Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2006 09:51:20 -0400
Reply-To: Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
Subject: Re: An Open Letter to all the DADs Out There NVC Friday Stuff
In-Reply-To: <004401c6b2b1$d051dfe0$c95f9904@gpa207joel>
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> my much belabored point?
> drivers licenses should be MUCH harder to get and keep. maybe like
> germany
> where it takes many weeks of classes and tests and costs several
> thousands
> of dollars. maybe ... maybe that would make a difference.
> but based on the people i work with, i seriously doubt it. :(
I've known my fair share of incompetent German drivers (I'm saying
there's any more than in the U.S.)---the way I saw it, most of what the
German system did was make it financially really difficult for people to
get their license... plenty of bad drivers still got their license. So
it's harder on working folks to get where they need to go in a car... I
don't know about you guys, but a lot of the DADs driving around in New
Jersey are driving fancy shmancy cars and would obviously have had no
trouble shelling out the cash for a German license.
Here's something to remember: by the time an American gets his license,
he could easily have *more* driving experience than his German
counterpart, not less. That's because the big difference between the
European system and the U.S. system is the "permits" the U.S. has. I
remember when I was 16: first I got my permit, and was allowed to drive
around with my parents for 6 months before getting a license. Then I
took a test (and I admit the test was a TOTAL joke), and they gave me my
license. In Germany, (and, I imagine, in most other western European
countries), there is no such permit system. That's why it costs
thousands of dollars: for every hour you drive before they hand you the
license, you have to pay an instructor to be there with you.
Now, I'm the first one to say that most states (mine was PA) have
driving tests that are a joke... this should be changed. But I like the
permit system. And it seems like it would only make sense to change
that if lots of people were getting into accidents driving with their
permits (and their parents). As far as I know, this isn't the case.
More Driver Ed (the one where you're actually driving with the
instructor) might be good too. They could have everybody do it, and
somehow make it paid for if you couldn't afford it (this should
definitely be a good investment in the long run in terms of
accidents/insurance costs). My basic point is just that it seems like
the basic difference---that you can drive around with some "adults"
before you get the license, instead of shelling out thousands to drive
around exclusively with an instructor---is a good one. Imagine if the
first time someone was teaching you to drive stick, it was some person
you didn't know charging you money for the experience!
Also, let me say: I'm not trying to start a debate about the percentage
of DADs in Germany/U.S. I've known wonderful German drivers and
wonderful American drivers. In both countries, I knew people that had
appeared to "slip through the cracks".
Just my thoughts...
Wes
'84 1.9l
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