That's an interesting question. Let me see if you can answer it, in reverse:
How do you expect a new driver to be experienced before he gets behind the wheel?
You can raise the minimum age to get a license. You can put restrictions on new drivers. You can NOT change the fact that every driver will be inexperienced for several years after they start driving. You need to have many hours (hundreds, thousands?) of experience BEHIND THE WHEEL before you gain some degree of competencee, if you EVER do. The faster you rack up those hours, the faster you learn from the experience. So age-based laws accomplish nothing at all, other than possibly lengthening the time that a driver is inexperienced.
But if you absolutely insist on drivers being experienced before they ever drive, maybe we should take the airline pilot approach . . . many pilots carry pbuttengers the first time they actually fly. YES, they carry pbuttengers on commercial airliners the first time they actually fly. They get away with this as the simulators they train on are very realistic.
Make similar simulators for new drivers. Log a thousand hours of safe driving in the simulator (set to Hell Week mode, ha ha) and you get your license. Total a car in the simulator, and your hours start over from ZERO.
Other than that, there is nothing that can be done to prevent the fact that ALL drivers will be inexperienced drivers at some point in their lifetime, whether that is at 16, or 26. Age based restrictions accomplish othing. -Dave
