I voted for 17 just because some teens may need a car to get to work. Otherwise, I would have voted 18. I think that many teens, and even older people, do not recognize how dangerous a hurtling box of metal on wheels is. Wreckless driving ought to be treated severely. Combined with NZ's low drinking age, I'm not surprised that so many young people are at the center of so many horrible smash-ups. (Hmm... wreckless, wreck... seeming opposites, yet wreckless driving can bring on a wreck).

I don't quite buy the argument that teens need to drive because they live in an agricultural area, and need to get to school. How did they get to school when they were 10?

In California, I got my licence at 16. Although I was one of the more careful teen drivers, I still did stupid things when in high spirits - mostly going 50 mph on a wonderful 35 mph curve. Fortunately I never got in a wreck. But some of my peers scared the bejeezus out of me, and I never got in the car with them a second time. At 16, my sister got T-boned when she blasted through a stop sign. She and her friends were unhurt only because she was driving a '63 Caddy (though the car was totaled).