Teenage Driving Laws : Raising The Minimum Driving Age

The big debate as to whether the legal driving age should be raised to eighteen is an ongoing issue. There are both arguments for and against this matter. Younger drivers, as well as old ones, can cause many life-threatening accidents; therefore, raising the minimum driving age could significantly reduce the number of accidents. The accident rates can be lowered considerably if the legal driving age is bumped up to eighteen. This would mean that no more kids could get hurt or worse, killed in a car accident.

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015 the day an article was passed out by the name of Should the driving age be raised? created by Shari Roan in September 13, 2011. I am currently a student attending Vaughn Internationals Study Academy as a senior and I believe this article has opened my eyes to how adults interpret the idea of teens driving. In this article there are about 24 paragraphs, I have only read 6 paragraphs and already have came to a conclusion that this article is unfair to teen drivers. Although, there are many points made against the idea of teens driving alone, something here is missing..

The driving age should resume to stay at 16, because high school is the time you need to start learning how to be independent as a young adult. This teaches the young adults at an early age, really big responsibilities that they will need to learn also in the long run. There will be times that you won't have anyone to drive you to a certain place that you need to be based on circumstances. By the time you are 18, you are considered an adult by then. If you are just learning to drive, how are you suppose to be comfortable going places without being afraid to be in an accident or cause an accident, because you never drove before? Raising the driving age won't save lives. It's inexperience, not age, that causes accidents. Raising the driving

Both informational articles in the Performance Assessment discuss the subject of minimum driving age and how the driving requirements have affected teens. They both inform and show the reader statistics on young drivers’ crash rates and how certain laws changed the crash rates. While reading and from personal experience, I do think that the minimum age requirements should not be lowered. The requirements should not be lowered because it does help young drivers get more insight on driving, the crash rates aren’t as high as 18 year olds, and it is more convenient for children with hard working

In the United States, more than 37, 000 people die from traffic accidents each year. (National Safety Council) Of these, teens, aged 16 to 19 are said to be three times more likely to be in a wreck than people above the age of twenty. These statistics draw a large question for law makers and citizens alike: should the legal driving age be changed? Like any issue, this issue has pros and cons on each side, but the question remains, which side will have a more positive impact? Of course, teenagers will be quick to agree with leaving the existent law in place, and older citizens will hold an opposing position. However, it is important to value each side of the debate, because with such serious matters, it is best to know all of the facts. Understanding

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.

Teens are losing their lives on the road each year, car accidents kill more than 5,000 teenagers every year. By raising the age that kids are allowed to drive, you are keeping them safe by not being able to drive. This is a very smart thing to do, because those youths are the future of our world. The kids are very important, and by letting them drive at such a young age, we are putting them in

Earning a driver’s license is most important for most young Americans, but teens are the ones with poor driving performance. According to “traffic safety facts” (22) in 2008: 5,864 15-20-year-old drivers were involved in dangerous crashes. Teens are proven to have road rage. Teens, in fact, love to drive at night with other teens speeding through the streets. Statistics show that young people ages 15-20 can make up the total percent of the driving population. 14 percent are involved in dangerous crashes. This percentage of crashes needs to be reduced. The only possible way to upturn the level of maturity when it comes to driving a car would be the age of an eighteen-year-old.

On June 30, 2014, KTLA News reported a fatal car crash in the Lancaster area. Two sixteen year olds driving at an unknown speed had driven through a stop sign and drove into a big rig. The driver died at the scene and the passenger was pronounced dead at the hospital. The truck driver did try to stop, but was unsuccessful. Stories like these are read across the news headlines frequently. Raising the age limit can prevent and help lower the amount of accidents and fatalities.

Many people might assume that young drivers, ages 15-20, might be more likely to get into car accidents. Young individuals are less experienced, not only in driving, but in all walks of life. Their lack of experience combined with the fact that they are also more likely to give in to peer pressure, puts them into dangerous situations when they are behind the wheel. Considering that driving is one of the most dangerous activities we engage in on a regular basis, certainly we should do everything in our power to promote safe driving habits. However, recent studies have shown that the tougher laws for getting a license has reduced the amount of deadly accidents amongst 16 year olds.

Due to safety concerns, many states have agreed that increasing the age at which teens can begin to drive. Virginia is considering raising the minimum driving age from 16 to 18. I believe that the minimum driving age should remain the same. Although there are some safety concerns, teens who are responsible on the road should not be punished for the actions of others. Also, young adults driving on the road gives them a sense of responsibility. Another reason why the law should not change, it would delay the teens on getting a job and getting that feeling of adulthood.

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – P.J. O’Rourke. In 2013, two thousand-one hundred-sixty-three teens in the United States, age sixteen– nineteen, were killed and 243,243 were treated for injuries suffered in the car accidents. In simple terms, about six teenagers, age sixteen- nineteen, died every day from car crashes in that year! This problem needs to be resolved. Fortunately, there are solutions to decreasing motor crashes, like increasing the driving age to twenty-one. There’s been a great deal of controversy regarding if the driving age should be grown to twenty-one. Consider the driving age being brought up to twenty-one; teenagers are not adults yet (immature) and do not take driving seriously. Teens tend to not wear seatbelts and ride cars faster than adults, the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among sixteen- nineteen year olds than any other group of drivers, and teens may consume alcohol and/or text and drive.

If the age that a driver can legally get behind the wheel in a vehicle is increased, doing so won’t change the ability one has to drive. Most crashes occur because of inexperience and bad judgement, all of which are teachable. The main way to learn how to drive is to actually drive a car. Increasing legal age is

Should the driving age be 18 years and up, or should we just give our young drivers of America more practice? Why would you want to delay the problem instead of help fix the problem? Studies show that the problem isn’t age its experience. Are there any positive effects of changing the driving age? So instead of changing the age limit what can we do?

There are many signs that point out the flaws of having the age of sixteen as the minimum age for driving. The likelihood of an accident for teenagers is great because of the young driving age. Insurance companies keep records on the possibilities that the driver will be in an accident. The probability for young drivers are shown in the insurance rate in that age group between the ages of sixteen to twenty-five. Not to mention that many auto insurance companies urge for a higher minimum driving age. According to a research