To regulate or not to regulate?
Thank you all for responding to this post, I have the answers to my questions and truly appreciate your civility and your thoughts, I will no longer be following the thread as I am satisfied with you...
Forum Discussion
I agree that strict testing and intense education makes for safer drivers. The military and many other countries have proved it.
BUT....
I do not know of any state that requires you to have a drivers license or insurance before you can buy any vehicle. If you have the money you have the vehicle and can drive it off the lot. I have sold several vehicles and never ask to see the persons drivers license before signing the title over to them. The point is any law or regulation is useless if it is not enforced, and a compliance test would have legally obligate sellers to test buyers.
I cancelled my CDL 5 years ago and have not had to show a drivers license to anyone since. I could probably drive the rest of my life (statistically another 10 yrs or so) without a drivers license. If you are going to require proof of competence it has to be a continually checked competence and the problems of continual testing will lead most people to not bother. After all the fine for not having a license is relatively small and the hassle of getting one these days is high. You need utility bills in your name, birth certificates, Social Security number, ETC, and marriage/divorce certificates if you are a woman who changed her last name when she got married/divorced. To bad if your spouse is listed on the bills and you are not.
Estimates vary by state but 1 in 8 do not have insurance and 1 in 10 do not have a valid license. No figures on how many drivers never even got a license in the first place. So without a on-the-road compliance program, like with commercial truck drivers, there would still be untrained drivers.
In short, the OP asked what people think and I think it is dreaming to expect Americans to be safe drivers. We all expect the accident to happen to the other person.
BUT....
I do not know of any state that requires you to have a drivers license or insurance before you can buy any vehicle. If you have the money you have the vehicle and can drive it off the lot. I have sold several vehicles and never ask to see the persons drivers license before signing the title over to them. The point is any law or regulation is useless if it is not enforced, and a compliance test would have legally obligate sellers to test buyers.
I cancelled my CDL 5 years ago and have not had to show a drivers license to anyone since. I could probably drive the rest of my life (statistically another 10 yrs or so) without a drivers license. If you are going to require proof of competence it has to be a continually checked competence and the problems of continual testing will lead most people to not bother. After all the fine for not having a license is relatively small and the hassle of getting one these days is high. You need utility bills in your name, birth certificates, Social Security number, ETC, and marriage/divorce certificates if you are a woman who changed her last name when she got married/divorced. To bad if your spouse is listed on the bills and you are not.
Estimates vary by state but 1 in 8 do not have insurance and 1 in 10 do not have a valid license. No figures on how many drivers never even got a license in the first place. So without a on-the-road compliance program, like with commercial truck drivers, there would still be untrained drivers.
In short, the OP asked what people think and I think it is dreaming to expect Americans to be safe drivers. We all expect the accident to happen to the other person.
