The Minimum Age Of Drivers

Young drivers should have to wait until they are 18 years old to get their license because 16 year olds are more likely to get in an accident than an older driver. One author said, “Sixteen-year-old drivers are the most likely to crash, so raising the age at which teens could get their license would save many lives…” (Rubin). Rubin gives a valid reason to why the minimum driving age should be raised from 16 to 18. If the driving age is raised, there would be less people involved in wrecks, which would help the world out as a whole. Even though 16 year olds are more accident prone than other drivers, taking 16 year olds off of the road would save the lives of everyone on the road. However, there are people who believe that the minimum driving age should not be raised because of various reasons. One article states that, “If they have to wait until they are 17 or 18, they remain dependent on parents practically until they are ready to go off to college, join the military or take a

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

Currently, teenagers as young as 15 or 16 are allowed to obtain a driver’s license. Usually, most teenagers are inexperienced and this could be a huge risk. Therefore, should driving restrictions and guidelines be stricter? Supporters argue that stricter driving laws should be put in place because teens tend to not only be inexperienced, but also irresponsible and prone to distractions. However, critics argue that making stricter guidelines would only make matters worse. They argue that teens gain freedom and responsibility when they obtain a driver’s license. With evidence providing proof that teen drivers have the highest rate of automobile accidents compared to any other age group, driving guidelines should be stricter.

The proposed alternative to raising the driving age is a GDL. A GDL, or a graduated driver’s license, gives teens more freedoms depending on how much they have driven. Advocates say that it gives teens the time they need to practice before having complete freedom. The opponents say it limits the time they have to practice due to restrictions on when teens can drive. Another reason opponents give for not having a GDL is that it makes it harder for teens to get jobs because they have limited hours when they can drive. The argument for “for” and “against” are similar to the arguments for a higher driving

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

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.

Some might say that raising the driving age wouldn’t allow teens to get the experience they need to become better drivers. However, co-driving and graduated driving programs both give teens experience without compromising the safety of others. In fact, since the first graduated driver programs were instituted, there has been 1,348 fewer deadly crashes involving drivers ages 16-19. Some states have strict driving laws that require at least 70 hours of supervised driving, a minimum intermediate license age of 17, driving after 8 p.m. or a ban driving on with other teens in the vehicle. Graduated licensing programs restrict these actions until teen drivers have more experience because teens in the first few months of licensure have a high risk of crashing.

One of these reasons is instead of punishing drivers who are responsible, we should make getting the license harder. Although this may keep the most reckless drivers off of the road and save some lives, it would still allow careless accidents by inexperienced teens to occur. A research showed that a new driver who was seventeen or eighteen was a safer driver than a new driver who was sixteen (Davis, p.249). One year does make a difference. It also proves that time is more important than practice when it comes to driving. Another reason people say we should keep the driving age the same is because it is more convenient for parents and teens. Although no one enjoys being inconvenienced, saving lives is more important than saving time. Despite the fact that there are some good arguments as to why the driving age should be kept the same, there are many ways these arguments can be

Busy parents, a busy young adult life, and mature teens are why the legal driving age should not be raised to the minimum age of eighteen. Sixteen is a traditional milestone in a teens life, why would one want to take that tradition away? All the opportunities sixteen year olds receive driving would be ruined if the driving age is changes to eighteen, which could also ruin a teens future. Driving is an American rite of passage and the system for it is fine just the way it is. Let’s keep the age sixteen sweet and leave the legal driving age

The national Highway traffic safety Administrations state that “In 2008, 12 percent (5,864) of all drivers involved in fatal crashes (50,186) were young drivers of age 15 to 20 years old. Also that 14 percent (1,429,000) of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes (10,081,000) were young drivers.” It’s a small fraction compared to the fatal crashed made by people between the ages of 25 and 54. However, between the ages of 21 and 24 have the third least fatal crashes made. It is concluded that after a certain point in time of learning and experience on the road that one can get better. Sometimes a person needs to be able to drive at a younger age, and not only to

We as citizens today should do everything we can to protect our youth, after all they are the future leaders of America. As a mother of a teenager, I worry about when my teenager will begin driving. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Online]. (2013). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (producer). [Cited 2015 Oct 7]. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. We as citizens need to take an active role and do more to prevent our youth from being in harm’s way. Allowing our youth to begin driving on the roads at the age of 15 years, with a learner’s permit, we are allowing them to drive as an inexperience driver, a driver subject to distractions, and the age limit needs to be raised.

Debate over whether the driving age should be raised to the age of eighteen has been an ongoing battle among state lawmakers. Of course if you were a sixteen year old teenager, who has waited to obtain the privilege to drive or one who due to family circumstances needs to drive in order to get to work, school or after school activities, you would not be overly enthused with the decision to raise the driving age to eighteen. On the other side of the coin, a twenty-five year old seasoned driver can point out the unsafe practices of youthful drivers and have their concerns echoed by a variety of news articles toting the statistics of teenage driving fatalities. These “teenage drivers are particularly dangerous, so delaying when they get a license will make the roads much safer for everyone” (Endersby). Safety experts, who have studied numerous studies of sixteen year-old teens driving habits proclaimed that they are by far at a higher rate for driving accidents than older teens. Scientific studies at the National Institutional of Health in Bethesda, Maryland show that “the weak link, known as the executive branch, which is the part of the brain that weights risks, makes judgments and controls impulsive behaviors has not fully developed and is the reason teenagers do

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

Over the years there have been many car accidents, many resulting in death. Teenage traffic accidents are the number one cause of death among 16-20 year olds. In 1996, 6,300 teens died in the United States from motor vehicle crash injuries. The fatality rate for teenage drivers is about 4 times as high as the rate for drivers 25 to 65 years old. On average, a teen driver is killed every other day in California. In most of those fatalities, the reason was either involving speeding or driver error. But in California, Oregon, Michigan, and other states, those statistics are dropping because they have had laws restricting teen driving on the books for more than a year. Because of the numerous deaths, many people are pushing for a legislative

The first claim the speaker makes is that teenage drivers are too inexperienced. The speaker presents one supporting piece of evidence. This evidence is that new drivers do not have enough behind the wheel training, which does not give them the opportunity to advance their driving skills. I believe that there is faulty in this argument because as stated by the speaker “there will always be inexperienced drivers, even if the driving age is 21 or even 25” (Unknown 42).