View Single Post
Old 09-29-2009, 10:44 AM   #25
Superglue WRX
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 106275
Join Date: Jan 2006
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Gresham, OR
Vehicle:
New Chevy SUV
Government Motors White

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by amanichen View Post
For the naysayers: judging by the high WRX insurance rates making news recently, giving high powered cars to people with little driving experience is a bad idea. So it would seem there's some actual logic behind tiered licenses

Remember, this this law isn't just nannying legislation designed to protect people from themselves - there's OTHER people on the road that might not want to be in the way when you lift-off oversteer your WRX into a grove of trees.

In the US, you can drive basically anything you want on private property. Traffic laws only exist on public roads. Driving on public roads is a privilege, for which you need a license, car registration, etc. There are already restrictions on vehicle types (commercial, non-commercial, motorcycle, etc.).

In the US, the basic premise of laws and regulations comes down to "free to do whatever you want, as long as you don't have an impact on someone else's rights." This seems to have been forgotten, as people seem to take the attitude that "I have rights to do whatever I want, but nobody else does."

In the US, your rights only extend as far as someone else's. So, if you violate someone else's rights, there are consequences. For example, there's no such thing as an explicit or implied right for a 16 year old to drive a car with big honkin V8. However there is an implied right for the other people using the road not to be injured, maimed, or killed by an irresponsible driver.
Driving on public roads is also a right, not a privilege:

Chicago Motor Coach v Chicago, 169 NE 22
Thompson v Smith, 154 SE 579
Kent v Dulles, 357 U.S. 116, 125
Schactman v Dulles, 96 App D.C. 287, 293

Being scared of a 16 year old driving a V8 with a valid license isn't enough to take away their right to drive daddy's Camaro Z28. You don't fix a leaky faucet by turning off the water to the house, likewise, you don't fix bad drivers by taking away the option of having a faster car.
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Superglue WRX is offline   Reply With Quote