The Driving Age Should Be Increased

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The Driving age should be increased to eighteen According to federal driving license laws in the United States, the current legal minimum driving age to obtain a restricted driver’s license varies from state from fourteen years, three months in South Dakota to as high as seventeen in New Jersey. Many high school teens by this time are out and about in their vehicles, adjusting and learning the rituals of the road. But, it is also a time when many teens are at higher risk of danger due to many activities teens are bound to do at their age. From drinking under the influence, drug intakes that can affect mental and physical stability and result in mental performance, to the focus level when it comes to the cell phone usage while driving a two ton death machine. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens aged sixteen to nineteen than among any other age group. It is why insist that the legal driving should be increased at eighteen to twenty-one. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for United States teens.1 In the first month of driving for a teen their crash risk is particularly high.5,6 Fourteen percent of the U.S. population is represented by young people of the ages fifteen to twenty. However they account for thirty percent (Nineteen billion dollars) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males, and twenty-eight percent (Seven billion dollars) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females. In 2012, two thousand eight hundred and twenty-three teenagers, between the ages of thirteen to nineteen, died in the United States from crash injuries.2 Seventy-nine percent of teenagers killed in crashes in 2012 were... ... middle of paper ... ...afer place and cut the number of accidents on the roads.10 Adding a year to the minimum age would bring maturity in all areas and increase awareness of the dangers of driving.11 The leading cause of death for teens is vehicular crashes. If the driving age were to be raised at eighteen then parents and educators will have more time to prepare these future drivers on safe driving practices. It is inevitable to avoid the risk of getting into an accident on the road and the chances of being one will always be present. But for young minors and adults who aren’t yet involved in the adult world and still have many things to do and accomplish by that time should not be put in this kind of the danger yet. Asking to increase the driving age will give teenagers and young adults more time on their hands to do more, learn more, and mature enough to prepare for what’s out there.

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