Sweet 16, or Sweet 18?

In the article “Driving to the Funeral” the author Anna Quindlen addresses the issue of the age to begin driving. She believes that the age 16 is far too young teenagers to begin driving. Driving at a too young of an age is one big reason that the way majority of teenagers die is because of automobile accidents. There isn’t enough limitations on young drivers, causing safety concerns. Parents shouldn’t allow their children to drive at such a young age, just because they want their kids to have “freedom and responsibility”.

Many teens in the US are employed part time while also attending high school. Having a license enables these teens to get to and from work, job interviews, or even in some cases become employed in the delivery business. USA Today reports that while 30% of teens have jobs, employment rate is still falling. Increasing the driving age would only decrease the number of teens in the workforce. Surprisingly one third of those teens working, do so to support their family. Without proper transportation these teens would be forced to either miss more school or work less in order to make ends meet while still

Maturity and rationalization is not yet achieved or experienced by teenagers. In the era of technology there are several distractions for drivers of any age to maneuver. Parents can play an educational role by enrolling their teen into a driver’s educational program. Some states require students to complete a comprehensive graduated drivers licensing (GDL) program prior to receiving their license. The brain function is still developing in teenagers and may impede the quick thinking process necessary to become a responsible driver. For the safety and welfare of teenagers the age requirement in Arizona for a driver’s license should be increased from 16 to 18 years of age.

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

“Text messaging … had the longest duration of eyes-off-road time of 4.6 seconds at a six second interval. This equates to a driver traveling the length of a football field at 55 miles per hour without looking at the roadway.” This statement was made by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute when they did a texting while driving study (“Skip Menu”). Texting while driving has become a large problem in the United States and it is growing. There are about 1,600,000 accidents per year as a result of texting while driving. Texting while driving has become a bigger problem for teenagers than drinking while intoxicated. In an article Delthia Ricks wrote for Newsday, she says:

A lobby that speaks out against teen driving is Mothers against driving, who say that drinking and driving is the easiest ways that teenage driving accidents can occur. “Given the incidence of auto-accident deaths among teenagers, despite the higher drinking age, you have to ask whether the powerful lobby Mothers Against Drunk Driving simply targeted the wrong D.” This quote demonstrates an ethos because it is given from an incredibly large and reliable count, a lobby group opposing drinking and driving underage. Their reliability makes us comfortable believing the information and its accountability. Anna Quindlen can also be believed to be a reliable source. “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.” Quindlen collects facts from people who have studied this subject to reinforce her beliefs on changing the driving age. He retrieves factual information on the subject from people who have researched it. This gives us a credible first hand facts so we can get in depth and accurate information on the

The authors single most important idea of the passage is to persuade parents and the states to raise the legal driving age of sixteen. She uses statics and collective experience to show that raising the driving age will help lower death rates.

“Driving mishaps can happen to anyone, but they happen all too frequently to teenage drivers because of their lacking significant experience behind the wheel…in recent years, safety experts, elected officials, and public policy experts have focused on strengthening such state laws with the goal of making the roads safer for teens. ” (Andrews, 2) New laws should be made to keep teens and the road a safer place.  The driving age should be raised to 18 to reduce many dangers.

Turning sixteen is a major turning point in a teenager’s life, you’re finally at the age where you are given much more responsibility and freedom than before. And the biggest responsibility is being able to get your license and drive. And being given the keys to a car means a teenager can move on from depending on their parents. That’s why raising the driving age from sixteen will cause much more harm than good to many teen’s lives. The legal driving age should not be raised, despite the many efforts by the government. There is no need to raise it, the positive effects will not come close to the negatives that come’s along with it, additionally teens need to get prepared for the real world, need to drive to get around, and most of the time car crashes are not even their fault. If push comes to shove their needs to be better driver education and standards to help teens to be more prepared to drive and improving graduating driver licensing. Graduating driver licensing(GDL) or restrictive licensing is a way that states regulate what a teen can do when they first get their license to limit the amount of crashes they get into and to keep them safe. Although the age differs from state to state the same general restrictions still apply. Which include determining whether a new driver can drive with passengers, and even having a curfew set for driving times. In Florida sixteen-year old cannot drive between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Keeping them off the streets at night. They however cannot

Driving as a teen is needed they need that freedom. teen driving is rapidly rising, but there are good in teen driving.Although opponents claim that it would be safer to raise the driving age, they should not raise the driving age requirements because it teaches teens responsibility, teens need to be able to drive to get to school and activities, and allows them to get job opportunities.“But the newly released teens would have little practical experience in the world”, Teens need that experience(driving)in the world.it states it because teens need a piece of the real world.teens need to be able to drive to get to school, work and sports

Driving is well known necessity in many places, many young teens await their time to drive. To young teens, driving is what they look up to they tend to ask their parents to drive even if their one year under 15. The driving age in Hawaii right now is 16 years of age, but to get your permit it is 15 and a half. That seems somewhat fair, but we all know their are a vast variety of different people with their opinionated facts and questions. Turning the age of 15 is a ginormous step into the adulthood, it is when you are legally allowed to drive a car. It totally matters on what kind of person you are, because it could take some responsibility or understanding the risks of driving. In this essay I will be explaining why people think the driving

Do you really want to be stuck at home until you’re 18 doing nothing with your free time while your parents are gone? Don’t you want to be able to roam around places and probably take extracurricular activities on your own time and hang with friends too? Being able to drive is what many children in our society think about these days. When many teenagers reach the age of 15 ½ they are allowed to officially take their permit test to receive their permit for driving with an adult. After they have officially turned 16 they may take the behind-the wheel driving exam for a driver’s license, but the USA plans to change the driving age from 16 to 18. This idea seems to be a mistake seen in many ways. I believe that they shouldn’t change the

The current driving age of sixteen is implemented in almost every state in the United States. Most states have become accustomed to the current driving age, but recently there are certain states that believe that the legal driving age should be raised due to various reasons. The main argument for most states is that sixteen-year old’s are not mature enough and lack the preparation to handle the responsibility to drive safely. Teenagers under the age of eighteen should be required to wait longer to get their license and should be more prepared before getting their license.

2. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. This causes a driver to crash 23x the normal rate. Over 10,000 injuries nationwide due to texting while driving have been reported between 2007-2009. (http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html)

Today, texting while driving out numbers the amount of drunk driving according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting while driving is six times more likely to cause a wreck than drunk driving. You are 23 times more likely to wreck if you are texting. Texting while driving is equal to driving bind for 5 seconds each text. Out of the worlds’ population of over 7 billion, at any given moment all over the world, over 800,000 drivers are texting. Drivers think they can handle looking away for a second to reply, or read a message. By doing this you are decreasing your break reaction time by 18% (national). “The concentration needed for safe driving makes texting safely at the same time impossible” (Bratsis 70). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (C.D.C.)