South Carolina Driving Laws

“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

Teenagers are more likely to speed than older drivers because people have less developed brains at the ages of 16 or 17 than at 21 or 22. As a result, one in four teenagers are aggressive drivers and almost twenty percent of teenagers admit that they enjoy speeding, as stated in the New York Times. Drunk driving is a recent problem even among adults. Although drinking and driving is illegal, and drinking under the age of twenty one is illegal, twenty-five percent of all fatal car crashes caused by teens involve an underage drunk driver. Teenagers also have the lowest rate of seat belt use, and seat belts are the most effective way of reducing accidents. In addition, texting while driving is the number one cause of car accidents among teenagers due to the development of social media. This causes teens to drive while looking down at their phones, which can eventually put them in the hospital. Therefore, raising the driving age to 21 will prevent teens from dying due to car accidents-- the number one cause of teen deaths in 2013, according to the CDC Injury

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

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

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

Shari Roan in “Should the driving age be raised” talks about the controversial issue all American families face when it comes to teens driving and the safety of others. She states that in a nationwide analysis the number of fatal crashes between the ages 16 and 17 year old drivers have fallen and the number of fatal crashes between the ages of 18 and 19 year old drivers have risen by almost the same amount. She states that the combination of immaturity and inexperience makes teen drivers particularly vulnerable to motor vehicle accidents. She also explains that car crashes are the leading cause of death among teens resulting in 4,054 fatalities in 2008 according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington Va.

The first position in this argument is some young people who do know how to drive or near to learn driving are mostly immature. Due to a recent study young drivers who do know how to drive are very immature and irresponsible about their driving skills such as drinking and driving, drugs, and sometimes just being behind the wheel will cause such things like car

The last reason I found was “ the rate of crashes in teenagers are high “ . They counted 10 times as middle age drivers , as they are release . Teenagers should first all should know all the basics , and safety's before even getting into a car because it's dangerous , they could be deaths , horrible injuries . They could also get hurt badly and get into serious problems for just not knowing the basics of driving . Lack of sleep can also be a major factor in teenage crashes .

Reading the article Should the driving age be raised? written by Shari Roan, got me thinking about the safety of teenagers as well as adults. The article explains a lot of what the requirements are in order to be driving in all the 50 states. It gives us statistics on how many lives of young adults we’ve lost throughout the years but, thankfully the restrictions that DMV’s are putting on 16 to 17 year olds has allowed the percentages to drop. Although, the accidents are now increasing with drivers in the age category of 18 to 19 year olds.The article reminds us of the risk we as teens put ourselves Reading this article has lead me to thinking that we as teens need to take more responsibility for our actions and agree into raising the age to drive, but of course with some other restrictions and requirements.

The minimum driving age should not be raised or lowered. In Illinois, for example, the driving age is 16 years old. At a first glance, it seems better to wait until teens are older to begin driving. However, it is apparent that no matter what age a person starts driving, it is up to the driver to determine how safely he or she will drive. It would be pointless to raise the driving age for many reasons. The 16-year-old requirement to receive a driver's license is a standard and common rule. All but a few states use this standard. The driving age should be 16 because accidents happen to everyone, 16-year-olds should learn responsibility, 16-year-olds are not the only immature humans, and 16-year-olds have good mental development.

Most Americans over the age of sixteen have a license and drive a car, the problem is not everyone can handle their car in an elegant manor. Most teenagers on the road do not have much experience on driving, especially in a stressful situation like trying to merge onto a busy roadway. In order to entice new drivers on practicing safe driving tactics, numerous written reports, peer reviews, and articles establishing the fact that teens are not simply prepared to drive we be discussed. Teens have been proven to get into more crashes than someone who is thirty or older. Since new innovations and technological advances happen every year, people seem to get lost in what is happening in their car

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

This shows that teens do not take driving seriously and also do not realize what can happen to them if they continue with bad driving habits. In fact, insurance rates are high enough as it is for teens now. If they get into a car accident, the insurance rates will sky rocket, their parents may have a hard time being able to afford the insurance. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of fatalities for teens. As stated in a magazine, “Drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more than likely than older drivers to crash” (Brophy). This quote shows that teen drivers are involved in more traffic accidents then older drivers. It has much to do with the young drivers not being safe and making horrible choices while they are driving or in the car with another person. If teens engage in the driving education course, they will definitely become more knowledgeable about all the safe ways to drive when their parents do not have to ride with them anymore. Teen drivers are involved in many car accidents due to unsafe driving habits. A course on safe driving will give the young driver behind the wheel more experience.

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

As a teen I often get stereotyped as a bad driver but this is a very unfair judgment. The fact is I have helped prevent accidents the closest I have ever been to being in an accident was the fault of an older gentleman. Still the numbers do not lie teens have the most accidents of any age bracket. Why do teens have the highest accident rate? I believe it is because of inexperience not bad habits. Most teens have only been driving for a very short time, if at all, when they receive