Legal Driving Age

There are about 2,000,000 sixteen year old drivers in United States, meaning that almost 2,000,000 million people depend on the current driving age for many things. Having a license at age 16 gives that person opportunities they wouldn’t be able to have without the freedom a car gives, such as getting a job that could help their family, driving themselves to school or sports practice if their parents can’t or being able to see their friends when they want. Having your license at 16 also gives teens a taste of independence and responsibility. The driving age has to stay at sixteen because teens and families depend on it for many things and it introduces a sense of responsibility for the teen.

“The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16 to 19 year olds than among any other age group.” (Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet 1) “The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers. The risk increases with the number of teen passengers.” (Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet 1) In the United States motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause death in teens. “In 2010, seven teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.” (Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet 2) This alarming number of casualties could be prevented by educating our teenage drivers prior to them being on their own and operating a couple ton weighing

Many states want to bring up the age of driving from 16 to 18. However, many news sites and blogs disagree because adults can do the same exact thing, as a man said from CBS news “it is really easy to do the wrong thing and hard to do the right thing”. Therefore, should these states take away teens’

The legal driving age in Canada is currently 16. While the majority of the world has decided to put their legal driving age at 18. This is simply because 16-year-olds are too immature, mentally, and physically to drive a car. The majority of car accidents are because of 16-year-olds driving irresponsibly. A whopping 67% of teenage passenger deaths in the U.S occur because of teenage drivers; the majority of those being 16-year-olds, and over 50% of teens said they talk on the phone while driving.

Now the issue here is that since teens from the age of 16-17 have not caused as much deaths 18-19 year olds have. Since they have given them the opportunity to be behind the wheel they are responsible enough and more likely to know what is right and wrong and what they should and shouldn't be

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

Due to state safety concerns many states have raised the minimum legal age to drive. The state of Virginia, which is where I live, is now thinking of doing the same. This state should be looked at with careful consideration. The state of Virginia will look at all reasons why it should not be raised before coming to a conclusion. The driving age should not be raised because it would be much harder to get a job, having another driver in a large family can help with day to day tasks, and social freedom and growing up.

A few people may say that it is not fair to let adults determine if teens should drive, however, many teens actually agree with raising the driving age. A seventeen-year-old from Nashville, Liza Darwin, agrees that raising the driving age would benefit the public (Davis, p.249). Not only do teens support raising the driving age, so do many adults. A Gallup Poll found that sixty-one percent of people say that sixteen is too young to drive and only thirty-seven percent oppose raising the driving age (Davis, p.248). With almost two-thirds of society agreeing sixteen is too young to drive, it only makes sense to move the driving age and save a ton of lives which benefits

I think it is safe to say that there are plenty of drivers, whether they are teens, elderly, or any age really, who should not be driving. My father for instance is in his 60's and probably should have had his license taken away decades ago. It just doesn’t make good sense to prove your poor driving abilities at the ripe young age of 16 and never have to prove that you have gotten any better at wielding a 4k weapon or in some poor folk’s case worse. And elderly are often fearful or reluctant to admit their diminished abilities to do things independently, driving is no

Putting teens on the road at a young age as low as 15-16-years-old allows them to gain experience that will help them become more accustomed to the road when they get their driving licences at 18. As stated in the article, Teenage Driving Laws May Just Delay Deadly Crashes, it says “Many teenagers, rather than deal with the extra restrictions for 16-17 -year-olds, are simply waiting until they turn 18, and skipping the restrictions altogether. As a result, a greater proportion of inexperienced drivers hit the road” (40). This proves that teens who do not drive at 16 are more likely to get into car crashes, because they wait til 18 to avoid being restricted like the 16- 17- year-olds. Teens who skip the 16 -17-year-old restrictions are just starving themselves from gaining the early knowledge on driving that is needed to prevent fatal crashes. The same article also says that, “There have been 1,348 fewer deadly crashes involving 16-year-old

Adolescents can be immature, careless and reckless, especially when they’re trying to show off to their other friends. The general public somewhat views eighteen as an appropriate age at which young people grow into adults. As a result, driving should be one of those privileges and responsibilities of being welcomed into adulthood. On the other hand, permitting young people to drive at the same age as they are allowed to consume legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine surely is a big step in the wrong direction. By agreeing to let young people to have the responsibility to drive without the attraction of illegal drugs, nonetheless, you are giving them an opportunity to learn, first hand, the real risks, threats and encounters of driving, hopefully being able to benefit young people make better and more responsible decisions whilst driving. Not only is driving not equal to that of drinking or smoking as it requires an ability test, but those who do drive have to abide to strict laws and registrations. Adolescents are taught how to properly drive cars and have to be able to prove that they can perform to a specific level before they are able to get their licences.

In the article “Raise driving age to 18 when teens are more responsible” by Alexander he talked about how roads would be a lot safer if we raised the driving age. It would give the kids s chance to learn more about driving safety and rules of the road. The issue of freedom for teens are not gone, they can easily take bus to school or have somebody older to them to school or work with no problem.

Teen drivers have the mentality were they are untouchable when behind the wheel. But it’s obviously to much to handle for them because when it comes to the facts to many teens die a year. In 2007, 4,200 teens in the U.S aged from 15-17 were killed and 400,000 were treated in the E.R for injuries because of car accidents (“Motor vehicle safety, Teen Drivers, page 1”). This just shows how irresponsible teens are while driving. In a national survey 12.5% of all high school students rarely wear seatbelts, this just asking too get hurt in case an accident happens (“Motor vehicle safety, Teen Drivers, page 1”). This just shows how teens have a bad mentality while driving. In 2005, 54% of teen deaths occurred between 3 p.m. and midnight on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. This statistic shows that one more reason why a teen would want there license is to get to a party or go

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

Teen brains are not fully developed and they do not understand the consequences of driving carelessly. Young people’s frontal lobes are not fully developed until the age of twenty-five. Teenagers are not able to think the same way as adults. Adults are able to use rational processes when facing emotional decisions. Teenagers are more likely to misuse cars by racing, and also party in cars, and make stupid choices. When a car full of young kids are coming home or going to a party they tend to misuse the motorized vehicle, this is very dangerous. All the intoxicated people in the car are telling the driver to act like an idiot, and are peer pressuring the person into doing things they don't want to do. Young drivers are more likely to race in cars than adults, this is because adults brains are fully developed and understand the consequences of what will happen if you speed in a car. Teens are not capable of making wise choices and understanding the bad things that can happen, they believe that they are indestructible and nothing will and can happen to them. This feeling