Driving Limit Needs to be Increased
In this essay, I will discuss the problems of teen driving. I will also propose a new law that increases the age limit for drivers. Currently, the age limit for drivers varies between states. Some states permit 15 year old drivers. Some allow 16 year olds to drive. Teens under the age of 18 are in a lot more risk than teens at 18 years or above. My law proposal is very beneficial to the U.S: The new driving age limit for every state should be 18. Increasing the driving age limit would make the roads of America much safer. It would clean the streets from mid-teens who drive recklessly and aren’t as mature as kids 18 and older. It’s clear to see why the U.S Congress would adopt my law proposal. However, there
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are also reasons to why the U.S Congress would deny my proposal. In this essay, we will see why or why not the U.S Congress would want my law to be enforced. Also, I will provide evidence and data from scholarly articles. Increasing the driving limit would make the streets a much safer place.
The U.S Congress would certainly adopt my law proposal and enforce it around the country. The reason why is because of the staggering statistics of teen driving. According to the article, The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction, the teen brain isn’t fully developed yet. The teen brain doesn’t always make the correct decisions and hasn’t completely matured yet. Teens 17 and under would be at risk of do dangerous things on the road. They are more likely of making bad decisions on the road. An example of a bad decision is drinking and driving. The article, Underage Drinking, says, “According to the 2013 NSDUH, approximately 5.4 million people (about 14.2 percent) ages 12–20 engaged in binge drinking (15.8 percent of males and 12.4 percent of females).” This data shows how widespread drinking is among teens. With the large amount of underage drinking teens, it seems almost impossible that there wouldn’t be any teens that would drink and drive. The chances of kids 18 and older making decisions like drinking and driving is much less compared to the likeliness of a 16 or 17 year old teen drinking and driving. Raising the driving age limit to 18 would only allow teens with almost mature brains to drive. Due to the highly developed brain of an 18 year old, teens 18 and above would be less likely to make the immature decision to drink and drive. It would also prevent a large amount of teens, with undeveloped
brains, to drive on the streets of America. Although my law proposal would benefit America, the U.S Congress would still have logical reasons to why the driving age limit should stay the same for each state. One reason is because teens need to be able to drive so it can be easier for them to attend classes, meetings, etc. Not letting teens under 18 to drive will make it harder for them to go to school. Also, they would miss additional social and work opportunities that could be very important for their future. In fact, teens being prevented from getting jobs due to not being able to own a license have drawbacks. The article, The Benefits and Risks of Adolescent Employment, talks about all the potential benefits a teen can get from getting a job. A teen may gain vital experience in the workforce. The teen could also learn time management skills, overcome shyness from adults, and handle money. But if a teen, below 18, can’t obtain a license then he will lose out on these key skill traits. Why? Because not having a license will take away potential experiences from a growing teen. And not only does the teen lose experience in the workforce, he may lose even additional education opportunities. This is a big reason why the U.S Congress might not adopt my law. In conclusion, the driving age limit should be increased to 18 for all states. Based on previous stated data, it is clear that the age of 18 is a sufficient age for those willing who want to drive. It is an age where the teenage brain is highly developed and the age where teens usually have to go to different places. Like school, tutoring, etc. Permitting teens under 18 to drive could cause havoc and danger to the general public. There are great reasons to why the U.S Congress would enforce my law proposal. However, there are still reasons why the U.S Congress will deny my proposal. Regardless of the U.S Congress’s decision, the driving age limit should be raised to 18 for all states.
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,
The leading cause of death for U.S. teenagers is motor vehicle accidents. More than 5,000 of our teens die each year in crashes. For the purpose of this topic, “teenagers” encompasses ages ranging from 15- to 20-year-olds. I am proposing legislation to address this issue.
Maturity and rationalization is not yet achieved or experienced by teenagers. In the era of technology there are several distractions for drivers of any age to maneuver. Parents can play an educational role by enrolling their teen into a driver’s educational program. Some states require students to complete a comprehensive graduated drivers licensing (GDL) program prior to receiving their license. The brain function is still developing in teenagers and may impede the quick thinking process necessary to become a responsible driver. For the safety and welfare of teenagers the age requirement in Arizona for a driver’s license should be increased from 16 to 18 years of age.
“I am superman; I am invincible”, is what one young man thought of himself on August 30, 2009. He left a friend’s house with a young woman in the car with him; it was a dark night and he was feeling good about himself. He thought he would try to impress the young girl and went way too fast. As he topped the hill, he ran off the road, over-corrected, and lost control of his vehicle. The accident claimed both their lives. Numerous car accidents involve young teenage drivers. Raising the minimum driving age to 16 would greatly reduce the number of automobile accidents involving teen drivers because they lack experience on the road, they lack maturity, and they would have less accidents resulting in safer roads.
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
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.
It really is no secret that if the minimum legal drinking age were lowered, a large number of teens would then drink for perhaps the first time. “The age group with the most drivers involved in fatal crashes with Blood Alcohol Content levels of .08 or higher during 2011 was the twenty-one to twenty-four-year-olds” (“National Highway Traffic Facts”). Young adults are just as irresponsible at eighteen as they are at twenty-one, maybe even more irresponsible. The teenagers will indulge themselves on what they feel is a luxury the first chance they get. The young adults abuse the alcohol, and then go driving because even at twenty-one through twenty-four they are still not as responsible. If the age is lowered to eighteen, many eighteen-year-olds will go out and drink alcohol for the first time. The age group may rise to number one in fatal crashes. The National Highway Traff...
Teens only make up seventeen percent of the population today, but almost twenty percent of fatal crashes are due to teenagers behind the wheel. Growing numbers suggest changing the driving age to eighteen and some even believe that changing it to twenty-one may save even more lives. With a sixteen year old behind the wheel, accidents are even more likely to occur when compared to a seventeen year old (Boulard). With so much new technology in today’s society there are more distractions on the road than ever before; therefore the legal driving age should be raised to save more lives. If we do not act quickly, then more lives will be lost.
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.
...ere created in the 1920s. Finally, compare this law to the others we as Americans abide by everyday. All three of these points lead me to believe that we should raise the driving age to 18 to decrease the accident rate and to save lives.
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.
Many teens are interested in being able to drive at a younger age, but it is still unclear if they are able to handle it. If the legal driving age is lowered, are we endangering the lives of teen drivers, as well as the passengers with them? I believe most people want to drive as soon as they can. However, recently the government has been trying to pass laws that may change the current driving age of 16. There are positive and negative aspects to changing the laws that allow the driving age to stay at 16.There have been new bills being proposed that mite be passed. “The Minister for Urban Services has introduced a Bill (proposed law) into the Assembly. He wants to amend the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 2000. The new Bill is called the Driving Age Amendment Bill. This Bill is intended to raise the age at which people can apply for a learner’s permit and driver’s license.” (Legislative Assembly). This bill will raise the driving age if it is passed but the aspects of what will happen should be considered before we change it. There are many different reasons why we should keep it at 16. First off it’s a good working system that we have followed for a long time. Another good reason that helps this concept is that the teenagers are still in school so it’s easier for them to take drivers training. If there are more drivers that ultimately mean that more people will be paying for insurance. There are also the reasons why we should change it from 16. Like for instances most 16 year olds aren’t responsible enough to drive. “The facts show that younger drivers (those between ages 16 and 25) receive more citations, are more likely to have their driving privilege suspended, and are responsible for more accidents than drivers in any other age group.” (Dr. Steven Evans). Another reason is that it’s a high cost own a car when they are making so little money.
It doesn’t matter what age the legal driving age is changed to, either way the new drivers will still be inexperienced. Even some adults could be inexperienced if they waited to learn how to drive and get their license. It is said that practice makes perfect. As a solution, for the ones who want the legal driving age raised, an alternate can be imposed. Instead of raising the driving age to 18, the 16 year old applying for a license could have more standards to meet.
Works Cited Gerdes, Louise I. -. The Driving Age Should Not Be Increased. Teen Driving. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2008. 83-85.
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