Teens are Responsible enough to drive at a younger, but not too young, age. | Teen Ink

Teens are Responsible enough to drive at a younger, but not too young, age.

June 17, 2010
By ImmaCheerGurl BRONZE, Desert Hot Springs, California
ImmaCheerGurl BRONZE, Desert Hot Springs, California
3 articles 2 photos 8 comments

I strongly believe that the age to get a drivers license should be lowered. I think they should make the age to get a license 16 years old. Usually at this age teens are very responsible. They are responsible enough to get a job. So why do people think we are not responsible enough to drive a car? Yes they say they worry we will be ignorant and text and drive or we'll get easily distracted and crash. Well let me tell you something... we are smarter than that. We will not lower ourselves to do such idiotic actions. Yes there have been many occurences with teenagers getting in accidents due to texting or talking on their cell phones. Well those teenagers just weren't taught the consequences enough. But we learn from our mistakes and if we hear about these first few accidents we will learn the importances and consequences of driving. Therefore, leading us to making the right decision. If we lower the driving age we can create new opportunities for these teenagers. If they have a car then they are able to drive to the mall or movies which will give the parents some relaxation time. It will also help the teenagers. They can go hang out with friends and meet new ones which will help their social skills which are needed everyday in one's life. You need social skills if you want to get a job. Also, if we allow teenagers to drive at 16 we can save energy. Yes we will save energy. Because teenagers who drive usually spend most of their day at home wasting electricity by surfing the internet, playing video games, watching TV, leaving all the lights on in the house, and yes even go back and forth to the fridge to get snacks every hour. If they can drive they can get out of the house and not waste all that important energy and they'll be able to excersize more. Especially if they drive over to a park or to go hiking or even to walk around the mall with friends. I can bring up many, many more arguments for this debate, but this should be enough to influence people of the importance of our teeangers being able to drive at the age of 16.


The author's comments:
I wanted people to see the importance of teenage responsibility. And I know a lot of 16 year olds are wanting to get a drivers license already so they can get out of the house and enjoy their few teenage years because i want to get my license at 16 too (even though i wont be 16 for a couple more years). I was inspired by all the teenagers needing to get rides from their parents and then not being able to because their parents have to go to work or because they are too tired. I hope people will read this and think, "Wow. This makes a lot of sense. Being responsible does have its advantages and it brings a lot of good." Trust me like everyone else i want to start driving at 16. Haha.

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This article has 2 comments.


Aria said...
on Jul. 8 2015 at 1:30 pm
I have to disagree. 16 is simply too young to drive. Young teens have the highest traffic accident rates than any other group. Around 5,000 teens die annually from motor vehicle accidents. Of course, not every teen is the same. Some are more mature than others, some are more responsible, etc. But the vast majority are simply mentally unprepared at 16. Also, your argument is weak against the statistics of the opposing view. Saving energy and giving parents relaxation time are not strong counterpoints. Many studies have been done, and it shows that raising the age to get a license to even just 17 in some states can reduce fatal crashes by over 60%. I'm not saying that teens should not be able to drive at all, just that they shouldn't be able to obtain a full unrestricted driver's license at such a young age.

Andy Mason said...
on Apr. 29 2015 at 8:33 pm
I agree on what you say and think it is a good age to start driving.