This broke down pretty much the way I thought it would. Some agree, some disagree. So, what do I think? I think it's a good idea. Not a great idea, but a good one. This judge has "hit them where they live" so to speak.
"Jent got the idea after a girl in her court for a moving traffic violation appeared not to take seriously either the offense or the possible fine." Yeah, that pretty much says it all. I'm betting that if this one hit a cyclist, and caused that cyclist to be seriously injured, she'd probably say "So? What's the big deal, anyway?" Then she's probably pull out her cell phone and yak it up with her boyfriend.
This past spring, there was a higher-than-usual number of bad accidents involving teens and cars in MA. Some state legislators wanted to increase the age for a license to 17 1/2, which would have put it among the highest in the nation. So, they filed a bill. Well,,,, First of all, it was interesting that so many teens developed this sudden interest in civics, and how bills become law, but that wasn't the good part. The good part was the reaction of parents, a lot of whom rumbled into the state house from the wealthy western suburbs, when the bill came up for public hearings. I watched this on the local political channel. One woman sat there, and with a perfectly straight face, (Botox?)told the members of the joint transportation commitee, that they had already picked out their daughter's car, for when she gets her license, and to not get it now would be so devasating....
Wow. There must really be something wrong with me. I didn't get a license until I was eighteen, or a car until I graduated college. I rode my Raleigh Record all that time. I guess I just wasn't living.