Argumentative Essay: Should The Driving Age Be Raised?

The question everyone has been asking; Are teenagers ready to drive? This question brews up debate every time it is mentioned. Teenagers all across the United States are obtaining their licenses at a very young age, but that also means that very inexperienced drivers with very little maturity are on the open road. Although it may seem obvious to say that the minimum driving age should be raised, but actually, the teenagers over the past decade have shown an improvement in driving capabilities. The driving age limit should not be raised because teenage driving is improving each year, and laws, regulations, and safety are preventing fatalities from occurring on the road. Every day, many people lose their lives to fatal car accidents, but who is to blame; The young, the middle-aged, or the elderly? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states, “In 2008, 5,864 15-20-year-old drivers were involved in fatal car crashes- a 27 percent decrease from the 7,987 involved in 1998” (Traffic Safety Facts 22). In 1998, there were 7,987 drivers involved in fatal car crashes, with roughly 3,400 fatalities, but in 2008, there was only

While teenagers are legally allowed to drive, they have to follow strict rules and meet certain requirements before they are able to achieve a full license. This helps educated young drivers and prevents fatalities from occurring on the road. “Overall, the tougher laws which most states began adopting in the mid-1990s have been credited with a 30 percent drop in highway fatalities among teenagers.”(O’Connor 26). O’Connor suggests that the new regulations have decreased the rates of percentages of teenagers being involved in fatal