Raising The Driving Age

Driving is one of the most dangerous activities that exists today; yet everybody is involved in it nearly every day. Of the common stereotypes in society, perhaps one of the most common is that of the immature teenagers behind the wheel taking the lives of others. This stereotype is completely false. Although teens may be more susceptible to car accidents, the driving age should remain the same because the problem is lack of practice, teenageers need to travel around, teenagers are not the only people to blame, and driving is a known risk for any age and gender. Raising the legal driving age would not solve any of the existing problems, it would simply delay the problems. The age of 16 is an age that is already widely accepted as
the age that teenagers can be licensed as legal motor vehicle operators, and that should remain the same. Many people argue that the age of 16 is too young for developing minds to be blessed with the privilege of getting behind the wheel of a car. Many of these same people say that the problem is only the age; it is simply too young. Does a magical age exist that people suddenly become responsible and trustworthy? The answer is no. To become responsible, one must deal with the difficult challenges they face in everything. They must consistently face their intangible rival, fear and difficulty; in other words, they must have experience. Although this can be applied to any problem in life or any during any stage of life, it is especially true for operating motorized vehicles. The problem does not lie in the age of the teenagers, it lies in the amount of experience each individual has had throughout their life. An example of this can be observed in farming communities. Many children who grow up working on a farm are very smart and talented machinery operators when they are older; this includes anything from heavy equipment to simple cars. Exposure to driving at a very young age, even for the purpose of work, is what contributes to this developed talent. They are able to drive well because of their many years of experience. This is true for any adult, it just occurs much later in their lifetime. The only reason adults are safer drivers than newly licensed teenagers is because of their experience. To deprive teenagers of driving until the age of 18 would only delay the problem and would be punishment before their stereotypical crimes. High school years are very important for each and every individual.
These years can be very crucial in deciding the future of a certain person’s education, such as determining what colleges they are accepted to and what scholarships they can obtain. Extracurricular activities and involvement in high school as much as possible play tremendous roles in the process of universities deciding the answers for these two factors; this requires a lot of commuting. If a student wants to be successful in their high school years, they will try to be very involved in different clubs, sports activities, and any other high school activity. Not all students are within walking or bike riding distance of the school they attend, so they must commute via car. Parents are too busy to with work and family management to be their teenager’s personal taxi, which sometimes results in the students simply not being very involved because they feel as if they are not able to attend. Therefore, raising the driving age would be detrimental to current and future education of teenagers. As stated before, if teenagers could not drive legally until the age of 18, they would simply be dangerous and inexperienced adults. This is important for high school seniors especially as they will soon be attending college and looking after themselves, which requires a lot of driving. It is clear to see that driving is as essential for teenager as it is for any other age, and they should not be deprived of this
privilege due to common beliefs. When a problem arises, no matter what it may be, society tends to place the blame on a certain group or thing in order to avoid blaming everyone or even themselves. This is present in the controversy of the legal driving age. Teenagers are commonly seen as maturing individuals who should not be given the right to drive and endanger others on the road. Not all teenagers are immature. Many teenagers have proven to have developed minds that even exceed those of adults. Although teenage brains are scientifically proven to be in the developing process, that does not mean that applies to every individual and it certainly does not mean they should not be given the chance. All drivers share the same risk every time they get inside their car so the problem can not be avoided by personally attacking the teenagers, but enforcing laws regarding every driver would be the best solution. Such solutions could include improving seat belts and seat belt laws, or even improving the quality of vehicle safety in general. Driver’s Educations could be adapted to accommodate drivers obtaining more experience before they can be licensed. A number of precautions could be utilized for all drivers, but to personally limit the privileges of teenagers is not the correct solution. To operate a vehicle, it is necessary to be aware of the risks of driving before getting in the car each time.
It is common sense that driving is dangerous and risky, and that risk does not come from only one source. Every driver is responsible for safety on the road; it is important for each individual to follow the ethics of driving as well as the legalities of driving. Thus, every age and every gender shares the responsibilities of safety and of risk, not only teenagers. The teenage population is simply a culprit of false accusations from society. Every individual has a choice whether to drive or not; if they chose to drive, they know what could possibly happen. Teenagers are not breaking the law, even though it is sometimes the case as it is with any age. Responsibility must be assumed by teenagers at some point, and it is important to do so starting at a younger
age. Although teens may be more susceptible to car accidents, the driving age should remain the same because the problem is lack of practice, teenageers need to travel around, teenagers are not the only people to blame, and driving is a known risk for any age and gender. To raise the driving age would clearly not decrease the number of deaths or car accidents, it would simply create risky and dangerous adults. To have the privilege of driving has become essential for every society all over the globe, and it is not fair to keep this necessity out of the lives of teenagers. Teenagers do not deserve to receive the all the blame, they deserve the right to drive starting at the age of 16.