Should the Age for Getting a License be Higher Than 16?

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Recommended: Raising the driving age argument

Throughout the past decade, the rate of teenage automobile crashes has risen. Teens have become more and more careless with their driving over the years. It may be the teens lack of experience or that they are just too young to have the responsibility of driving a car. As the years have gone by, teens have become more distracted while driving. With their cell phones buzzing uncontrollably, the music blaring, and their friends yelling in the back seat; teens are having a hard time focusing on the other drivers around them. Teenagers have a very hard time “multitasking” while driving, posing more of a hazard when on the roads (Zernike). Driving comes with much responsibility and maturity, two things an average teenager lacks. Why are teens more likely to be in a car accident than someone who has been driving for years? Raising the driving age will put teenagers and others on the road out of the risk of getting in an accident. With the pros and cons, teens are inexperienced, putting those around them at risk, and are distracted very easily. The use of appeal to logos and pathos explains the pros and cons of teens and driving.

One claim explaining why the age limit to get a driver’s license should be higher than sixteen is teenagers are very inexperienced when first beginning to drive. Driving comes with much experience, something a sixteen year old driver does not have. According to Williams, the driving experience of a teenager, has been known to being a “major factor” impacting automobile crashes. Although, the driving age of teenagers may only seem to concern a small amount of the world’s population, it does pertain to the safety of everyone around the teenage driver. Using appeal to logos, Williams’ evidence proves a sixteen ye...

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...ng Age a Fine Idea?.” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. 10 Sep. 2008: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

ProQuest Staff. “At Issue: Teens and Driving.” ProQuest LLC. 2014: n.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.

Ricks, Dethia. “Teen Text Danger: Deaths and Injuries Among Young Drivers Rising.” Newsday. 09 May. 2013: A.8. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

Roan, Shari. “Driving Laws May Be Shifting the Fatalities to Older Teens.” Los Angeles Times. 14 Sep. 2011: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

Williams, Alan F. “Licensing Age and Teenage Driver Crashes: A Review of the Evidence.” Chronicle For Driver Education Professionals. 56.1 (2008): 15. Mas Ultra-School Editions. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

Zernike, Kate. “Unsafe Behind the Wheel?” New York Times Upfront. 08 Oct. 2012: 6-7. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.

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