“Raise the Driving Age”
Motor vehicle collisions continue to be a major public health problem resulting in a high incidence of morbidity and mortality among adolescents in the United States, despite legislative changes such as required seat belt usage and drunk driving regulations. Although the efficacy of driver education remains incompletely investigated, it appears that early licensure results in increased number of collisions, especially in teens licensed at an early age. Teenagers have not developed enough maturity, experience, or judgment skills to obtain a license at sixteen. Therefore, state legislators have the rightful purpose to raise the driving age from sixteen to eighteen. In the past few years, especially in the spring and summer, we have been hearing more and more stories of the needless deaths of teenagers in car crashes. Frequently, the higher crash-rate is ascribed to factors associated with being young. A major part of the brain that is developing during adolescence is the part that deals with judgment, which is used in many different ways when driving a car. For instance, when driving on the interstate, the driver must use judgment to decide how closely to follow the car in front of him or her or when to stop when coming up on a r
In addition to immaturity and inexperience, teenagers are easily distracted and are typically influenced by peer pressure. These facts, in addition to overactive emotions, other stresses, and teens' feelings of invincibility, often result in risky behavior. Many states, seeing the danger teens are to themselves and others on the road, have wisely attempted to impose restrictions on new drivers. Many states have instituted graduated licensing programs which limit driving freedom, such as when and with whom the teenager can drive. All these solutions sound good, but telling a teenager to do something and having him or her actually comply with that order are two different things. States cannot expect to successfully monitor the number of teen drivers who abide by these restrictions. Increasing the driving age to 18 would be less difficult and would protect more people than recklessly continuing to allow 16-year-olds to get licenses. They would also be less likely to rebel against adult authority. If teens were forced to wait until they were 18 to get a license, most would have had some experience with greater freedom and responsibility. Furthermore, teens have higher collision rates primarily because of inexperience and immaturity, which is apparent in young drivers' risky driving practices like speeding and tailgating. Crashes usually involve young drivers in single vehicle crashes, primarily run-off-the-road crashes that involve driver
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drunk driving,
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Approximate Word count = 974
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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