Changing the Legal Driving Age to Eighteen

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Changing the Legal Driving Age to Eighteen

Every day teens are given access to automobiles. Every day these young people go to their jobs, classes, and athletic practices. Do they all abuse their driving privileges? No. Then why restrict all teens, including the law-abiding and mature, by raising the driving age? This debate reaches all across the nation, to all levels of government, and many related laws and propositions can be found. If the driving age is increased, teenagers will have more difficulty getting jobs and gaining experience. On the other hand, if the driving age is 18, new drivers will have more maturity. So the question remains, should the legal driving age be 18 years old? No, the current driving age should continue, but to prevent adolescent auto crashes we should provide better education and laws.

For example, a young man may make a driving error, such as failing to stop at an intersection, and realize that he is inexperienced and needs more education. Or maybe a young woman is talking to a friend in the car and, paying little attention, almost rear-ends the car in front of her. She barely manages to avoid a collision and in this time of need, has no education to call upon. Several driving mistakes made by teens can be corrected through drivers education and gradually increasing their privileges, instead of giving them a full license with little experience or knowledge.

If the driving age is increased, fewer immature and irresponsible young people will be behind the wheel. The youthful and often senseless teenagers will be given two additional years to mature and learn the responsibilities of driving. These youngsters are likely to make bad decisions, putting their lives and the lives of...

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Sterling, Brian J. "Graduated Driver's License Law." AAA. March 2001 .

"Graduated Driver Licensing System." Traffic Safety Programs. NHTSA. March 2001 .

Crawford, Dan. "Teen driving law still causing controversy." December 26, 1997. American City Business Journals Inc. March 2001 .

Cantor-Echols, David. "Not a chance." Face Off: Raising the driving age. March 2001 .

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Lewis, D. "When a right becomes a privilege." Traffic Safety Vol.98 Page 12-15. January 1998. National Safety Council. March 2001

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