“Congratulations, you’ve passed the driving test.” At the age of sixteen people can receive their driver’s license. Many think that this age is too high but many more think it is too low. The leading cause of death for sixteen year olds is motor vehicle crashes. Raising the drivers age to even just eighteen can reduce the risk of accidents with being more experienced, more mature, and parents being able to educate teenagers more than at sixteen. Motor Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S teens. In 2013, 21,683 teens in the United States ages sixteen to eighteen were killed and 24,243 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes. That means six teens ages 16-18-year olds died every …show more content…
There is three components to GDL, all separately contribute to reduced crash rates. The three components, extended learner permit period, nighttime driving restrictions,and passenger restrictions, combined result in the highest crash reductions among sixteen-year-old drivers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety records, “The majority of newly licensed teen drivers exit the learner period with significant skill deficits, leading to a much higher risk of crashing compared with more experienced drivers.” If driver’s ed or GDL is placed in a requirement, the risk of crashing will be dropped significantly. This further proves the need for teengers to be given more time to become more experienced before taking the road on their …show more content…
What causes teenage drivers to be such risky drivers? Although teens recognize that talking or texting on a cell phone while driving is unsafe, they often engage in these behaviors anyways. Teenagers aren’t paying attention in most crashes,“In 2013, there were 3,154 people killed and an estimated additional 424,000 motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.” (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Distracted Driving 2013). Teenagers are more worried about checking their phones and social media than they are about driving, but as you grow older you start to care less about that. Wisdom is an integral part of maturity. As you age you go through more things and learn more resulting in being more mature. Adults have the maturity to be able to put down the phone while driving unlike teenagers. “Distraction was a key factor in fifty-eight percent of crashes involving drivers ages sixteen to eighteen,” according to an analysis of video footage of 1,691 moderate to severe crashes 6 seconds before they occurred. Having the knowledge of what the distraction can cause may help teenagers to become self aware and mature to put the phone down when driving. Though it won’t reach all teens, but the waiting till 18 can push people to be more aware of their actions and result in the reducing of
For years fiery debates whether the driving age for teens should be sixteen or eighteen captured the nation. Sixteen year-olds have a legitimate argument for keeping the age where it stands, but statistics show that sixteen year olds are not responsible enough to drive, and that more practice is needed before anyone should get a driver’s license. However, from the looks of it, it seems that legislation is going to make the legal driving age eighteen.
Maturity and rationalization is not yet achieved or experienced by teenagers. In the era of technology there are several distractions for drivers of any age to maneuver. Parents can play an educational role by enrolling their teen into a driver’s educational program. Some states require students to complete a comprehensive graduated drivers licensing (GDL) program prior to receiving their license. The brain function is still developing in teenagers and may impede the quick thinking process necessary to become a responsible driver. For the safety and welfare of teenagers the age requirement in Arizona for a driver’s license should be increased from 16 to 18 years of age.
...year, raising the minimum driving age to 16 seems hopeful in making safer roads for society. In doing so we all should strongly encourage our teenage drivers to be more mature, to pay more attention, to be more confident in their driving, and to not think that they are so invincible to accidents.
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
Driving is something people do everyday. Although many people do it well, some do not, that being said the legal age to drive should be raised to twenty one years of age. The driving age should be raised because teens at the ages of fourteen through twenty should not be behind the wheel for the simple fact that they are just too young and too inexperienced to drive, also someone of that age can get more distracted than a person who is twenty-one or older and has had some time to mature and become responsible enough to operate a motor vehicle. “In the United States, 16–19-year-olds have the highest incidence of motor vehicle deaths among licensed drivers and motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 15–20-year-olds.” (Haggerty
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.
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.
... middle of paper ... ... Even though teen drivers make up a small percentage of the population, the most fatal crashes are the result of one behind the wheel; therefore the legal driving age needs to be raised to eighteen years of age. Works Cited Becerra, Judith J. - "The 'Baby The “Teen Driving” Academic Source Premier.
Turning the age of sixteen is a huge step in the life of a teenager. When becoming the age of sixteen a new challenge is brought into that person’s life, and that new challenge is driving a car. But are sixteen year olds ready for this for this task? Some people would say that driving a car can be very problematic for a sixteen year old. Those people are right, sixteen year old should not be driving cars at that age, and just leave it for the people who are eighteen or even older to handle such a task. There are several good reasons why the government should raise the legal driving age to eighteen than leaving it at sixteen.
Whether or not teenagers should be allowed to get their driver 's license at age sixteen is a known topic across the United States. One of the causes for this argument is the number of fatalities caused by young drivers. Evidence shows, “In 2012, 1,875 drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 died in motor vehicle crashes and an additional 184,000 young drivers were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” (“Teen Drivers”). Most accidents are caused by young drivers. In the United States of America, citizens may receive their driver’s license at sixteen, if they meet the requirements. Some people argue that sixteen year olds should not be able to receive their driver’s license. Other people argue that sixteen
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
The article Should 16-year-olds drive? written by Ted Gregory, describes that “the front portion of the brain—which includes control of impulses, judgement and decision-making, and the coordination of multi-tasking—matures when 18.” Eighteen is at the beginning of adult life and that is when people grow and develop. According to the possible contributing circumstances listed on crash reports, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation detailed that sixteen year olds are more likely to be reported as “exceeding the speed limit, driving too fast for conditions, failing to yield right-of-way, failing to control, following too close, and driving inattentively.” Sixteen year olds underestimate the dangers of the road. Some people would say that teens now a days are more cautious and aware of dangers of the road due to social media awareness. However, Edgar Snyder, a law firm representing injured people, revealed that 32.8 percent of high school students aged sixteen to seventeen have admitted to texting while driving. Other than the fact that sixteen year olds are not mentally independent, they are also not financially
Most teenagers are excited to get their license so they are able to be with their friends. They believe it is fun to have a car full of friends and drive anywhere and everywhere. However, most teenagers are not aware that three or more teen passengers quadruples a crash risk (National). When others are in the car with a driver it causes a myriad of distractions. Teenagers are subjected to peer-pressure and therefore do not make mature decisions. For example, teenagers wear seat belts less often than older drivers because of peer-pressure (Millward). The seat belt is a restriction so if an accident were to occur the outcome of it will not be as extreme with it on. Wearing a seat belt is also a law and teenagers pressure each other to break that law. The fatality rate for teenagers is 3.6 times higher than driving alone (California). Teenagers are pressured to break laws and do illegal actions while others are in t...
How old is it 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 contains 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.