Risks of Teenagers Obtaining a Driver's Licence

Did you know that each year, car accidents result in more teen deaths than any other cause? There is a way to prevent this and that is to institute the Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) in all states. This would help by allowing teens to earn driving privileges gradually. Instituting the Graduate Driver’s License will reduce traffic deaths among teens, and also gives teens the driving experience they need to operate a vehicle responsibly.

“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

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

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.

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

As teenagers are leaving their homes, cities, and in many cases, states, to attend colleges, driving has become an integral part in a teen’s life. However, many states are putting heavy restrictions on teen drivers to keep not only them safe, but the rest of the community as well. But that has not been enough- teen drivers still are a major problem on the road due partly to their lack of mental development. This has pushed some states to consider raising minimum driving age, eliminating the whole problem of inexperience in drivers. The minimum age should not raised, however, because it will not help the issue of road safety.

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.

Young drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 experience high collision rates on roads, And this requires the need for raising the legal driving age to not have unnecessary injuries to our future generations. No parent or loved one ever wants to lose a child to an avoidable automobile collision caused by driver inexperience, preventable error, or carelessness behind the wheel. Additionally, the volume of traffic on US roads and highways alone causes intimidation among many experienced drivers.

One of the most anticipated moments in a teenager’s life is when they finally pass the driving exam and get to stare into their own fresh, gleaming, brand new driver’s license. This is certainly a life changing moment for any teenager, but not in the way they would expect. Sadly, car accidents with teens at fault cause more injuries and deaths than any other demographic in the world. While getting a license at 15 or 16 may be a commonplace milestone of the American way, the associated risks of having young teens driving without restriction are simply not worth the privilege of being able to drive at such an early age.

“In 2011, about 2,650 teenagers in the United States aged sixteen to nineteen were killed and almost 292,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That means that seven teenagers’ ages sixteen to nineteen died every day from motor vehicle related injuries” (Teenage 1). Teenage driving has become an increasingly controversial topic over the past ten years. Many adults and politicians are fighting for tougher driving laws and legislation for teenagers. While soon-to-be teenage drivers, along with current teenage drivers and busy parents argue that things are fine just the way they are. But, when the leading cause of death among teenagers in the nation is traffic accidents, things cannot be considered “fine”. It is obvious that there is a need for change and something must be done to save the lives of teenagers throughout the United States. In an effort to lessen the number of traffic injuries and deaths among teenage drivers, states need to adopt a Graduated Driver Licensing Program (GDL), which encompasses night-time driving, passenger limitation, cell phone use, seat belt use, a minimum holding period, and a minimum amount of supervised driving hours.

teens are overinvolved in crashes because they lack both the judgment that comes with maturity and the skill that comes with experience. The crash rate per mile driven among 16-19 year-olds is 4 times as high as for older drivers. Graduated licensing is designed to delay full licensure while allowing beginners to obtain initial experience under lower-risk conditions. The best systems set 16 as the minimum age to get a learner's permit, and during this period parents certify at least 30-50 hours of supervised driving. Intermediate licensure begins at 16½ or older and lasts until at least 18 years old and includes both a night driving restriction starting at 9 or 10 p.m. and a rule prohibiting teen passengers, or allowing no more than 1 when

Teenager are ready to get on the road at the age of sixteen when it is legal to get your license. They are ready for freedom and ready for a big life ahead of them, little did they know it take responsible to drive a car because if you don’t follow the rules from the state or your parents, you can in up in a wreck. There are more teen driver that happen to get in a wreck than adults do. Teen drivers have a history of being unsafe drivers, so precautions have been made to limit wrecks caused by them. They have the basic skills to drive.

On July 2017, a Minnesota teen driver ran a red stop light ending the life of a father and his 10 year old daughter all because she was texting behind the wheel. Unfortunately, stories like this are happening way too often all over the country making motor vehicle crashes the leading cause of death for teens in the US. These situations have sparked the debate of whether or not the legal driving age should be raised. As a teenager, driving can seem like the most important part of your life. Growing up is hard enough, and as teenagers lead busy lives packed with sports, volunteer work, paid jobs and hobbies, driving can seem like a way of improving their everyday life. However, with teen driving comes the horrors of reality. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015, “2,333 teens were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments due to injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes.” Many people argue that these crashes are the cause of teens immaturity, inexperience, poor judgment, and the lack of the brains full development. Many government websites including “Kids Live Safe Organization” and “Department of Motor Vehicles” have taken the steps to tackle this problem by urging parents to talk to their children about how to be safe on the road. These websites have accomplished the job of informing parents of the dangers of irresponsible driving however the deaths continue to rise. There is no doubt that something has to change before more

One of the main reasons that teenagers are involved in accidents and commit traffic violations is that when teenagers start driving, they are inexperienced. According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “crash rates are highest during the first 500 miles of driving” (The Anatomy 1). This means that due to the inexperience of teenagers, there are more crashes during the early teenage years of driving and the number of crashes decline as they gain experience. Furthermore, countries in which the legal age to obtain a driver’s license is 18 or above, there are a higher number of crashes in early years of driving (Anatomy 1). This research supports that “practice makes perfect,” meaning that as teenagers practice driving, they gain experience and

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.