Should Minimum Driving Age Be Raised?

464 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Driving age controversy

Vroom! Vroom! Here you are, 16- years- old, driving. Wait, should you be behind the wheel? Is 16- years- old too young to drive? 5,864 accidents among 15-20- year- olds were reported in 2008. Should the minimum driving age be raised? No. 16- years- old is a good age to start driving. According to “Traffic Safety Facts” written by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a “27% decrease” of driver fatalities were reported. There were 2,123 fewer 15-20- year- olds involved in fatal crashes. At age 15, most teenagers have taken the proper precautions to getting their learner’s permit or are learning how to drive. In 1998, 8,000 drivers were involved and within the next 10 years it would soon decrease by over 2,000. So whatever is going

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

  • Increasing the Minimum Driving Age

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    Just like the teenage boy that died in the wreck, most young teen drivers think they are invincible and are owners of the road which is all due to lack of maturity. The mind set of young drivers now days is “I’m too young to die”, or “it wont happen to me” and they are so blinded by the immature thinking that it gets them in trouble. Some traits generally linked with the immaturity are: chance taking, testing limits, poor-decision making, overconfidence, speeding, following to closely, and dangerous passing (Williams). When you have youthful age and immature characteristics combined the crash possibility is enlarged. The 15-16 age groups are among the most accident prone of most groups (“Don’t”), so why then would we want them behind the wheel? “Most U.S. states license at age 16, but the minimum age for a regular license is 14 in South Dakota and 15 in five other states including: Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and South Carolina”, stated Allan F. Williams. Youthful age and immature thinking is part of the reason wh...

    Read More

  • Drivers Beware

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Endersby -. Its not a question if teenagers are worse drivers than more responsible adults. According to a few researchers, a study in the 1990’s said crash-related deaths from sixteen and seventeen year olds were eighteen per 100,000 in New Jersey, and twenty-six per 100,000 in Connecticut. More than 5,000 teens in the U.S. die every year in car crashes. The National Highway Safety Administration said that the rate of crashes per mile driven for beginner drivers was almost ten times the rate of drivers thirty to fifty-nine.

    Read More

  • Raising The Driving Age Essay

    1726 Words  | 4 Pages

    Driving at the age of sixteen is perfectly okay with people who does not seem to care because he or she feels as if someone gets into a car they are automatically going to put all attention into driving the vehicle which is not true nowadays because teenage drivers feel the need to be on a cell phone or trying to control the radio and trying to get dressed or put on make up when he or she should only be focused on operating the car. As the CDC stated “High school students aged 16 years and older who, when surveyed, said they had driven a vehicle one or more times during the past 30 days when they had been drinking alcohol.” ("Teen Drinking and Driving"), high school students are actually drinking when they should not be anywhere neat alcohol beverages and be able to drive. Based on these facts “Teens are more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns, ride with an intoxicated driver, and drive after using alcohol or drugs.” (Only the Strong Survive "Teen Driving Crash and Fatality Stats"), teenagers are most likely to one ride with a intoxicated driver, and two driver after using alcohol or drugs which proves my point that teenagers should not be able to drive at such a young

    Read More

  • Raising The Driving Age

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    In recent years, the legal driving age has become a topic of heated debate. There are many supporters that advocate for raising the legal driving age to eighteen or twenty-one. However, raising the driving age would cause some major problems. Sixteen should remain the legal driving age in most states and areas because the economic burden would be extremely large and the problems related to young drivers would not be adequately solved by simply rising the legal driving age. This essay will outline the reasons why the legal driving age should not be raised and what some of the better choices are instead.

    Read More

  • The Driving Age Should be Raised

    1842 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1990's teens would get full licensing and all privileges with little or no testing at all. It wasn’t until 1995 when around twenty states required a learning permit, but the system was still very weak, as teens only had to keep their permit for two to three weeks. But somehow, teen drivers are not as dangerous as they are today. Experts say it is mostly because of deadly distractions in and out of the vehicle (Boulard 38). In 2003, teenagers topped the charts with ten teenagers dying each day in a motor vehicle; that's over thirty-six hundred kids dying because of weak, bendy laws that are meant to protect them....

    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

    Sixteen year olds have a higher crash rate than drivers of any other age. “ in 2011, teenagers accounted for 10 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths” (Teen Driving Statistics). For this purpose, Many states have begun to raise the age limit by imposing restrictions on sixteen years old drivers. For example, limiting the number of passengers they can carry while driving. “The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report in May 2012 that showed that the risk of 16- or 17-year old drivers being killed in a crash increases with each additional teenage passenger in the vehicle. The risk increases 44 percent with one passenger; it doubles with two passengers, and quadruples with three or more passengers. The study analyzed crash data and the number of miles driven by 16- and 17-year olds” (Teen Driving Statistics). Another example, is that many people believe that teenage drivers have a race boy/girl mentality. This mean that when any teenager gets into a vehicle of any kind they get some type of thrilled or that the driving laws do not accommodate them in any way, shape, or form. They would go drag race ...

    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

  • Teen Driving: Responsible Or Irresponsible?

    269 Words  | 1 Pages

    Sixteen-year-old drivers crash rate is three times as high of a 18 or 19-year-old. I agree that teens would most likely have crashes. Some teen are not responsible enough to be behind a wheel. Especially when there are friends in the car . They’re most likely to get distracted by their friends or their phones.

    Read More

  • Should the Driving Age be Raised to 21?

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    How old is old enough to drive? Most would argue the legal driving age of sixteen seems appropriate for someone to begin taking the wheel, while others say that twenty-one is a more sufficient age. Even though raising or maintaining the driving age at sixteen contain both pros and cons, major facts need to come to consideration if the driving age ever increases. As a teenager driving, I believe that people wanting to raise the driving age do not realize the negative effect that that would cause. For instance, if the age increased, teenagers would lose independence and freedom, parents would have to sacrifice their time and freedom, and even though teenagers die in car crashes every year, it would not decrease the overall number of deaths per year.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Teenage Driving

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article Crash Facts on the 16- to 19- Year-Old Age Group, written by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, it is stated that 11.1 percent of sixteen year old drivers are involved in car accidents. Sixteen year olds are less experienced and are accident prone 2.43 percent more than eighteen year olds. According to Ted Gregory, a Chicago Tribune reporter, in New Jersey, teenagers start driving at the age of seventeen unlike other states with a driving age of sixteen. After the law was enacted, the percentage in fatal accidents dropped 33 percent. This report proves that as teenagers get older, car accidents are less likely to happen. Many would argue that age is just a number and eighteen year olds cause many car accidents as well. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reported that in comparison to sixteen year olds, eighteen year olds are less likely to be involved in car accidents, with a rate of 8.67 percent. Sixteen year old drivers who are involved in car accidents are more likely than older drivers to cause accidents due to carelessness on the

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Raising The Driving Age

    344 Words  | 1 Pages

    Imagine this: Teenagers are going to have to rely on their parents until they are 18, having little experience, parents letting their 16 year old drive is a convenience, and when they are 16 they experience responsibility. Because teenagers need to learn responsibility, need practice, and need to mature, raising the driving age would be a bad idea. To begin, teenagers would learn more responsibility when they are driving a car. Teenagers would have a way to transport them to their school or job. Teenagers would start to learn how to spend their money on important things because they are always going to have to buy gas for their car. In addition, teenagers would need experience when driving a car. If teenagers were unable to drive if they were

    Read More

  • Should the Driving Age Be Raised to 18?

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    I am sure that we all know that having a driver license is a big compromise to drive safe. Then why make the roads more hazardous by raising the driving age to 18? If the driving age is raised there will be more drunk drivers, unemployed New Zealanders and Kiwi’s that don’t have an interest in getting their license anymore. Is this what New Zealand wants?

    Read More

More about Should Minimum Driving Age Be Raised?

Open Document