Pros And Cons Of The Minimum Driving Age

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

Should the minimum driving age be raised? In the article Traffic Safety Facts the NHTSA states that, 5,864 15 - 20 year old drivers were involved in fatal crashes in 2008, which is a 27% decrease from the crashes in 1998. This is still a big number, and has been tried to be reduced by New Jersey, but ended up not doing much, and instead added and increase of car crashes to an older age group. The minimum driving age should not be raised to allow teens to gain experience, learn responsibility, while staying safe altogether.

You can't take something away from teens they have been waiting their whole lives for. A lot of people will be mad at everyone for raising the driving age.

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.

Evidence from the personal experience of teenagers is used (“…young drivers, only half said they had seen a peer drive after drinking…nearly all, however, said they had witnessed speeding…”); collective evidence (“It’s become a sad rite of passage in many American communities”); statistics (“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that neophyte drivers of 17 have about a third as many accidents as their counterparts only a year younger”) and (“Between July 2004 and November 2006, only 12 provisional drivers were tickets for carrying too many passengers”). The author also used common mores on teen safety; (“…parents will tell you that raising the driving age is untenable, that kids need their freedom…perhaps the only ones who won’t make a fuss are those parents who have accepted diplomas at graduation because their children were no longer alive to do

"Just because of your birthdate, are you dangerous?" (Should Driving Be Raised to 18? by John D'Amico and Alex Koroknay-Palicz). Lawmakers and state legislators are considering raising the age for legal drivers from sixteen to eighteen. But doing so will bring more harm than good. First, cars are essential for transportation, and teenagers today desperately need that transportation.

Is it really safe to drive a car or be a passenger in one? Does the age of other drivers on the road make it any safer? Some states in the U.S want to raise the minimum driving age from 16 to 18. Albeit many drivers, and passengers alike, may think the minimum driving age should be raised to 18 because of the number of traffic accidents caused by younger drivers, the minimum driving age should remain at 16 because the responsibility of having a car can influence teenagers to be more responsible with other aspects of their lives, teens would not have to rely on their parents for transportation, and it could help adolescents build up experience to improve their driving.

Having the ability to drive at such a young age also builds character and also helps teach them responsibility. The driving age should not be raised above 16 because no matter when people learn how to drive, the first year is always the hardest and most dangerous. If the driving age was raised to 18 or above, teenagers would not be able to work and support themselves or their family, depending on their situation. Teenagers are starting and applying for their first jobs which means that they are going to have to drive themselves since their parents have their own jobs, and they will not be able to stop working just to drive their child to work. Most, if not all high school graduates would be negatively affected by the driving age being raised to 18, as some graduate at 17, and many others at 18.

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.

The minimum driving age should be raised because teen drivers need more experience and deadly car crashes will decrease. As a teenager one of the many things wanted is freedom and independence. Although knowing what you want is a good thing, it is not so good to take a risk on something as serious as driving and have a “know-it all” attitude. With motor vehicle crashes being the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, raising the minimum driving age is a very important decision. When considering this change we need to remember that it is a decision that will affect all of us.

In 2014, 2,270 teens in the U.S. ages 16-19 were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. State legislature should raise minimum driving age from 16 to 18 because of the immaturity level of 16 year olds, responsibility, and they would be older and have more experience. If driving age was moved up it would make the roads a much safer place to be.

According to “Teenage Driving Laws”, Dr.Masten pointed out that when California institute implemented tougher laws for teenage driving, teenagers from the ages 15- to 17-year-old rate of getting a license decrease significantly, whereas the ages of 18- to 20-year-olds rate stayed the same (Source 2). To clarify,

Raising the age was not an idea based on opinions. Over the years many people and organizations have recorded facts and statistics to support their claims. An example shown on CBS News, shows that “More than 5,000 U.S. teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Safety Administration” (CBS NEWS). One huge influence on the topic was the Insurance Institutes for Highway Safety, they created a seventeen page memo filled with statistics and examples of how raising the age is a necessity. This is not the first attempt to use statistics to support the appeal to raise the age. The Seattle Times states, “The example the institute uses most prominently is New Jersey, the only state with a minimum driver's license age of 17. The report cited a study from 1992-96 in which the rate of crash-related deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds was 18 per 100,000 in New Jersey, compared with 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut, which had a minimum driver's license age of 16 and 4 months” (Willette). Overall the argument that raising the age will result in less teen deaths while driving is highly justified. There are frequent examples and a huge amount of research that proves that younger drivers are more likely to cause harm or damage than an older, more experienced driver.

The text,"Do teens need graduated licenses?", is the text I agree with beacuse the driving age should not be raised and nothing ill change and everything would still be the same just people older than 18 would be driving

As with many teens of today, most are beginning that next big step towards official adulthood, driving. The mindset of seemingly having no restrictions of what you can do is at an all-time high when driving on the roads, especially for teenagers. For them, it’s a new experience possessing the kind of privilege they’ve never had in their lifetime. Unfortunately, some teens tend to take advantage of this kind of freedom and totally disregard the well-being of both themselves and the drivers around them. All those bright colored traffic stops and signs that seem clear enough for others to follow are not always taken into consideration. Thus, increasing the age requirement to eighteen would allow teens more time to mature and learn the true importance