Hacker News Reader

Comment by jarboot | Hacker News Reader

I think it's an American problem of treating 18 year olds like 14-16 year olds. Same goes for drinking. Why can't we trust (young) adults like other countries do?

View on HN

>Why can't we trust (young) adults like other countries do?

Because higher drinking age leads to less drunk driving (in the US, at least). That's the reason the drinking age is 21. Unfortunately.

If we had a culture of responsibility around alcohol consumption, we wouldn't have such a problem.

Interesting, some states are raising the age for cigarette purchasing to 21.

Or a system of transportation that is not cars.

> Because higher drinking age leads to less drunk driving.

This may be the cause of a poor or non-existent public transportation system. Once you have an efficient public transportation, you have alternatives to reach home after having drinks. Otherwise, it's your own car or Uber which is an expensive option.

And yet I have never encountered such a careless attitude wirh regards to DUI than in the US. Age alone is clearly not the only thing that matters.

I do agree but how is this related to the story? The issue is people under 18 riding the scooters, not people 18+.

My problem with them is when they drive them under my wheels. The skateboarders going down the local hills at 30 mph in traffic with no brakes are bad enough, fortunately, there aren't very many of them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com