Persuasive Essay On Drinking And Driving

Driving can be used as a weapon, or a gift, getting people to and from many places all the time. Since we have cars we have been able to go to places faster and cheaper. Driving has caused many issues and deaths but it's also one of the best and most helpful man made products, so, the question is, what age should one be able to drive? I believe that you should not be able to drive when you are sixteen years old.
When you are sixteen years old you have a lot of things going on in your body including the growth of your brain. Your frontal lobe is not fully developed until you are approximately twenty five years old. The frontal lobe is the part of your brain for decision making meaning if you are sixteen years old your decisions are not well thought out or proper. In the article ‘The Teen Brain: It’s Just Not Grown Up Yet’ it states “That's because the nerve cells that connect teenagers' frontal lobes with the rest of their brains are sluggish. Teenagers don't have as much of the fatty coating called myelin, or "white matter," that adults have in this area.” If the brain isn’t even fully developed how should we trust it behind the wheel.

Many accidents are caused from ages sixteen to nineteen years old because they are reckless and fast on the road.

33% of teen deaths from sixteen to nineteen years old in 2010 occurred in a motor vehicle according to dosomething.org. An excerpt from cdv.gov states “2,333 teens in the United States ages 16–19 were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes in 2014.1 That means that six teens ages 16–19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries“ If these teenagers are injuring not only themselves but other people how can we trust them on the road at this age? It is not safe for sixteen year olds to be behind the wheel when they can't even trust their own

decisions.
The media argues that when you are sixteen years old you need to be able to drive because you are old enough to have a job, and if you have a job, you need to be able to drive. I disagree with this statement because, sure you can get a job, but that doesnt give an excuse for an unfit and unsafe person to be on the road. There are ways to get around that now like Uber and Lift or even asking your neighbor or grandparents for a ride. Just because you have to be somewhere doesn't mean we should allow you to get behind the wheel of what could be a weapon. If you are in elementary you have somewhere to be but that doesn't mean they should let you drive.
For things to be so dangerous people are dying by just diving somewhere should definitely tell you something. Opinions don't outweigh the research that's linked with deaths caused by teens in cars. Teens should have a little more of their frontal lobe developed before driving to and from places, that way they'll think more about their decisions and what they are doing instead of being reckless. In conclusion, sixteen year olds should not be allowed to drive.