I am 16, and in Ontario you can get your G1 (granting the ability to drive with an accompanying adult) on your birthday (which I did) and then you have to wait a year to get your G2 (which is pretty much a full license), or if you take driving lessons (which is expensive, but I did anyhow) the time is reduced to 8 months. Most kids around here don't get driving until they are 17.
I think kids should only be able to drive if they buy the car for themselves, and pay the insurance after it goes up because of speeding. I go to a school in a pretty well off neighborhood and alot of the kids at my school have cars which are simply too quick for any driver. What do you expect them to do with a 200hp+ Audi when they aren't the ones maintaining or paying for any of it? Show off! Of course! I am the only guy in my grade who owns his own car (despite the fact my parents offered me wheels). I feel that as a result I am a more responsible driver, besides that I couldn't afford anything quicker than my 1989 Volvo 240. To slow things down even more it was missing its fifth gear when I got it (which I'm too cheap to replace because I would have to work almost 74 hours to get the money together) - and is therefore automatically limited to 90 km/h! I'm a firm believer that driving is a privilege but I don't think it should be totally age discriminatory- if you're mature enough to earn the money and find the car you should be mature enough to know the consequence of your actions. Besides, people are just impressed with my clunker as they are the next guy's Cadillac or Lexus simply because they know I bought it!
I feel well deserved of my freedom, and am definitely against raising the driving age. I don't live within' biking distance of anything (not to mention it's icy and -25 degrees C outside right now) and as the environmentally aware cyclists should note, having your parents drive you everywhere often requires twice as much fuel because they have to drive me (or whoever) to the destination, and then home again. Repeat that for pickup. (not to mention my parents have other things to do!).
As a closing, I would like to state that this isn't a 'pro-motoring' post. If anything, giving teens automotive independence will in most cases take more cars off the road because their parents aren't driving them everywhere! Also, when teens are made to pay for their own gas they are far more aware of their driving habits- I keep a bike in town so that I can bike to do my errands and save on fuel, when most adults with steadier, higher paying jobs (and more ingrained driving habits after years of cheap fuel) aren't even thinking that way. I hate to say it, but if you target the teens pocketbook (which advertisers are doing all the time!) you can certainly get to their heads.