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Pros And Cons Of Teenage Drivers Essay

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People utilize motor vehicles for transportation, work, or even for pure entertainment. Governments can expand their economy, job opportunities, and much more with the ability to drive. Although driving provides these positive features, it can also cause abysmal repercussions when an accident occurs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “more than 1.2 million people die in road traffic crashes every year” and “as many as 50 million people are injured or disabled by road traffic crashes every year”, while “road traffic crashes rank as the 9th leading cause of death and account for 2.2% of all deaths globally.” As these negative statistics continue to grow, many people believe that teenagers are a large contributor to the number of deaths and injuries due to road accidents. However, different age groups have their own contribution to these statistics and they also have their own pros and cons when it comes to driving.
Teenage drivers could be more advantageous when they are compared to adult or senior drivers because they have better reflex or reaction time. Although reaction time varies tremendously for each person, medical studies from University of Rochester stated that “reflexes do slow with age. Physical changes in nerve fibers slow the speed of conduction. And the parts of the brain involved in motor control lose cells over time.” Additionally, in the book Road Worthy written by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications, it states that “it can take several seconds for the eyes of a driver to recover from the glare of high beam lights. The length of this recovery period increases with a driver’s age.” Thus, teenagers could be more advantageous when certain situations such as car accidents—especially in accidents which the extra second may matter in life or death—may be avoided, opposed to adult or senior drivers who has slower reaction time. Furthermore, teenagers could be a better choice as a driver than adults or seniors because they are learning from the start. Although this is also dependant of the personality of the teenager, not all teenagers are interested in speeding or driving recklessly. On the contrary, since teenagers are new to driving, they will be even more careful

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