Changing the Legal Driving Age to Eighteen

1341 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Should the legal driving age be changed

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...

... middle of paper ...

...iving." March 2001 .

"Campaign Safe and Sober." Success Stories -- Youth Enforcement Programs. NHTSA. March 2001 .

Zimmers, Stefanie. "Why Can We Drive?" Jan. 23, 2001. The Cellar. March 2001 .

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 .

Taylor, Monica L. "Raising the driving age could be a good thing." Face Off: Raising the driving age. March 2001 .

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

Show More
Related

  • Raising The Driving Age Essay

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Legal Driving Age in the State of Iowa

    2135 Words  | 5 Pages

    Irvine, Martha. (2008, September 9). HuffPost Business. “Teen Driving Age Should Be Raised, Says Auto Safety Group.”

    Read More

  • Increasing the Minimum Driving Age

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Don't Raise Driving Age." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 15 Sep 2008: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Feb 2012.

    Read More

  • Drivers Beware

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    " Web. The Web. The Web. 15 Mar. 2010. http://www.idebate.org. Gregory, Ted. A. Should 16-Year-Olds Drive?

    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

  • Persuasive Essay On Teenage Driving

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 21st century, our nation is facing a major issue, causing teenagers to lose their lives at the hand of the wheel due to inexperienced driving. “Teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile crash,” and statistics show. Automobile accidents are the number one cause of teen deaths. Driving regulations are in high need to be changed in order for teenagers to gain more experience with driving before taking the driving test, which could help save countless adolescence’s lives.

    Read More

  • Increasing the Age of Licensure

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Motor vehicles accidents are the leading cause of deaths for teenagers in the United States. According to Vivian Hamilton, “Car crashes kill more teens each year than any other cause” (1). In 2010, seven teenagers from ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle crashes. In 2011, approximately 1972 young drivers, ages 15 to 20, were killed in motor vehicle crashes (Facts About Teen Drivers”). The age of which a person can drive legally varies from country to county. In the United State, individuals are allow to take a driving test before their legal voting age which is eighteen or legal ...

    Read More

  • The Driving Age Should be Raised

    1842 Words  | 4 Pages

    Davis, Robert. “Is 16 too Young to Drive? Growing Numbers Think So.” USA Today. 1 Mar.

    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

  • 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

  • Are Sixteen Year Olds Ready to Drive?

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rubin, Rita “Report Makes a Case for Raising Driving Age” 09 Sep 2008: n. page. Web. 27 Oct.

    Read More

  • Teen Drivers Research Paper

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    As expected, most if not all teens will disagree with that. But there are some safe teen drivers that are thrown into the bad teen driving category just because they are a teenager that drives. If there are some good teen drivers, then do all teens really need more drivers education? Samantha Williams is a senior at Winchester Community High School that has an answer to this question. “I do consider myself to be a safe driver. I’m always aware of my surroundings when I’m driving, and I always stay away from any distractions” (Question 1). She is intentionally aware of her surroundings and stays focused while driving. The government should not make more regulations and rules for all teen drivers when there are many teen drivers like Samantha on the roads. There are even some adults that believe not all teen drivers are bad drivers. Gregory explains, “ The teen driving issues are not about age and maturity as they are about making good choices and demonstrating exceptional behavior, whether they start that driving experience at 16, 17, or 18” (1). Many teens and parents seem to think the government has not made the best decisions recently when it comes to

    Read More

  • Should the Driving Age be Raised to 21?

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    Works Cited Gerdes, Louise I. -. The Driving Age Should Not Be Increased. Teen Driving. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. 83-85.

    Read More

  • Essay On Teenage Driving

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether or not teenagers should be allowed to get their driver 's license at age sixteen is a known topic across the United States. One of the causes for this argument is the number of fatalities caused by young drivers. Evidence shows, “In 2012, 1,875 drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 died in motor vehicle crashes and an additional 184,000 young drivers were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” (“Teen Drivers”). Most accidents are caused by young drivers. In the United States of America, citizens may receive their driver’s license at sixteen, if they meet the requirements. Some people argue that sixteen year olds should not be able to receive their driver’s license. Other people argue that sixteen

    Read More

  • Teenage Driving and Accidents

    1454 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sostarecz, Alexander. "Alexander Sostarecz: Raise Driving Age to 18 When Teens Are More Responsible." The Morning Call. N.p., 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

More about Changing the Legal Driving Age to Eighteen

Open Document