The 16th birthday is a major milestone in a teenager’s life, it is the day where a teenager can finally get their drivers license and become more independent. But are 16 year olds ready to take on the responsibility of driving a car? Driving a car takes experience and maturity and those two things have not been 100% mastered at the age of 16, which is why the driving age should be raised.
The main argument behind increasing the driving age is that it would save more lives. 16 year olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash. Car crashes are the number one killer of U.S teenagers. The Associated Press reports that more that 5,000 U.S teens die each year in car crashes.
In New Jersey, the only state to have the driving age set at 17, the overall rate of teens killed in crashes is significantly lower than the rates in nearby states. In one particular study, the rate of crash-related deaths among 16-17 year olds was found to be 18 per 100,000 in New Jersey and 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut. This study shows the impact of increasing the driving age to 17; think about what the impact would be if the driving age were increased to 18.
Teenagers need to grow up a bit more before they should be allowed to get behind the wheel. National Teen Driving statistics show that most car crash related deaths among teens between 16-17 are caused by poor hazard perception, low risk perception, risk taking, and lack of skill. By giving teens an extra year to two years to gain more experience and maturity, the number of deadly car crashes can be reduced.
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I do agree that it would make sense to raise the driving age. Most countries in Europe have the driving age set at 18.
ReplyDeleteI also think that if more driving practice was required the driving would improve making teenagers safer drivers.
ReplyDeletei agree and think that making the driving age older would be better. people would be more mature and i think that they would be more cautious to what is going on
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to look at what would happen if the driving age were increased, but I don't think raising the driving age is the right answer. Many other questions occur like how would those that work get to a job, or there might be issues with transportation to and from school especially with those that are in extracirricular activities? I think we need to tackle the problem in a different way, like requiring more driving practice as mentioned above.
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