Increase Driving Age in Arizona to Save Lives Essay

Every day teens are given access to automobiles. Every day these young people go to their jobs, classes, and athletic practices. Do they all abuse their driving privileges? No. Then why restrict all teens, including the law-abiding and mature, by raising the driving age? This debate reaches all across the nation, to all levels of government, and many related laws and propositions can be found. If the driving age is increased, teenagers will have more difficulty getting jobs and gaining experience. On the other hand, if the driving age is 18, new drivers will have more maturity. So the question remains, should the legal driving age be 18 years old? No, the current driving age

In 2013, more than 2,500 teenagers died in the United States from motor vehicle crash injuries. Such injuries are by far the leading public health problem for young people 13-19 years old (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [IIHS], 2014). Drivers are not the only ones at risk. Teenagers who are passengers in others vehicles make up a startling 87% of the fatality statistic. Lack of driving experience, disregard for traffic laws, and quick access to full driving privileges contribute to teen death. To reduce teen driving fatalities, successful completion of driver education classes provided by public and private schools should be mandatory for all teenagers prior to receiving their driving permit.

The achievement of a driver’s license is a rite of passage for a large number of adolescents and young adults in the United States. Societally, the driver’s license is representative of a key to the outside world, and, in some ways, it is also thought of as being one of the first steps into adulthood. This perceived importance leads numerous fifteen and sixteen-year-olds to obtain their license as quickly as they possibly can which can be dangerous. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers who are between sixteen to nineteen years old are at the greatest risk of being involved in a fatal crash, and sixteen and seventeen year olds also are at nearly twice the risk of eighteen and nineteen year olds. This has led some experts to call for a raise to the minimum driving age. While this is an understandable conclusion to come to, this is not necessarily the best course of action. There are other programs which can decrease the fatal crash rate, which can alleviate the crash concern. Otherwise, the ability to drive is, as stated above, an important step towards adulthood, and it provides maturity. Additionally, due to the lack of public transport or other safe ways to travel from place to place, the ability to drive provides younger Americans with mobility so that they can work, go to school, and also be with friends. For these reasons, the minimum driving age must stay at sixteen.

Throughout the year of 2011, about 2,650 teens in the United States between the age of sixteen and nineteen were killed and almost 292,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries involved with motor-vehicle accidents (“Teen Drivers: Get the Facts” par. 2). Basically, seven teens die every day from motor-vehicle injuries. The risks of these accidents are becoming higher each year among the teen age group. Research has shown, teens in the United States between sixteen and nineteen have a fatality rate four times higher than adults twenty five to twenty nine (Cole, Wendy). Teens are more likely to underestimate dangerous situations or not even recognize a hazardous situation. Distractions of cell phones, impaired driving due to alcohol, and lack of experience due to brain development contribute to motor- vehicle accidents caused from teen drivers.

Everybody wants to hurry and get their license once they are of age. Teenagers normally have to take some tests before they are to be trusted on the road. Once that is over, teens will be allowed to hit the road and do all the things that they need to do to have a successful life. In spite of all joys that come with hitting the road, there are many problems (“Teen Drivers” par 1).

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – P.J. O’Rourke. In 2013, two thousand-one hundred-sixty-three teens in the United States, age sixteen– nineteen, were killed and 243,243 were treated for injuries suffered in the car accidents. In simple terms, about six teenagers, age sixteen- nineteen, died every day from car crashes in that year! This problem needs to be resolved. Fortunately, there are solutions to decreasing motor crashes, like increasing the driving age to twenty-one. There’s been a great deal of controversy regarding if the driving age should be grown to twenty-one. Consider the driving age being brought up to twenty-one; teenagers are not adults yet (immature) and do not take driving seriously. Teens tend to not wear seatbelts and ride cars faster than adults, the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among sixteen- nineteen year olds than any other group of drivers, and teens may consume alcohol and/or text and drive.

Teen driving is unsafe and dangerous, teen driving is the leading cause of teenage deaths in the United States with more than 5,000 teens dying a year. 17 year old Weston Griggs, killed himself and the 2 passengers he had in his car. But, this accident was no accident. Weston was going 70 mph in a 40 mph speed zone. The issue in this story is that young drivers like Weston, inexperienced and full of adrenaline are just hurting them selves and others by getting behind the wheel at such a young age. Teens between the ages 15 through 17 do not belong on the road. Outrageous amounts of teens are dying every year and these numbers are not changing, so why keep them on the road? Teen driving in the United States have three main problems

According to the NHTSA, car accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers 14-19 years old in the United States. This is a horrifying fact that parents of teen drivers have to face. The challenge is not only teaching teens to be safe and responsible drivers, but trust your teen to actually take the steps needed to safely operate a vehicle and avoid accidents. Rosenberg & Gluck recognizes the struggles parents deal with regarding their teen drivers and we encourage parents to learn more about what they can do to prevent their teens from future accidents.

Based on the study’s findings, having passengers under the age of 21-years-old increase the crash risk for teenage drivers. With one passenger under 21-years-old in the vehicle, teens had a 44% increased risk of being killed in a collision. When teen drivers had two passengers under the age of 21-years-old in their vehicles, their risk of suffering death in a motor vehicle accident was doubled, compared to the risk when driving alone. This risk was essentially quadrupled when teen drivers had three or more passengers who were not yet 21-years-old.

Nationwide, there has been millions of drivers getting their license every year. Injuries and fatalities have been one of the number one causes of death at some ages, but “The study, published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that since the first graduated driver programs were instituted, there have been 1,348 fewer deadly crashes involving 16-year-old drivers,” (Anahad O’Connor, Teenage Driving Laws, 28-31). Younger drivers have at times been the main culprit of trouble on

Teens are the number one cause of accidents in the United States, and the number of teen accidents is still rising. Most of the teen accidents that have occurred have included them having several passengers in the car with them. Teen drivers become more distracted when they have teenage peers in the car with them, and this causes them to engage in more potentially risky behaviors. Many researchers are debating if teens should even be allowed to drive with more than one passenger in the car with them.

Passengers who are age peers may distract the teen drivers and encourage them to take more risks, especially for young males driving with young male drivers.” The presence of peers can significantly affect the teen driver, however, a parent or trusted adult can create a definite border between driving safely and at a risk. Although peer passengers carry risks in teen driving, with all facts mentioned, teen passengers can only affect the driver by choice. In Facts About Teen Drivers, the group also states, “ Parents play a crucial role in teen driving safety, including peer pressure.

As a person travels on the rigid and uncertain road called life, there are many different checkpoints one must pass, each with many different experiences. The most awkward, and probably most exciting checkpoint, is learning how to drive. Most teens across the United States can obtain a learners permit around age fifteen, which makes it legal for them to drive under the supervision of a license holding adult. At age sixteen, most teens can obtain their driver’s license, even though it can be considered restricted for at least the first six months. Freedom, parties, driving to school, driving my friends around: these are a few of the things that go through the mind of the teenager driver and the deep desire fueled by social expectations. To be frank, teens feel entitled to drive and expect nothing less as soon as they turn of age. Life is like a rigid and uncertain road with a few road blocks in the way. Those road blocks are essential for development and driving is one of those road blocks. But what if one was told that at this age marks the end of the road for a growing amount of teens? According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “In 2015, 2,333 teens in the United States ages 16–19 were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes in 2014”. Teens should not have to experience something as exciting as driving and then die before they attend their prom or even graduate high school. It is nothing wrong with teenage driving, it is just important to know the dangers of teenage driving which is inadequate experience, peer pressure, and freedom.

Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. More than 5,000 young people die every year in car crashes and thousands more are injured. Drivers who are 16 years old are more than 20 times as likely to have a crash, as are other drivers. There are two main reasons why teens are at a higher for being in a car crash and lack of driving experience and their tendency to take risks while driving. Teens drive faster and do not control the car as well as more experienced drivers. Their judgment in traffic is often insufficient to avoid a crash. In addition, teens do most of their driving at night, which can be even more difficult. Standard driver's education classes include 30 hours of classroom teaching and 6 hours of behind-the-wheel training. This is not enough time to fully train a new driver. Teen drivers are more like to be influence by peers and other stresses and distractions. This can lead to reckless driving behaviors such as speeding, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and not wearing safety belts. There is no safe amount that you can drink and still drive. Even one drink can influence your driving offences. “Nowadays, drunk driving has become driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired, driving while under the influence, operating while under the influence (impaired, intoxicated, or whatever), and in many