Raising the Driving Age to 18

While in the United States the legal driving age is 16, the age to operate a vehicle should really be raised to18. Teens are not allowed to consume alcohol, vote, buy cigarettes or buy handguns, but they are allowed to be in charge of a car and jeopardize the lives of many. I understand that this is a very controversial topic, especially to teenagers, but it is difficult to watch people who are unprepared get behind the wheel every day and put the safety of many at risk. At my age, people are all about getting the freedom that comes along with driving, but I believe that our freedom at this age should be limited.

It was reported that in the first six months of 2012, the deaths of drivers aged 16 to 17 went up by 19 percent over what they were in 2011. It is a scientific fact that most 16-year-olds’ brains are not fully developed. This also means that our reflexes and hand-eye coordination are not fully developed either. One of the biggest reasons for accidents is texting or using your phone in some way while driving, and many of these accidents involve teenagers. These days we see countless campaigns urging drivers to look at the road and not at their phones and, coincidently, teenagers are the target of this campaign. Although we know that people of all different ages could cause accidents because of their electronics, in our present society teenagers are more subject to doing it. With countless social media networks being available, and with texting becoming so popular with my generation, this causes the temptation to check “important” issues like whether Cynthia defined her relationship with Kevin yet. Even though driving while looking at your cell phone is quickly becoming illegal in all 50 states, these laws certainly do not stop people from doing it.

In Nevada you are allowed to get a permit when you are 15 and a half, then you are required to drive with a parent or guardian while completing 60 hours of driving practice. Once you turn 16 you are allowed to complete the driving test which includes a written test and an interactive test. Although for many people this is enough to ensure that they are skilled enough to drive, for some people it isn’t. Whether a teen is just on their best behavior or whether the test administrator is too bored with their job to care, many shouldn’t pass but do pass daily. For example, there have been many times that my mom and I have almost been hit by careless teenagers while driving out of the high school parking lot. Personally I have heard countless stories about test administrators not caring enough to give real, accurate testing. They are either too nice to mark a nervous teenager down or just don’t give enough attention to the teen’s driving skills. This can put the not only the driver’s life in danger, but also the lives of innocent people around them, simply because of the careless decision of the teenager or the people who gave them the license.

Another great thing that would happen if the driving age was raised to 18 is not having to insure a young driver. Currently, parents can either choose to purchase separate auto insurance for their child, which is very expensive or they can add them to their policy, which is not quite as expensive. By adding them to their own policy, however, they are risking an increase in everyone’s insurance premiums who is listed under this policy should an accident occur. In general, teenager’s insurance is more expensive than people in adulthood because insurance agencies don’t typically trust teenagers’ driving skills or decisions. Insurance companies are all about profits and getting the most money they can out of someone, and they know that teenagers are more subject to accidents. This knowledge has caused insurance prices for teenagers to be incredibly high, and most insurance agencies won’t reduce the price to insure a teenager driver until the driver is 21. The overall price is just ridiculous and many parents can’t afford to pay it, which results in teenagers having to work to be able to pay for their insurance or not being able to have their own car altogether. In addition, although illegal, some choose to not have insurance at all because of the high price.

As a teenager myself, I do understand why many teenagers believe having a license is a very important thing. For one, many teenagers have working parents and are unable to have the freedom to do things with friends as often as they would like, but this could easily be solved with public transportation. One cannot disregard the fact that teenagers see their license as a way to show their freedom; they get to leave whenever they want to and don’t have to worry about having to adjust their lives to their parents’ schedules. For some, this is a way to not have to walk to school anymore or even a way to get to work. Taking these factors into consideration, I understand why many teenagers feel that they absolutely need their license. I am not saying that every teenager is unable to safely drive; I am merely pointing out that if the law was raised to 18, it would prevent the drivers who aren’t ready from getting behind the wheel until they are mature enough to. I am also not saying that teenagers are the only people who cause accidents; many elders and adults cause traffic accidents every day. Although the world would be a much safer place, we will never be able to get rid of car accidents completely. Changing the driving age to 18, however, would substantially lower the amount of car-related deaths.

It is statistically shown that teens are much worse drivers than people who have fully developed into adulthood. It is also shown that teens are ten times more likely to be involved in auto accidents then adults. As of May, injuries sustained while in a moving vehicle are in the top 10 causes of death, with over 1.3 million fatalities in 2012 alone. With the evidence presented, I believe that the most efficient way to make the roads a safer place is by changing the driving age to 18. Changing the driving age to 18 will not end all road injury deaths but it will certainly decrease them substantially.