Increase Driving Age in Arizona to Save Lives Essay

Statistics show that ‘in 2011, about 2,650 teens in the United States aged 16-19 were killed’ and almost 300,000 teens were severely injured from fatal crashes. Every day, 7 teens die from car crashes/injuries. Newly licensed drivers who are aged 16-19 are at a higher risk of fatal crashes than drivers aged 20 and over. As well, many of these crashes are caused by teens that text, talk, or drink and drive. Inexperienced drivers, who are many 16 -19 year olds in the United States cause higher insurance, accidents and crashes, and so, the legal driving age should be increased to 18.

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

Teen driving allows American youth to have their license between the ages 13-15. At this age, our American youth are more likely to be careless while driving without supervision. The younger teen drivers are the more susceptible to fatal car accidents they will be due to the lack of supervision and proper driver’s education. Lack of maturity and experiences leads to developing poor driving habits. The teens in the age group 16-18 are usually more mature in handling a motorized vehicle. States that allow 13-15 year old teens drive are more likely to get in more car crashes from driving earlier and not having enough experience.

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.

One of the causes of motor- vehicle accidents in teens is distracted driving involving cell phones. Every day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,153 people are injured in accidents due to distracted driving involving cell phones (“Distracted Driving” par. 1). When teens drive and look at their phones to read or send a text message so much can happen on the road with those few seconds of not paying attention. However, a distracted driving study was created by the CDC and found that teen drivers have the highest proportion of distraction- related fatal accidents (“Distracted Driving” par.

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.

“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.

There is no surprise that the leading cause of teen accidents is distractions. Whether teen drivers are talking or texting on cellphones or simply chatting with passengers, distractions play a larger role than previously thought in automobile accidents and were responsible for about 6 of every 10 moderate to severe crashes according to a recent AAA report. The statistics are alarming:

This fact proves how teens are easily distracted when driving. More than 10,000 teenagers died in Tennessee from speeding in the years from 2005-2008. This proves that teens do have a tendency to speed while driving, let alone this is just one of the 50 states in the U.S (Teen Driver Safety, page 1”). There are many facts about teen driving and all of the facts I have collected just prove my reasons to be more correct than they already are.

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 under the age of 19 are more likely to die in accidents than adults. “ A number of studies have shown that passengers substantially increase the risk of crashes for young, novice drivers” (Goodwin). The increased risk results from distractions that young passengers create for drivers. The presence of passengers may increase the likelihood of teenage drivers engaging in explicitly risky behaviors.” Four potentially risky driving behaviors were examined in the driving clips speeding faster than other potentially moving vehicles, speeding too fast for the situation, following too closely,

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.

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.

The legal driving age has been a constant debate and is a growing question across America as well as other countries around our globe. Each year the percentage of teenage accidents involving automobiles rises. Whether it’s caused by the lack of experience or under the influence of alcohol, death is a big problem on the roads. Teenagers are allowed to get their licenses at an earlier age than in most countries, and little driving experience typically is required before licenses are issued. If the driving age is raised, only the age group of the inexperienced drivers would change, but it wouldn’t reduce the number of accidents. Although this is true for some young adults, there are immature people of all ages. The reason why there are so

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