Increase Driving Age in Arizona to Save Lives Essay

Teen Drivers over time have become three times more likely to become involved in a fatal vehicular accident. This statistic often leads to the negative stereotype of teen drivers. However, one must ask why are teens more likely to be involved vehicular accidents rather than any other age group. It would seem that they might have quicker reaction times, and even the ability to pay attention to the road and others around them more. However, these young drivers often attend school for eight hours, participate in extracurricular activities, and then some teens even work part-time even full-time jobs. Therefore, they drive later and later, creating difficulties on top of the lack of experience, for example exhaustion, and distractions whether the

Teens make up about 8% of drivers in the world but, teens are involved in 20% of the accidents (“Protecting Our Children” n.p). As a result of getting a drivers license, teens don’t have to drive with their parents anymore which can be a big problem. Teens become careless when getting into a vehicle without a parent present. They want to cram in as many people as they can fit, turn up the radio, and have reckless amounts of fun being able to transport themselves for the first time. “The Insurance Institue of Highway Safety conducted endless amounts of research on teen accidents. They found that there is a high crash rate for new younger drivers than older more experienced ones due to their decision making and inexperience” (Lund 28). It has also been recorded that 17 and 18 year olds have also recorded less accidents than newly licensed drivers (Lund 28). Laura Mcelroy, police spokewomen, said, “Raising the driving age will save more lives, a more mature person behind the wheel will make better decisions” (“Shifting the Drving Age” 22). Older drivers are proven to have better decision making skills behind the wheel that would lead to less accidents and would end up saving more

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.