Increasing the Driver´s Age

Car crashes are the leading cause of severe injury and death among teenagers. "In 2010, seven teens aged 16-19 died everyday from motor vehicle injuries." (Injury Prevention and Control: Motor Vehicle Safety) The reason these accidents are happening is because too many teens are getting behind the wheel without enough experience or common sense. Many studies have shown that teens are more likely to be distracted, experiment with drugs and alcohol, and take more risks in general with their vehicles. Many states have tried to negate these risks buy increasing the amount of experience a teen driver must need but the statistics show that may not be enough. There are many ways we can decrease the amount of accidents and deaths to our teen drivers, one of which is increasing the age to get a driver's license.

It has long been thought that drunk driving was the leading cause of accidents, but the fact is distracted drivers, especially teens, actually cause more accidents. More teens are getting behind the wheel with too many distractions. Things such as cell phones, radios, makeup and even just friends in the car can cause a teen driver to lose focus of the road. According to the a study done by AAA, the top distraction was the use of electronic devices, next was things such as grooming and eating. The surprising find was that the use of electronic devices was found most often in older teens (Smith) and "besides using cell phones and other devices twice as often as teen boys, girls were nearly 10 percent more likely to become distracted while driving. The distractions included reaching for something (nearly 50 percent more likely to do this than the boys) and eating or drinking (nearly 25 percent more likely)." (Smith) Teens do not see...

... middle of paper ...

...ayers more money to enforce.

The fact is driving is a privilege and should be taken as such. Many states have enacted tougher driving restrictions for teens or so called graduated licenses, where they must complete so many hours of driving and many of those they are not allowed to have any distractions such as other teens. Are they working though? Unfortunately it does not seem that way. For the year 2012 data shows that the deaths of drivers aged 16 and 17 increased 19%. (New Study; Teen Driver Deaths Increase in 2012) Not good news. Maybe it is time for more substantial changes. Maybe parents should really think and decide if their teen is ready to drive; are they really mature enough to handle the responsibility of not only their own lives but those around them. And maybe it is time for states to consider raising the legal driving age to one that save lives.