KOCHI: The recent proposal by Justice T K Chandrasekhar Das commission, which was set up by Kerala government, to set up a minimum age to obtain driving licence has triggered a heated discussion among the youngsters. The commission has proposed that the minimum age to obtain driving licence be raised to 20 for men and 21 for women, respectively.
The panel also proposed making 50 hours of supervised driving mandatory to obtain the license.
Some of the college students from the city speak up about the proposal which if approved will ultimately affect them
Instead of blaming only the youngsters for the increasing road accidents, the state government should actually focus on mending the craters and potholes that have developed on the roads since these too are one of the important causes that lead to road accidents. Also, the different age limits for boys and girls just show how biased our system is
––Vini Victor, third year LLB student, Law College
In today’s world where men and women stand on par on every platform, having different age limits doesn’t make sense. It is sheer injustice to women. At least the government can set same age limits. Introducing a virtual based system will help in streamlining the applicants for the licence, properly. Also, by increasing the age limit there is no guarantee that accidents can be reduced to minimum ––Sanjay Menon, third year
student, Law College
This whole new proposal with regard to age limit must not be implemented at all. However, they can make the rules more strict to prevent reckless driving and accidents. Also, the 50 hours mandatory supervised driving before obtaining the license can made more liberalised and reduced to probably 25 hours.
––Anu Sankar, first year fine arts student, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences
The legal age for something as crucial as marriage is 18 years, the idea of raising minimum age for obtaining driving licence is an absurd measure if adopted by the state. Though the number of youngsters are dying due to rash driving is high, one cannot just stereotype based upon the age and change the age limit
–– Natasha Louis Paul, a second year BCom student, St Teresa’s College
With the increase in the number of accidents in which youngsters are involved, I completely agree with the proposal put forth by the commission on raising the minimum age for obtaining the driving licence. Most people these days drive even before reaching the minimum age of 18. Also, it is the responsibility of parents to advice their children about road safety. Since they’re failing in doing so, I think the government needs to step in to drill some sense into the people
–– Arjun Pradeep, mechanical engineering student, St GITS College of Engineering