Robbie
 
Robbie's incorrect with the new driving policy. First of all, it has NOT been implemented and the Liberal's are rethinking their game plan.

Secondly, it goes something like this...

Previously, with a valid G license, you could have 0.05% alcohol in your system (being over 19 - the legal drinking age in Ontario of course). Now, if you have anything in your system...21 and under your license is suspended for 30 days (first instance), 60 days (second instance) and then on the third instance, you have to start the graduated driving system from the beginning (the written test).

This applies to speeding as well - 10km/hr over or 50km/hr over...the same suspension rules apply if you're 21 or under.

As for the number of people in the car, I believe that if you're under 19, you can only have one passenger in the car aged 16-19 that is NOT family. Same suspension rules apply here as well.

Without getting TOO political, it is ageism at its worst. These new rules would not be horrible, if they applied to everybody, regardless of age. I agree there are a lot of idiot teenage drivers that drive drunk and race, but if you're going to create a rule like ZERO alcohol tolerance...make it apply to everyone.

My thoughts,

Kegan
 
Thats how it works in New York.

Simple thing. Don't speed. Don't drink and drive. And the passenger thing. It works a little something like this:

Teens and many passengers in the car create a distracting environment, which leads to more accidents. It's not ageism - it's liability. There is no argument against it.

That is why your insurance premiums are exceptionally high when you are a new teen driver and drop off eventually (around 25). Same with the reason your insurance premiums go up when you get in an accident or get a speeding ticket. Liability.

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teens.
16 year olds have the highest crash rate of all drivers.
Drivers between 15 and 20 died in accounted for 14 percent of all fatal accidents. And 20 percent in police reported accidents.
The same age group only makes up 7 percent of licensed drivers.

More than half of young drivers use cell phones when driving.
69 percent speed up when they hit a yellow (I do...)
47 percent say passengers sometimes distract them.
Death rates increase with each additional passenger age 16 - 17.
One third of all fatal teen accidents are speed related. One-quarter are alcohol related.

Stats speak for themselves.

Liability and numbers - not ageism.
 
I have no qualms about the new laws - they will only affect me for a few more months (and it hasn't even really been put into effect yet) and the passenger one doesn't affect me at all.

I am just curious because those stats seem to be those 16-20...what about 20-25? Hell, if an adult can say that a nagging wife or an argumentative husband isn't distracting then I will say that the stats regarding passengers being distracting is valid only to young people - until then, I don't believe that. It affects everybody - so does the cell phone percentage. Being from New York, I'm sure you see everyone, from kids to business people on their phones constantly. Again, that's not something that is age specific.

My point is this: why not just raise the age before the licensing process can start? Or at least make the courses more strict? Implement more time between the classes (G1, G2, G, etc - here at least).

It seems that these rules aren't going to make a difference. People over the age of 25 are guilty of talking on their cell phones, eating while driving, being distracted by passengers, speeding and drinking and driving. Maybe not as many, but if you're going to start implementing rules...think them out thoroughly and ensure that you have strict measures for older drivers as well. If there aren't, it just shows that older drivers can get away with more and that's not a very good message in my opinion.

-Kegan
 
I would not want my kids driving around with a car full of friends. That is why I will do with my kids what my parents did to me at 16. Buy them both 2 seaters.
 
Driving "restrictions" are not restrictions at all, man. They are laws that generate money for the city/county. I mean, if the system didn't want us to drink and drive, they'd remove parking lots from bars and booze from gas stations. If they didn't want us to speed, they'd put transistors where speed limit signs are and all of our cars would be equipped with recievers that govern our speed in that speed zone.
Money is the point of these goofy little non-car-pooing laws your stewing about.
Just pay as ya go and brush it off at the same rate. That's what I do.
I could not tell you how many tickets I have recieved in my lifetime. I can tell ya how many of em have gotten under my skin though.

0
The man will be the man. Our job is to pretend we don't notice.
 
Robbie when I was your age, I probably had the same opinion as you do now.

I was driving when I was 15 (beginners 3 months before 16th birthday) and then had my license one month after my 16th birthday (after failing the drivers test once). During the first year got a speeding ticket and then another. I've seen some pretty crazy accidents and have seen what a car looks like after after flipping end over end. On one occasion, my friend was driving, this car is coming towards, the driver swerves to dogde a plastic garbage can that was in the middle of the road, the driver is doing 80km in a 30km zone, he loses control, barely misses us and we watch as the car flips 4 time and lands on the roof in someones front yard. The driver was a kid I went to high school with, four kids in the car, luckily no one was critically injured.

Now, my point is that at the age of 16, I and I think most teenagers are not prepared to drive. In my opinion the age should be 18. I did a lot of growing up in two years and after seeing some pretty scary shi* on the road, I started to slow down and not be as reckless. I had some close calls, car spinning out from going to fast in the winter, narrowly missing a 20 foot drop off.

As I said, I would have been all up in arms over something like this at your age.

I also think there should be mandatory license renewal test when you hit a certain age. I worked at a gas station during high school and probably nearly got hit 15+ times by old drivers either not seeing you or losing control of their giant boat cars. On one occasion narrowly just missed getting pinned up against the kiosk by this old lady that smashed into it.

Call it ageism on both ends, but the fact of the matter is these laws should be implemented to keep people safe and alive. I have two uncles that are police officers and some of the stories I've heard would make you sick.

Now some of the proposals that the Liberals in Ontario are proposing I don't agree with. Again from expierence, whenever we went out partying, we always took turns being the designated driver and one person could drive 4-5 people and make sure everyone gets home safe, this law could potentially bring up the DUI numbers for teenagers 19-16.

The zero alchohol makes sense, I think most provinces have already implemented that.

Without getting TOO political, it is ageism at its worst.
Click to expand...

Kegan, there is ageism everywhere, from Insurance companies to movie theaters. The government doesn't recognize someone being an adult until their 18.
 
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Robbie,

when you're older, you'll see things different. I'm only 22, but I already see it very differently. In fact, I think there should be stricted laws all around for all ages. I get frustrated when people complain about the price of tickets, for example. I just think "why are you speeding that much in the first place?" Or people complain about the slow speed limit on the service road just before the highway. And I think "it's so people don't die? So people can get out of side streets? So trucks don't have people crashing into them every two minutes?"

Whether or not it's for money, there's a purpose for these laws. You can complain about them and kick and whine, or you can realize they're there for a reason.

In all honesty, those laws don't sound too restricting. It's similar to here in Quebec when you have you're driving permit (before you have your license). Then you're on a probationary license for 2 years that which is also zero tolerance for alcohol, amongst other things. I never had problems with those laws. Now I'm older and I proved that I know how to drive responsibly.
 
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