What were the driving laws when you were young? Do you think the new laws are an impr

[CBC News]

New rules for young and inexperienced drivers in Ontario are set to be introduced at Queen's Park on Tuesday.

The legislation will make it illegal for drivers under 21 to have any alcohol in their system when they're behind the wheel.

It will also limit the number of teens allowed in a vehicle at one time.

Don Forgeron, the Ontario vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada says saving lives is more important than inconvenience.

Forgeron says while 16- to 24-year-olds make up nine per cent of the population, they account for 25 per cent of the fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.

Full story

What were the driving laws when you were young? Do you think the new Ontario laws are an improvement?



More...

 

[lone wolf]

Limiting the number of teens in one vehicle is sure going to limit camping trips and attendance at away football games. Drinking is a given. Zero tolerance should apply to everyone. If you look at the face of that moron who cut you off in traffic or ran the red light or just gave you the finger, chances are it belongs to someone whose teenage years are long gone.

I started driving in an era before seatbelts when a lot of dashboards were painted metal and knobs became spears upon impact. Maybe what kids have to learn is the same sort of respect we used to learn.

 

[scratch]

I totally agree with lone.
I started driving at 15 and the rules of the road today as controlled by the drivers not the authorities is dangerous and pathetic.

 

[Scott Free]

This kind of discrimination is inexcusable.

I hate Canada.

 

[#juan]

Funny. I can't remember when I got my last speeding ticket. Whe I was working I was always speeding and always getting speeding tickets. I still speed but maybe I speed more responsibly.

When I was sixteen years old in the fifties, I got my learner's licence and bugged my older brother to take me out and let me drive. After a month and about 4 or 5 hours of fairly loose instruction, I took my driving test with the inspector from the department of motor vehicles. The test took all of five minutes, including one parallel park, and I was set loose upon the world. Not to worry though. I didn't get a car for another couple years.

 

[fubbleskag]

driving is not a right, it is a privilege - one that has been handed out based on a demographic statistic that no longer represents the expected level of responsibility and maturity that it once did.

 

[arob]

Message in a Bottle

In a phone conversation with Dalton McGuinty, Tim Mulcahy remarked that 'with these new laws, Ontario will have the safest roads in the world.' But if you are between the ages of 16 and 21, they will also be among the most restrictive.

The new laws would have police enforce:

1. A total ban on alcohol consumption
2. A ban on more than one teenage passenger
3. Zero tolerance for speeders – one ticket and they're off the road.

My friend, CSR expert storyteller Billie Mintz, an innovator in new media production is currently filming an investigative documentary that scrutinizes the distribution of the responsible drinking message. He wants to hear what you think about McGuinty's proposed new laws? Sound off here.

The Message in a Bottle is a 12 part web video series which examines the responsibility everyone shares regarding the advertising, sales, purchase and consumption of alcohol.

The world is changing; Ontario is becoming a safer place, but are we sacrificing freedom for safety?

 

[Scott Free]

driving is not a right, it is a privilege

That's only what the government would have us believe. What if they told everybody they couldn't drive tomorrow? Would you think it was a right then? Damn straight you would. You only say it isn't because you think your right to drive is secure - well it isn't.

 

[lone wolf]

That's only what the government would have us believe. What if they told everybody they couldn't drive tomorrow? Would you think it was a right then? Damn straight you would. You only say it isn't because you think your right to drive is secure - well it isn't.

If you're required a license it isn't a right....

 

[scratch]

Explain Please.

 

[Scott Free]

If you're required a license it isn't a right....

You're only required to have a licence to drive a motor vehicle on a public road. A motor vehicle is a machine registered as such under the motor vehicle act.

Believe it or not you can drive an unregistered car down the road without a licence.

I have a friend that does this. He gets bothered by police sometimes but mostly they leave him alone. He charges the police $300 an hour for any inconvenience they may cause.

Think free

 

[scratch]

He charges the coppers, that's a good one.
But do they actually pay?

 

[Scott Free]

He charges the coppers, that's a good one.
But do they actually pay?

Yes - or so he claims.

It's really complicated and I don't understand it all. He is registered with the court registrar that his time is worth $300/hr or $5000/day. The police become personally liable to him for that amount.

The site I gave has a disclaimer attached to it about being a comedy site but I assure you it isn't. The guy is turning into a royal pain in the ass (pun intended).

 

[darkbeaver]

When I was young the driving law was ass grass or gas nobody rides for free.

 

[hermanntrude]

when i was young you had to drive on the ceiling, and get a dog to walk in front of you waving a green flag.

 

[fubbleskag]

That's only what the government would have us believe. What if they told everybody they couldn't drive tomorrow?

I would take the train just like I do most mornings.

Would you think it was a right then?

No. I would think it was stupid and might question the sanity of the government that would make such a ruling and perhaps even my desire to live under such a government.

Damn straight you would.

Rhetoric is only good for alienating your audience and making yourself look like a pompous ass, by the way.

You only say it isn't because you think your right to drive is secure - well it isn't.

If you insist on answering your own question as if you were me, you should at least pretend to answer it as if you were me, rather than as if I were you. I've already stated that I don't believe driving is a right; yet, while answering for me as if I were you, you've used the belief in my (your) right to drive as the argument for my (your) answer.

On a side note, when I read this particular paragraph I can't help picturing Fezzik from The Princess Bride for some reason...

I'll assume that your friend, like you, also lives in Beautiful British Columbia; as such, I'll supply some quotes directly from the BC Motor Vehicle Act:

You're only required to have a licence to drive a motor vehicle on a public road.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the owner of a motor vehicle or trailer must, before it is used or operated on a highway,(a) register the motor vehicle or trailer with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia,
(b) obtain a licence for its operation under this section, and
(c) obtain for it an owner’s certificate under the Insurance (Vehicle) Act.


The owner must apply for
(a) registration and licence in the form required by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, and
(b) a motor vehicle liability policy.

A motor vehicle is a machine registered as such under the motor vehicle act.

"motor vehicle" means a vehicle, not run on rails, that is designed to be self propelled or propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires, but does not include a motor assisted cycle;

Believe it or not you can drive an unregistered car down the road without a licence.

I believe it. In fact, I've done it. But that neither makes it legal, nor a right.

I have a friend that does this. He gets bothered by police sometimes but mostly they leave him alone. He charges the police $300 an hour for any inconvenience they may cause.

Think free

I'm disinclined to believe this claim without something more substantial in terms of evidence; if you happen to have it handy, great; if not, also great - it bears no relevant weight to this topic.

 

[Scott Free]

I'm disinclined to believe this claim without something more substantial in terms of evidence; if you happen to have it handy, great; if not, also great - it bears no relevant weight to this topic.

I can understand not believing it. I doubt I would either in your position. I wasn't trying to convince anyone but I was offering a different take on the subject.

To simply throw out something because you haven't, in a moments examination, found anything which constitutes "evidence" in your little brain is seriously misguided. But I can tell by your post that you have a certain world view and examining anything that would threaten it or make it uncomfortable isn't within your personal mandate. So you're very right, I won't support your world view and probably never will, and since to you support is evidence, I suppose you'll never hear anything I have to offer. That's fine by me. ;-)

 

[fubbleskag]

Your troll is weak.

 

[lone wolf]

So Scott ... why don't you explain yourself then? The laws exist and have for many years. If "your friend" choses to run barefoot then make some lawyer rich, that just tells us a lot about "your friend".

 

[talloola]

When I had my test to aquire my drivers licence, it was l953, and I was 15. I had been driving
quite a bit, as my boyfriend, (now my husband), had a car, and he taught me to drive, in the
rural area of new westminster. We had to write the test, take a practical indoor test on a set up fake car to test our reflexes and such, and acquire a
learners licence, and almost anyone could take you out driving for the three months until you
could take your driving test and acquire you 'real' licence.
Well, I must have been really arrogant, because I made up a big story when I went for my test
and told them I allready knew how to drive and didn't want a learners, I wanted the real thing.
Both of the men looked at me rather suspiciously, and asked howcome I allready knew how to
drive, SO, I told them I had just moved down from way up country, and had been driving on
the farm for a long time. They fell for it, I took my test, and passed, and got my 'real' licence.
The laws were very lax, I like it the way it is now. There was lots of drinking and driving in those days, and lots of accidents related to drunk driving, and some young people we knew
were killed in accidents, drinking and speeding. Liquor was the 'poison' of choice in those days, and it was used way too much by teens, but drugs were almost non existant. No seat
belts, and cars would be loaded up with lots of kids, drinking and roaring around the town
taking all kinds of risks.