Should all states model their driving laws after North Dakota's?

[cinyc]

I would support higher speed limits so long as they were more strictly enforced.

Minimum driving ages should be higher if anything, certainly not lower. Driving with parent or legal guardian present should be legal at 16, otherwise 18 should be the minimum for full driving privileges.

I do agree that fines should be lower (or ideally, eliminated entirely) but instead replaced by community service, mandatory education/rehabilitation programs, license revocation and jail time for more serious offenses such as drunk driving or ridiculously high levels of speeding or other highly dangerous violations such as multiple offenses of red light running.

Rural states like North Dakota historically have had lower driving ages for a reason - children worked on the family farm and needed to help bring goods to market.  In many places, they still do.

One size doesn't fit all - which is why most of us voted no on this in the first place.

[Ban my account ffs!]

You should be able to drive in rural areas at age 16 with a provisional license (no more than so many non-family members, no driving at night, etc.).. 18 in the 'burbs and in the city.

I agree, however, that speed limits should be raised on rural roads.  There's no reason you shouldn't be able to go 80-85mph on I-94 through rural Minnesota on a clear day.

You set the speed limit high, make a law that keeps slower traffic to the right, and have a blanket "basic speed law" that sets the limit to a "prudent and safe" level during inclement weather.

Once you've entered the suburbs, make the speed limit 65mph and through downtown 55mph... though with the way traffic has gotten in the Twin Cities, you rarely, if ever, go the speed limit on the freeways.  You know it's bad when you get stuck in a traffic jam caused simply by heavy traffic on a Saturday at 11am.  Thank you Tim, Jesse, and Arne!

[Nym90]

You should be able to drive in rural areas at age 16 with a provisional license (no more than so many non-family members, no driving at night, etc.).. 18 in the 'burbs and in the city.

I agree, however, that speed limits should be raised on rural roads.  There's no reason you shouldn't be able to go 80-85mph on I-94 through rural Minnesota on a clear day.

You set the speed limit high, make a law that keeps slower traffic to the right, and have a blanket "basic speed law" that sets the limit to a "prudent and safe" level during inclement weather.

Once you've entered the suburbs, make the speed limit 65mph and through downtown 55mph... though with the way traffic has gotten in the Twin Cities, you rarely, if ever, go the speed limit on the freeways.  You know it's bad when you get stuck in a traffic jam caused simply by heavy traffic on a Saturday at 11am.  Thank you Tim, Jesse, and Arne!

Well, another factor to consider with speed limits is not just safety (if that was the only issue, I would agree that the high speeds are indeed safe on many rural roads) but also fuel economy and efficiency. That was the primary reason why the 55 MPH limit was first instituted in 1974; as a fuel-saving measure, not as a safety measure, though it did end up having that beneficial side effect as well.

Age exceptions for farm work do make sense. Licenses aren't required at all if one is only driving on one's own private property, of course.

Oh, and I couldn't agree more about "Keep right except to pass" laws. Unfortunately not all states have them. Improper use of lanes causes a large number of accidents and congestion.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Of course not, we have enough crappy drivers on the road as it is.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well let me just say I'm glad I lived in a state where I didn't have to have my parents chaffeur me around when I was 15 or older, and where I was allowed to drive 100 miles away and stay out till past 3AM at age 16 unlike most here apparentely were.

BTW, anyone who thinks the driving age should be 18 clearly doesn't have a teenage son or daughter.

[dead0man]

Did you see any of these guys there?

[dead0man]

Which is why the website is called NJdouchebags of course.  NJ stands for Long Island.

[dead0man]

So you're saying you've never seen a dude with a horribly fake tan wearing that...."style" (if you can call it that) of clothing?  Every thing I've ever heard about New Jersey is a lie!

[dead0man]

Do people from New Jersey lie about it so nobody else wants to move there?  The horror stories are just that?

[cinyc]

Every thing I've ever heard about New Jersey is a lie!

More likely than not.

Don't believe the Jerseyite spin.  Everything you've heard about Jersey is probably true.  There's a reason why New Yorkers are as surly as we are - we know the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey.

[dead0man]

I just hope Harry isn't getting jealous.  Don't worry Harry, Mississippi still sucks much more than New Jersey does....I think we can all agree on that.

[cinyc]

I just hope Harry isn't getting jealous.  Don't worry Harry, Mississippi still sucks much more than New Jersey does....I think we can all agree on that.

Well, at least Jersey has cheap gasoline - even though Jerseyites are too stupid, lazy, incompetent or untrustworthy to pump it themselves.  It's actually illegal to pump your own gas in the state.

[dead0man]

Right.  I'd rather get shot by a douchebag in Jersey and die than be forced to live in Mississippi.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Right.  I'd rather get shot by a douchebag in Jersey and die than be forced to live in Mississippi.

[dead0man]

At least New Jersey looks to fewer homeless this year.  link

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[Nym90]

Well let me just say I'm glad I lived in a state where I didn't have to have my parents chaffeur me around when I was 15 or older, and where I was allowed to drive 100 miles away and stay out till past 3AM at age 16 unlike most here apparentely were.

BTW, anyone who thinks the driving age should be 18 clearly doesn't have a teenage son or daughter.

I would think those who have them would be more likely to support such a restriction, as they'd know better than the rest of us just how bad of drivers they can be.

And I did have a license at 16, and so am fully aware of how dangerous that was. Obviously at the time I was glad to have one, sure. But when I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.

Actually, come to think of it, I wouldn't mind a driving age of 16 so long as the actual drivers' test and drivers' education courses were made much more difficult to pass.

[dead0man]

I swear I'm not looking for these, they just keeping showing up in front of me.  link

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New Jersey:it's so bad, the feds won't let starlings live there

[Brittain33]

Which is why the website is called NJdouchebags of course.  NJ stands for Long Island.

"Website" as in poorly designed, put it together yourself in five minutes blog owned by a clueless farm-lander.  It's fine though, we know how difficult geography can be when it starts involving rivers and hills and buildings and stuff.

Ok, granted we're from different parts of the state and from different age cohorts, but Facebook has shown me pictures of lots of my high school classmates and there are plenty of guys who have 'roided themselves up into Macy*s Day Parade balloons with tribal tattoos and, yes, fake tans.

Maybe you'll find these people everywhere, but I see a lot more of them in N.J. than here in Massachusetts (which has its own stereotypes, to be sure.)

[RIP Robert H Bork]

No, but North Dakota does need to change its own driving laws.