Minimum Legal Driving Age

Improved Essays
I don't think that the minimum legal driving age should be raised to 18 years. Teens are doing more than just preparing themselves for their future. Many teens have extracurricular activities, jobs, volunteer work and socializing. When teens younger than 18 can't drive, all these activities fall on to their parents, who may not have the freedom or willingness to shuttle their kids. And even though rising the driving age won't necessarily prevent teen driver crashes, it could just delay them.

Teens are occupied personas that also have responsibilities. There are many young adolescents that have no way to get to and from there activities due to the fact that parents work. “Scientist at the NIH Campus in Bethesda Md. have found that one 16 years-old
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An 18-year-old who is a new driver has just as little experience behind the wheel as a 16-year-old new driver. “The IIHs offers an example using Connecticut, where drivers can be licensed at 16, and New Jersey, where the minimum licensing age is 17. The death rate is higher among 16 in Connecticut and higher among 17 in NJ.” (ehow.com) But no matter the age, inexperience always leads to some accidents. Many teens are safe and careful drivers, and almost all adult drivers today started before they were 18. It would be unfair to punish all 16 and 17 year olds for the bad behavior of a few. Instead of a blanket measure like rising the driving age, there are other steps that could be taken to make the roads safer. These include making the driving test tougher, requiring driving graduate programs and …show more content…
As well as being economically important to many, the social aspects of the car should also be considered. Sharing lifts to school or college is not only a good way of making friends; it also saves fuel and reduces traffic congestion. Being made to wait an extra year or so would seem a token gesture to most teenagers who might be encouraged to drive illegally in the interim period. Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the USA argues that "teens themselves have been growing up under a certain set of rules about when they can get their license" - it would be unfair and perhaps unwise to treat an entire generation differently, especially when most of them will have friends of almost the same age who will be able to drive while they must wait an extra year.
The legal driving age should not be raised not only because of one argument but of many. The act of driving is such an important thing to do as a teen; of course responsibly. It is a huge step to becoming more mature and responsible. But changing the legal driving age will become a chaotic thing. Experience is gained with years of practice not determined by the age a person

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