OK, that was a bit of an overstatement, but I have seen states raise the driving age (17 now in DE instead of 16, and New Jersey is trying to raise its driving age to 18). The drinking age is still at 21. Lawmakers claim they are raising the driving age in order to make sure teenagers are more responsible behind the wheel (and inherently, are responsible enough to drink and drive), while the main philosophy behind the drinking age of 21, it seems to me, is that minors under 21 aren't responsible enough to drink and drive. So, are we eventually not going to be able to drive until we are 21, how about not have consentual sex until we're 21? Is 21 a magic number when reason hits you and you magically become an adult?
I understand that one must draw a line somewhere and not let 2-year olds drink/drive, but I think that raising the driving age is not helping. Novice drivers will get into accidents, regardless of age. I think what needs to be done is to have a mandatory high-quality driver's education program in all schools, and there must be mandates (maybe, set by the states' depts. of education) on what needs to be tested in these programs, and these programs DO need to include a driving portion. Though my state has the drivers ed. requirement in all public schools, I never learned to parallel park, so the state-mandated test is a must.
As for drinking, keeping it at 21 doesn't help. Kids will find alcohol no matter what. 18 year-olds are allowed to die for our country but they're not allowed to drink or gamble (although this post isn't about gambling)? It just seems like we're still not clear on an "age of adulthood", so to be fair and consistent, either have people fight for the country after 21 (doesn't make much sense), or drink at 18.
And I think the best way to approach this is drive at 16, drink at 18. Kids should learn to drive well before they have the legal opportunity to drink, and a 2 year gap is sufficient. I think this will not be different difference from 18 drive/21 drink or even 28 drive/30 drink
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completely agree. and a surprising number of people share our view, but why is nothing being done about it? dont we elect our congressmen for a reason?
Drawing an arbitrary line for anything doesn't work. However, lowering the age of drinking to 18 i think would definately take away some of that whole "im a rebel. Look at me, 18 year old freshman in college and drinkinga beer. oh boy" kinda idea.