Listen, someone who hasn't taken a driving test in decades can be a very bad driver and still be legal. You can be damned near senile and still not be forced to surrender your license until you run over someone.

At the other end of the scale, take a look at the accident record of newly minted drivers and try to convince me that having a license makes someone a competent driver. These are the most recently minted drivers who have passed their written and driving tests administered by the government, but they also have the highest accident rate. How do you explain that, smartass? Are you so blind that you think passing a test is enough to make for a skilled driver? At least here in Colorado, they've passed restrictions on what new drivers can do until they have more experience. That's an admission that the testing program is and has been inadequate.

As for testing itself, I know of some farm states that allow kids to drive without a license as young as 14. They stay to rural highways and are farm kids, who by and large are far more mature than city kids at that age. By and large, their accident rate is no worse than the average young driver and better than most.