Should Minimum Driving Age Be Raised Essay

In the state of Virginia the minimum driving age is 16 years and three months. Many people argue that this age should be raised to give teenagers more time to development, and understand the consequences of not being a safe driver. 5,864 teen drivers ages ranging from 15 to 20 were involved in fatal car accidents this past year alone. Adolescent drivers between 15 and 20 years-old accounted for 13.2 million of total drivers on the road. An average of nine teens ages 16 to 19 were killed every day from motor vehicle injuries. These help to assure why the minimum driving age needs to be raised. The reasons being that teenagers lack concentration, sense of danger, and responsibility as a driver.

It is proven that concentration on the road

and its surroundings are very important to any driver. Seeing the car change lanes in front can make the difference between life or death. Teenagers go through what seems to be a stress filled and busy life. They go through conflicts each day with teachers, peers, coaches, siblings, and parents. With all these different miniscule problems running through a person’s head it is understandable that someone might not always be focused directly on the road. This lack of concentration can lead to car accidents, tickets, and vehicular equipment malfunctions. So if a person that has trouble paying attention to a teacher lecture; how would they be able to pay attention to the road? For example an adolescent man that goes to Radford High School got into a crash this summer after his concentrations on his surroundings were lost. The young man was driving up the curvy roads in Lovely Mountain Drive with four of his friends. Let in be included this is three more people than instructed by the law for his age. They were all cracking jokes and listening to music at high volume, when the driver went into a curve too fast and flipped his car. This is a significant reason that the driving age should be raised. This would allow teens such as this person more time to develop concentration skills and responsibility.

Peer pressure is seen a tremendous amount in our society today. Teens and young adults are always wanting to fit in with the crowd; whether that means wearing a certain style of clothes or trying tobacco or other drugs. One example of peer pressure that is seen a lot is how a teenager should drive. It is almost expected that a teen isn’t good driver unless they can drive at high speeds under control. Kids are seen bragging about how fast they have gone on the interstate or how they got out of a ticket. Other kids are seen being made fun of for driving too slow, influencing these kids to become reckless drivers. These are definitely habits that are not desirable for young adults. Though these are bad even worst cases of peer pressure involved the use of illegal substances and driving. Everyday in the United States at least one young person will try alcohol, marijuana or pills. Combined for the fact that at least one young person acquires their license every day this makes a deadly combination. WIth plenty of young people being pressured into trying new things many kids are in situations that could involve drunk driving. With high school being the time that kids start getting exposed to the world of drugs wouldn’t it be wise for them not to be driving at the same time?

So what are arguments for the driving age staying the same?

Some arguments are that not all teenagers are irresponsible, that it makes a parent's life easier and that it is a rite of passage. Well many tend to differentiate from these ideas. First off although all teens may not be irresponsible almost all tend to slip up every once in awhile. That one slip up can be fatal if it involves driving; so why take the chance at a young person’s life? The next argument is that life becomes easier for a family once a child is able to take themselves to places like school and practice. While this may be true it causes other problems. Teens don’t always listen and this freedom allows them to go places that they aren’t supposed to, leading them towards many different types of danger. Which is better having your son or daughter drop off the rest of the kids at practice, or having them alive, but not driving? The answer seems to be quite obvious. Lastly some say that getting your license at age 16 is a rite of passage. That since this person received their license at 16 then so should everyone else. What kind of way of thinking is that? Just because someone else did it, so should the next person. Are these people saying that it one kid jumps off a bridge so should the rest? No they aren’t. So it should be realsised that tradition is no answer to why something shouldn’t change. If people thought this way women couldn’t vote and slavery would still

exist.

If people really do change the driving age to eighteen, they should for three main reasons. Older teens will be much more responsible, mature, and educated to be driving on the roads than sixteen year olds. Most eighteen year olds will have graduated high school and be away from peer pressure and a majority of drug culture. There also will be much less teen fatalities than are reported from as of right now. People must become open to changing the laws governing teen driving soon; because every minute we wait another life is being lost.