Many times when a new driver is behind the wheel with all of his friends in the car with him, he has not developed a certain level of wisdom that is required to determine who you should not listen to and now not to be distracted. If this new driver has an accident or gets caught speeding, it's usually a matter where his/her friends were distracting her or egging them on to go faster.
Therefore, passenger license plates will be displayed on vehicle along with the driver's plate. If the driver gets a $100 fine, all of the other people in the car will have to split the cost.-- Jscotty, Feb 23 2010 Everyone in the car should get the maximum fine.-- rcarty, Feb 23 2010 Quite often, the young driver is distracted by impressing the young girl in the seat next to him. Said passenger is not being actively distracting, she's just being there.-- wagster, Feb 23 2010 I'm not sure, but I think this kind of thing is enforced by insuirance companies. If you're young and a high insurance risk, I believe some insurance companies will offer cheaper cover if you only drive in daylight hours or only drive with no passengers. If the report of your accident shows you were driving at night or with passengers, you're not insured.-- hippo, Feb 23 2010 There's just no end to this business of legislating good judgment in drivers. Age, alcohol, cellphones, passengers ... you can add to that list indefinitely. The problem is, driving's a quotidian activity, something ordinary (i.e. frequently stupid, careless) people do constantly. Ideas like this don't address the root problem. Unfortunately, what *would* address it (treating drivers' licences like pilots' licenses) is not only impractical, but uninteresting (hence, not even a good halfbakery idea).
An alternative is to expand upon the system whereby insurance costs increase if you engage in risky behavior vide supra [hippo]. This works poorly, though, if the events which trigger a rate hike are rare-but-costly. If you kill three people in your first accident, only an economist could take satisfaction in the fact that your insurance premiums rise, making you more cautious in future.
The only hope I see is for a technological fix, whereby AIs take over more of the driving. Maybe there's an intermediate solution, whereby black boxes rat on you to your insurance company.-- mouseposture, Feb 23 2010 ...what about the baby in the car seat?-- xandram, Feb 23 2010 ...pets?-- pocmloc, Feb 23 2010 random, halfbakery