Driving Age: The Major Discrepancy

Since the day that the idea of an automobile was brought to life by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1762, the human race has been looking towards making cars better, faster, lighter, safer, and aesthetically appealing with each day that passes. However, with this need for speed and luxury comes with a price, death. Vehicles today are safe and effective, however, nothing can protect against everything. Many turn the blame on younger drivers, and state that they are not responsible enough to be on the roads, and proclaim that younger age, carelessness, technology, alcohol, and drugs play a part in the number of traffic incidents in the U.S. The minimum driving age in the United States has been and ongoing controversy for generations, and will continue to be an issue in the future; adolescents believe that the driving age should be lowered, but in reality the current change in driving age has made driving conditions much more safe.

With an increase in the legal driving age there has been a dramatic decrease in the amount of deaths each year related to car accidents. Driving is a privilege that many teenagers look forward to for years. Earning a driver’s license allows teenagers freedom. It allows them to do what they want, when they want. Nevertheless, that is exactly what the world portrays driving to be, freedom, but that is not all driving is. Operating a vehicle is operating a deadly weapon, a vehicle has capability and force to accelerate to speeds well over one hundred miles per hour; imagine what that could do to a fragile human being.

Automobile accidents happen every single day; the amount of deaths due to car accidents every year adds up to nearly 45,000 people, and the state of Indiana is near the top for the United States for...

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