No person under the age of 20 should be allowed to operate motor vehicles. Under some circumstances and with maturity, 18 year olds could earn a driver’s license.

Driving tests, both written and driving, should be much harder and more thorough than they are today. These tests would teach drivers all the rules of different kinds of roads and would teach the driver how to respond to virtually every type of road situation, condition, hazard, and many other things. The driver should be tested thoroughly in all situations.

When automobile drivers reach the age of 75, they should be required to pass the written and driving tests every two years. When they reach 85 years old, they should be required to pass these tests every year.

The use of handheld telephones while driving should be illegal. Hands free phones should be legal, but only if the telephone system is set up in a way that would allow it to be operated so that a minimum of attention is required of the driver to operate it (such as using speed dial, speech-based or heads up display technology). Engaging in heavy or thought-intensive conversations while driving should be prohibited.

Drivers should not be allowed to call in to radio or TV programs and be placed live on the air regardless of the type of phone used. Only car phones with speed dialing functions should be allowed. The fine for using a hand held phone while driving should be $500, while the fine for using a non-qualifying hands free phone should be $100. If the car is in the “park” gear, all restrictions on driver telephone usage do not apply.

Engaging in any activity or using any device that considerably distracts the drivers of any vehicles or the operators of important or potentially dangerous equipment should be banned (putting on make-up, reading, shaving, etc). Wearing earphones while driving should only be permitted if only one earphone is worn on the right ear. This way law enforcement personnel (who can see the left ear far easier than the right one) are assured that the driver has at least one ear that is free of potentially restrictive hearing impediments

Unbelted automobile drivers who are involved in an accident and suffered greater medical injuries because they were not belted should be required to pay, as punishment, a higher medical deductible for their medical bills relating to that accident.

Similarly, people who engage in other risky behavior, like bull-running, should also be required to pay a higher deductible for any injuries suffered.

The most important factor for determining the price of car insurance should be a driver’s number of negative incidences (accidents, tickets, etc.) per 10,000 miles driven. Different weights would be given to different categories of incidents so that accidents, for example, would be looked at far more seriously than tickets. Incidents caused by drivers who are not the registered owner of the vehicle would not negatively affect the owner. Calculations/estimates would need to be made on a yearly basis to determine the number of miles driven by each driver who shares the vehicle. This factor should be the dominant factor (90-95%) in determining vehicle insurance (excluding theft insurance, etc.) while perhaps place of residence (actually it should be the areas where the most driving occurs: home, school, work, church, etc.) and type of vehicle driven could be the next largest considerations.

Drivers who drive without a license or one that is suspended or expired should be subject to $2,000 fine and impounding of the vehicle (unless the vehicle belongs to someone else).

Drivers who have a valid license, but forgot to carry it with them or lost it, should be required to pay a $100 fine if they are required to show their card to a law enforcement officer. Such people should make sure that they always drive with and carry a valid driver’s license card. The law enforcement officer should be required to use other methods to check the status of a driver who does not physically have their license card with them. No law enforcement officer would be allowed to impose any hardship other than this $100 fine (and possibly a longer wait time during the traffic stop) upon any individual who has a valid driver’s license but who does not physically have their license card.