should teens drive at 16?

16 Year Olds and Driving Permits Motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of death among teenagers in the United States. A question among many debaters is if teens should be allowed to drive at the age of 16, what about if it affects the driver to drive with other teens, also if it affects the driver to be driving at night. I will list the positives and negatives of these the questions, and you, the reader, may choose your side. In 1998, 38% of deaths from all causes among teens 15 to 19 years of age resulted from motor vehicle crashes.(1) At age 16, a driver is 2.7 times more like to get in a crash than a driver at age 18, and is 3.9 times more likely than 19 year olds.(2) The question greatly debated among many people is whether or not the driving age should be raised from 16 to 18. Many polls and statistics show that American favor raising the driving age. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll has found that nearly two-thirds (61%) say they think a 16-year-old is too young to have a driver's license. Only 37% of those who polled thought it was okay to license 16 year olds. The same poll was done in 1995 and the result was that 50% of Americans thought it was okay to license 16 year olds. This means that many Americans have lost respect of teen drivers. A poll of 1,002 adults, conducted December 17-19, 2004, stated that 53% of adults favor raising the minimum driving age to 18. Most people state that there are a lot of immature drivers out on the road, but there are also many mature drivers who are capable of handling the task of driving at the age of 16. In the early 1900’s America began to mass produce the new invention called the car. There were no laws about the minimum age of driving until 1939 when the government required that the minimum age to drive be 18. In 1957, America began to run a license system that allowed for a person to require a learner’s permit at the age of 15. The student was required to wait one year to obtain his driving