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Teenage driving and accidents essays
Driving age discussed across nation car accidents leading cause of death for u.s teenagers by martha irvine ap national writer
Adolescents and driving
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Should the age to receive a driver's license be raised and, if not, should graduated licensing be instituted? This is a growing question across America as well as other countries around our globe. The percentage of teenage accidents involving automobiles is on a constant rise. Whether caused by the lack of experience or under the influence of alcohol, death has become all too common among teen motorists. This problem is not going to go away by itself; action needs to be taken. The state must raise the age requirement to receive a license or institute graduated licensing because teens are not mature enough to handle the dangerous responsibilities of driving.
We allow teens to get their licenses at an earlier age than in most countries, and little driving experience typically is required before licenses are issued. This is not very smart on our part considering that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16 year olds have the highest percentage of crashes-involving speeding, the highest percentage of single vehicle crashes, the highest percentage of crashes with driver error, and the highest vehicle occupancy (NHTSA ). Compared with older drivers, teenagers as a group are more willing to take risks and less likely to use safety belts. Many experts blame the young teens immaturity, impulsiveness, and lack of proper training and experience as contributing factors to the high rate of teen involved accidents. Teens don't need to be victims of there driving inexperience. During 1975-96 the death rate among 16 year-old drivers was trending upward. The rate increased from 19 per 100,000 in 1975 to 35 per 100,000 in 1996, and this increase occurred in both males and females. The number of 16 year old driver...
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...the teen turns 18 a full license could be obtained if the driver has completed at least 12 months with an intermediate license and has no accidents or violations (Vehicle choice).
Driving is a privilege, and should be treated as such. Too many people treat driving like a constitutionally protected right; driving is too serious an activity to be placed in the hands of teenagers who do not know what they are doing, regardless of how much training teens may receive. Raising the required age to receive a driver license or instituting graduated licensing is a must if the United States wants to save the lives of teenagers. This would also lower the number of teen involve accidents that occur every day. Driving is a huge responsibility for persons of any age and the choices that are made by teen drivers could make the teen years the best of times or the worst of times.
For years fiery debates 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.
In the state of Arizona, teenagers that are 15 years and six months can apply for their learner’s permit. A written driving test of basic driving laws and rules is then taken. Upon passing the new driver is given six months to drive a minimum of 30 daytime hours and 10 nighttime hours, with a licensed driver present. This allows teens to become comfortable driving alongside a licensed driver before taking on the task of driving alone. After the six month period of practicing, the teenager can take the driving part of the exam to attain their driver’s license. “Crash risk is particularly high during the first months of licensure.” (Teen Drivers: Fact Sheet 1) The need for more driving practice and defensive driving is relevant.
Teens should not have to wait until they earn a high school diploma to drive. When a teen graduates high school they will have to go out into the real world with no experience of driving. If they get it two years prior to graduating there is plenty of
Brooks, Jennifer. "Teens May Wait Longer for Licenses." Tennessean (Nashville, TN). 14 Jun 2010: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Feb 2012.
According to national teen driving statistics, 16-year-olds, in particular, are 3 (three) times more likely to die in a crash than the average of all drivers, and they have higher crash rates than any other age group. In 2008; 81% of teenage crash deaths were passenger vehicle occupants, 31% of teenage drivers killed had been drinking alcohol, 55% were not buckled up, and 37% of male teenage drivers involved in fatalities were speeding. Teenagers who drink and drive have a greater risk of serious crashes than older drivers with equal blood alcohol concentrations. Teens do not wear seat/safety belts as much as adults. Teens tend to take more risks due to overconfidence in their abilities. These risks include: speeding, tailgating (driving too close to the vehicle in front), running red lights, violating traffic signals and signs, illegal turns, dangerous passing, and failure to yield to pedestrians.
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
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
I. Introduction A. Should 16 year old teenagers be able to drive? B. “Those who favor raising the driving age say that statistics show teenagers are more likely to get into accidents than adults. What they don't say is that statistics also show that men of all ages are 77 percent more likely to kill someone while driving than women.
Getting your driver’s license at sixteen is something many young people look forward too. It is one of their first real steps to becoming a responsible, mature adult. Taking this away would be like telling them that they are not expected to be responsible. This would lead to many young people partying all the time and participating in illegal activities. Getting their driver’s license at sixteen is a sign to many young people
Every year, thousands of teenagers receive their driver’s licenses and millions are driving on America’s roads. Ensuring their safety and the safety of others is crucial. 16 to 18 year-olds have higher crash rates than drivers in any other age group. Between 5,000 and 6,000 youth will die on our roads this year and another 300,000 will be seriously injured. America has many more young people die in traffic incidents than it does in military service, and yet there has been little political or public activity done to make this problem known to the nation.
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.
In the 1990's teens would get full licensing and all privileges with little of no testing at all. It wasn’t until 1995 when around twenty states required a learning permit but the system was still very weak, as in teens only had to keep their permit from two to three weeks. Bu somehow, teen drivers was not as dangerous as it is today. Experts say it is mostly because of deadly distractions in and out of the vehicle(Boulard 38).
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.
Sixteen year olds have a higher crash rate than drivers of any other age. “ in 2011, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths” (Teen Driving Statistics). For this purpose, Many states have begun to raise the age limit by imposing restrictions on sixteen years old drivers. For example, limiting the number of passengers they can carry while driving. “The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report in May 2012 that showed that the risk of 16- or 17-year old drivers being killed in a crash increases with each additional teenage passenger in the vehicle. The risk increases 44 percent with one passenger; it doubles with two passengers, and quadruples with three or more passengers. The study analyzed crash data and the number of miles driven by 16- and 17-year olds” (Teen Driving Statistics). Another example, is that many people believe that teenage drivers have a race boy/girl mentality. This mean that when any teenager gets into a vehicle of any kind they get some type of thrilled or that the driving laws do not accommodate them in any way, shape, or form. They would go drag race ...
In addition to teenagers gaining independence and freedom with a license, parents also gain more freedom as well. Teenagers who cannot drive rely heavily on parents, siblings, and other people to chauffeur them around. Not only does this cost more for the driver, ...