Is driving a right or a privilege?

[2952-0-0]

I say it's a previlege since no one really has the right to drive. How do you expect someone who is mentally disabled or is blind to drive?

[Gabu]

Privilege.  If you're able and competent, you can drive.  If you aren't either of those two, you can't.  This would be awfully restrictive if driving were a right, but given that nobody seems to have a problem with these restrictions, it's pretty obvious that pretty much everyone considers it a privilege - just one that doesn't have a lot of prerequisites.

[A18]

Depends on the situation. If you pay taxes for roads (here, everyone who buys gas does), you have the right to use them, but I mean in a practical, realistic way.

On your own property, you have the right to drive.

We should also get rid of driver's licenses, which are just another way the government taxes us.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

We should also get rid of driver's licenses, which are just another way the government taxes us.

There are enough bad drivers on the roads already, no need to make it easier for sh**tty drivers to drive.

[Gabu]

Depends on the situation. If you pay taxes for roads, you have the right to use them, but I mean in a practical, realistic way.

Paying taxes for something does not immediately mean you have a right to use it.  Your taxes go into the military, but that doesn't mean that every citizen gets his own squad of soldiers that he or she can order around.

[??????????]

Dean this is for you :

[2952-0-0]

Dean this is for you :

It's an honest question. It's no more spamming than your "Arabs should be rounded up" posts or all those flag contest threads.

[7,052,770]

It's a privilege because they're the government's roads, not mine.

However, if were to go and build my own private road then it'd be my right to drive on it.

[minionofmidas]

Write-in: a crime.

[Ebowed]

Dean this is for you :

It's an honest question. It's no more spamming than your "Arabs should be rounded up" posts or all those flag contest threads.

States is part Arab

[MODU]

Privilege, hence the reason why you have to pass a test and receive a license, which can be taken away from you when you break the law.

[John Dibble]

I think it's a right, but not a natural one - meaning you have to earn it, and it can be taken away if you abuse it. It's a right in the sense that you as a citizen have the right to equal access to the chance to get a license as all other citizens, just as everyone should have equal access to all government services. Now, driving on someone else's property is a privilege, because only those who have the owner's permission can do so - access is not granted equally to all citizens.

[MaC]

I think it's a right, but not a natural one - meaning you have to earn it, and it can be taken away if you abuse it.

That means it's a privilege John.  If someone can take it away, then it's not truly a right.

[Gabu]

I think it's a right, but not a natural one - meaning you have to earn it, and it can be taken away if you abuse it.

That means it's a privilege John.  If someone can take it away, then it's not truly a right.

Well, everything in the world can be taken away from you in some form, so using that criteria, nobody has any rights.

Personally, I consider a "right" to be something that the vast majority of people agree should never be taken away.  Given that hardly anyone argues with taking away the ability to drive from someone who's absolutely incompetent at driving, I therefore don't consider driving a right.

[MaC]

right refers to something you do not need permission for.  If I were to never complete drivers training, and never put hours in or pass a test, then it would be considered a right.  Since I can have my liscence revoked it's a priviledge. 

Let's make it more simple.  If I need a liscence, then it is a privilege.

[dazzleman]

It's a privilege, because it requires (in theory at least) a certain level of competence, as well as a certain standard of behavior.

[Dave from Michigan]

privilege, some people should not get an license or have it taken away like my brother who has 12 unpaid tickets, no insurance and no registration for his car, also he will be driving with an expired license in like 7 months because he refuses to pay something like $15-20 dollars for an new one.

[dazzleman]

privilege, some people should not get an license or have it taken away like my brother who has 12 unpaid tickets, no insurance and no registration for his car, also he will be driving with an expired license in like 7 months because he refuses to pay something like $15-20 dollars for an new one.

He sounds like a great driver.  Someone with that record needs to do a stint in jail.  There are too many stories about people who drive dangerously, ignore the tickets that they get, and end up killing somebody.  Giving someone a ticket serves no purpose if they never actually pay the fine, and if they ignore the license suspension that results from failure to pay the fine.

I'm not an angel behind the wheel.  I have a heavy foot, within reason, but when I get nailed, I take the punishment.  And I make sure to keep my offenses to the level where a fine is the only punishment.  I don't want to be one of those guys cleaning up the sides of the highway on the weekends as compulsory community service.

[The Dowager Mod]

Privilege

[Dave from Michigan]

privilege, some people should not get an license or have it taken away like my brother who has 12 unpaid tickets, no insurance and no registration for his car, also he will be driving with an expired license in like 7 months because he refuses to pay something like $15-20 dollars for an new one.

He sounds like a great driver.  Someone with that record needs to do a stint in jail.  There are too many stories about people who drive dangerously, ignore the tickets that they get, and end up killing somebody.  Giving someone a ticket serves no purpose if they never actually pay the fine, and if they ignore the license suspension that results from failure to pay the fine.

I'm not an angel behind the wheel.  I have a heavy foot, within reason, but when I get nailed, I take the punishment.  And I make sure to keep my offenses to the level where a fine is the only punishment.  I don't want to be one of those guys cleaning up the sides of the highway on the weekends as compulsory community service.

yeah he's rather arrongant and thinks he knows everything and has a problem with the law. He believes he shouldn't have to follow laws he doesn't like, like speed limits, he once refused to take a ticket from the cop.

[dazzleman]

privilege, some people should not get an license or have it taken away like my brother who has 12 unpaid tickets, no insurance and no registration for his car, also he will be driving with an expired license in like 7 months because he refuses to pay something like $15-20 dollars for an new one.

He sounds like a great driver.  Someone with that record needs to do a stint in jail.  There are too many stories about people who drive dangerously, ignore the tickets that they get, and end up killing somebody.  Giving someone a ticket serves no purpose if they never actually pay the fine, and if they ignore the license suspension that results from failure to pay the fine.

I'm not an angel behind the wheel.  I have a heavy foot, within reason, but when I get nailed, I take the punishment.  And I make sure to keep my offenses to the level where a fine is the only punishment.  I don't want to be one of those guys cleaning up the sides of the highway on the weekends as compulsory community service.

yeah he's rather arrongant and thinks he knows everything and has a problem with the law. He believes he shouldn't have to follow laws he doesn't like, like speed limits, he once refused to take a ticket from the cop.

I enjoy breaking rules too, but I keep it low-level and don't endanger other people.  His license must be suspended with all those unpaid tickets.  Why hasn't he gotten hauled to the clink for driving with a suspended license?  And he should have gotten arrested for refusing to accept a ticket from a cop.

[MasterJedi]

It's definitly a privilege.

[John Dibble]

I think it's a right, but not a natural one - meaning you have to earn it, and it can be taken away if you abuse it.

That means it's a privilege John.  If someone can take it away, then it's not truly a right.

Well, everything in the world can be taken away from you in some form, so using that criteria, nobody has any rights.

Personally, I consider a "right" to be something that the vast majority of people agree should never be taken away.  Given that hardly anyone argues with taking away the ability to drive from someone who's absolutely incompetent at driving, I therefore don't consider driving a right.

Well, I believe that if there's a government service, you have a right to it if you are a citizen and you qualify. Yes, it can be taken away, but because you are a citizen you can't be denied your license on some arbitrary thing that wouldn't get other people disqualified. In a privilege situation, you can have something denied to you for any reason, and usually this can be done by any individual(such as an individual not giving you the privilege of being allowed to be on his property).

Now, just because you have a right doesn't mean it can't be taken away - gun rights for instance can be taken away legitimately if you become a criminal, because you essentially abuse the right. Since we're all citizens we can all drive if we pass the test, nobody can be denied the a license if they qualify and nobody can have their license taken away unless they no longer qualify to have it. That's just why I view it as a right, because all citizens can have it and the qualifications aren't random to each individual.

[Cubby]

Its a privilege. I shudder when I think of a day 20 years from now when millions of baby boomers become awful drivers when they hit their seventies, making driving in this country a nightmare.

Although it would hurt politically to implement, I think eventually people should lose their driver's license at 75 or so, no matter their ability, since they become extremely slow, lousy drivers and we don't want incidents like that one where an elderly man plowed into a street fair a few years ago and killed 9 people (in CA I think) to become common.

[??????????]

Its a privilege. I shudder when I think of a day 20 years from now when millions of baby boomers become awful drivers when they hit their seventies, making driving in this country a nightmare.

Although it would hurt politically to implement, I think eventually people should lose their driver's license at 75 or so, no matter their ability, since they become extremely slow, lousy drivers and we don't want incidents like that one where an elderly man plowed into a street fair a few years ago and killed 9 people (in CA I think) to become common.

I agree with all of this. But you are in CT so you will be safer from old people driving then I will.