The Driving Age Of 18

1236 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Driving age debate essays

There has been a constant debate between many groups over the issue of changing

the driving age to 18. Although that idea appeals to some, not all agree to the fact that increasing the driving age to 18 is a safer and better age to drive than the current age of 16. The reasons behind peoples opinions to increase the age can easily be debatable and those opinions can be stated incorrect.

Those who are in vote for the increase of the driving age may say that 16 year olds are not mature enough to tackle the responsibility of controlling a moving vehicle. Letting 16 year old teenagers drive gives them the responsibility to make mature and correct decisions. There are so many social pressures out there including texting and drinking. Teenagers know that they should not give in to these pressures due to the multiple programs and reminders. Teens can also make responsible decisions by deciding whether they are ready to drive or not. If the 16 year old is not ready to drive, they might wait a little longer to get more practice. So by categorizing that all teenagers are not mature enough to handle driving would be arbitrary.

A learners permit helps teach and train the teenager to drive. With the learners permit, a teenage driver, as we know, must have a licensed driver to watch over the driver with the permit in the car. This way, the licensed driver can help teach the newer driver so that the new driver can safe on the road. The only way the licensed driver would have been able to be a guide to the new driver would be if they went through the same process of getting the learners permit. If the age was raised to 18, college students who are 18 would have a hard time getting time to work with an experienced driver due to distance be...

... middle of paper ...

... proving much. By moving the age up, laws are just postponing accidents, no stopping them. An experienced 16 year old driver is much safer than a new 18 year old driver, not due to maturity but once again experience. Crashes will happen no matter what age due to inexperienced drivers. There are Graduated Licence Program that helps limit distractions no matter what age. Instead of changing the age, states can possibly can imply more programs with slowly gives more privileges to teens showing safety and trustworthy acts instead of categorizing all 16 year olds into the immature and irresponsible group.

As many vote to change the driving age to 18 rather than 16, there are many factors to consider before they take in the biased opinions of the public. This issue should not be treated as an immaturity, irresponsibility, or age issue but simply as an experience issue.

Show More
Related

  • Drivers Beware

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drivers Beware For years, fiery debates over whether the driving age for teens should be sixteen or eighteen captured the nation. Sixteen year-olds have a legitimate argument for keeping the age where it stands, but statistics show that sixteen year olds are not responsible enough to drive, and that more practice is needed before anyone should get a driver’s license. However, from the looks of it, it seems that legislation is going to make the legal driving age eighteen. Sixteen year olds do have a valid argument as to why the age should stay where it is now. Endersby argues that while many teens are in fact safe and careful drivers, they should not be punished for the bad behavior of others.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Raising The Driving Age

    250 Words  | 1 Pages

    If the driving age were increased say by two or two and a half years, then the driver is not only more likely to make better decisions, but their performance on the road may increase. By then, they would be more mature and may even focus on what is safe rather than what their peers perceive as “fun”. They would probably even have more experience if the age for a provisional license remained the same. Then, I believe, accidents would decrease as well as save

    Read More

  • Indiana Graduated Drivers License

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    People who support a higher driving age have many good arguments and question whether teens really need to drive as early as they do now (Gregory). Researchers for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say that “raising the driving age makes sense and would save lives” (cited in Gregory).They also say that “licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers” (cited in Gregory). It seems like many people agree with them. For example, Crisp states, “Handling several thousand pounds of automobile at highway speeds is ...

    Read More

  • Increasing the Minimum Driving Age

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...year, raising the minimum driving age to 16 seems hopeful in making safer roads for society. In doing so we all should strongly encourage our teenage drivers to be more mature, to pay more attention, to be more confident in their driving, and to not think that they are so invincible to accidents.

    Read More

  • Raising The Driving Age Essay

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    Driving is something people do everyday. Although many people do it well, some do not, that being said the legal age to drive should be raised to twenty one years of age. The driving age should be raised because teens at the ages of fourteen through twenty should not be behind the wheel for the simple fact that they are just too young and too inexperienced to drive, also someone of that age can get more distracted than a person who is twenty-one or older and has had some time to mature and become responsible enough to operate a motor vehicle. “In the United States, 16–19-year-olds have the highest incidence of motor vehicle deaths among licensed drivers and motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15–20-year-olds.” (Haggerty

    Read More

  • The Driving Age

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    If we were to raise the driving age it would most likely be changed to 18. The best reasons for raising it to 18 would probably be that they are more responsible. “Children are not equipped to handle these vehicles, which are hard for even an experienced, adult driver to handle.” (Ron Shaffer) They have More money because of there jobs and if you go away from home you need a license.

    Read More

  • Raising The Driving Age Essay

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    If people want to save lives by raising the driving age, then how about saving lives by allowing only women to drive? Except raising the driving age won't save lives. Studies show that it is inexperience, not age, that causes accidents. Raising the driving age will just create inexperienced, accident-prone drivers at 18 instead of 16. Teens need the ability to drive just as much as anyone else—to get to school,

    Read More

  • Raising The Driving Age

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    In recent years, the legal driving age has become a topic of heated debate. There are many supporters that advocate for raising the legal driving age to eighteen or twenty-one. However, raising the driving age would cause some major problems. Sixteen should remain the legal driving age in most states and areas because the economic burden would be extremely large and the problems related to young drivers would not be adequately solved by simply rising the legal driving age. This essay will outline the reasons why the legal driving age should not be raised and what some of the better choices are instead.

    Read More

  • Raising the Legal Driving Age to 18: A Perspective

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    My parents gave me my first car for my sixteenth birthday. I was overjoyed by this new found freedom; however, like a large portion of teenagers, I was also terrified of driving. This was mostly because I didn’t receive a lot of experience with my permit, and also because I was afraid of crashing my new car. In the years preceding my sixteenth birthday I had mourned the deaths of several teenaged friends who had died in car crashes. I ended up waiting a full year after I turned sixteen to take my driving test, because I didn’t feel comfortable driving until then, which later paid off when I passed my driving test the first time I took it. In my opinion, all teenagers should do as I did and wait to get their licenses. Though in reality, not all teenagers would agree to wait, so, I believe the legal driving age should be raised to eighteen years of age.

    Read More

  • Increasing Minimum Driving Age

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    More than 5,000 teenagers die while driving each year in the United States (Gregory). In my opinion this is due to three different, yet equally important factors. The first factor is that the teenage mind is yet to be fully developed, causing them to make irresponsible and sometimes reckless decisions. The second factor is that the experience of driving has evolved since the original driving age was established in the early 20th century. The third and final aspect to take into consideration would be that driving is the lowest minimum age of any adult restricted activity in the United States. Although, it can be one of the more harmful, not only to the perspective driver but his or her surroundings as well. Taking all three of these factors into account I believe the minimum driving age should be raised to 18 to decrease the accident rate amongst teenagers.

    Read More

  • The Driving Age Should be Raised

    1842 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... middle of paper ... ... Even though teen drivers make up a small percentage of the population, the most fatal crashes are the result of one behind the wheel; therefore the legal driving age needs to be raised to eighteen years of age. Works Cited Becerra, Judith J. - "The 'Baby The “Teen Driving” Academic Source Premier.

    Read More

  • The Driving Age Should Not Be Raised To 18 Essay

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Engines roaring and cars flying down the highway recklessly, racing to the finish. This is a stereotyped outlook on teen drivers. This however, is not the case. Teens don’t drive to race down the road. They drive for freedom. They drive to get where they need to be on their own. The driving age should not be raised to 18 because it takes away their feeling of freedom, Denies the access to needed transportation, denies experience, It puts additional stress on parents, and they need to be learning the driving skill while they’re young.

    Read More

  • Are Sixteen Year Olds Ready to Drive?

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Turning the age of sixteen is a huge step in the life of a teenager. When becoming the age of sixteen a new challenge is brought into that person’s life, and that new challenge is driving a car. But are sixteen year olds ready for this for this task? Some people would say that driving a car can be very problematic for a sixteen year old. Those people are right, sixteen year old should not be driving cars at that age, and just leave it for the people who are eighteen or even older to handle such a task. There are several good reasons why the government should raise the legal driving age to eighteen than leaving it at sixteen.

    Read More

  • Essay On Teenage Driving

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    Teenagers get experience from receiving their driver’s license because they practice out on the road. Instead of waiting until the age of 18 to drive, teenagers get to familiarize themselves with the different, possible driving situations, rather than being inexperienced at 18. Teenagers get independence from receiving their driver’s license because they do not have to rely on their parents for transportation anymore. They are free to make plans of their own once they receive their driver’s license. Independence is an essential part of growing up to being a responsible adult. Some people say that teenagers should not receive their license at sixteen because they are not responsible, driving is dangerous, and they are more likely to become more distracted than adults. Although these are facts, they do not support the opposing argument. Driving is dangerous, but learning is not. Driving helps teenagers to become more responsible and with time driving also gives the driver experience; experience will reduce the willingness to be distracted while driving. That is why teenagers should be able to receive their driver’s license at

    Read More

  • Should the Driving Age be Raised to 21?

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    How old is it to drive? Most would argue the legal driving age of sixteen seems appropriate for someone to begin taking the wheel, while others say that twenty-one is a more sufficient age. Even though raising or maintaining the driving age at sixteen contains both pros and cons, major facts need to come to consideration if the driving age ever increases. As a teenager driving, I believe that people wanting to raise the driving age do not realize the negative effect that that would cause. For instance, if the age increased, teenagers would lose independence and freedom, parents would have to sacrifice their time and freedom, and even though teenagers die in car crashes every year, it would not decrease the overall number of deaths per year.

    Read More

More about The Driving Age Of 18

Open Document