The Legal Driving Age should be Eighteen

In responding to the quote extracted from the research works of Bowles requesting the National Highway Safety Administration to rise the legal age for driving from the current 16 year to 18 years, I take a rational analysis of instances that are likely to trigger the mind of the reader into supporting such a decision. The government should consider increasing the legal age as suggested by Bowles. This means that the main focus which is drawn by the argument and the presentation of empirical figures supports why transformational change is mandatory. The argument does not end with the fact that rising the legal driving age to eighteen will only guarantee saving lives but as it will be implied in better part of this paper; there are other social, economic, and cultural factors that will be positively affected. For instance, the new policies would help the country spend less on medical costs, increase responsibility among parents, lower insurance costs and lastly, it will be for the best interests of all American citizens who have been opposed to the idea of seeing irresponsible 16 year old children drive (Irvine, 2).

In the recent past there have been heated debates on the appropriate driving age for the U.S teenagers. Citing back to other developed countries in the European continent where the legal age for driving has been set at 18, less instances of teenage road accidents are reported. Furthermore reports presented by the National Highway Safety Administration shows that the rate of accidents ranging from fatal to non-fatal has been escalating more in the United States as compared to other continents. Apparently the US is among the few countries that have legalized driving among children of 16 years. Laws have also been set to promote ownership of cars at this tender age which makes children of 16 years so eager to possess driving licenses and drive themselves around as they either go to school or visiting. According to the people who enacted the law, it was argued that allowing the children of 16 years to drive would help them cultivate the virtue of responsibility, but according to me, responsibility is grown by age and experience. How realistic will it be to test the responsibility of a 16 year old teenager by risking his or her life with a car? It is a common fact that children at the age of 16 are immature and mostly lack experience thus there arises need to increase the legal driving age to 18 (Gregory, 37).

The second reason why I support the adjustment of the legal driving age limit from 16 years to 18 is pegged on the realization that global economies are facing recession. That is one reason why the government has been making attempts to shrink its budgetary costs on medical healthcare and other sectors. It is inevitable that the government is run by taxpayer’s money which demands accountability and budgeted expenditures aimed at reducing wastage. As it was stated by Bowens, children between the age of 16 and 18 have exhibited a higher tendency of causing accidents than those of the years 18 and above. Accidents tragic, fatal or non-fatal could lead to injury of the body. In severe cases the occupants of the car can succumb to death or becomes maimed. Being that 16 year olds are still dependent on their parents or guardians and that they are covered by an insurance policy means that insurance agencies will incur the treatment costs. In order to curb such extra costs, insurance companies have reacted by increasing their insurance premiums to cover for these eventualities. Again insurance companies calculate their premium policies based on the age of the drivers. Using the assumption that young drivers are prone to more accidents than the elderly. Thus it is realistic to state that 16 year old drivers pay the most insurance premiums because they are prone to more accidents. Rising the age to 18 will translate to relatively lower car insurance and health insurance costs which can be used for other economic activities (David, 206).

“16 teen year old youngsters are not ready to drive! They make many mistakes because they are not experienced enough just yet. Roads are not as safe as they used to be 50 years ago. 16 teen year olds are just little kids, but in 2 years when they are 18 they should be ready if need be, to drive. As adults, we should protect are children; there is nothing wrong with practicing driving but they should not be driving alone yet.” (Elizabeth, debate statement, Dec 10, 2013); this statement drawn from a correspondence during a debate on why the legal driving age should be raised illustrates why the age limit needs to be revised. According to the statement, young children who get driving permits at the age of 16 are made to have the feeling that they are mature but the fact is they are not. In fact 16 year olds have in many instances confided in their friends or parents of their nervousness while driving because they feel that they are not ready to take responsibly of the many risks involved with driving. Driving is a dynamic process that risks not only the lives of the drivers but also the lives of all road users. Why then should the government risk the lives of many at the expense of according comfort to one child driving recklessly on the streets? It sounds illogical to risk the lives of so many people because life is so precious to be lost to careless road users.

In other debates, people advocating for 16 year olds having driving permits have cited the issue of mobility as being a limiting factor (David, 199). Parents also argue that by allowing their children to drive at the age of 16, they are freed from the role of dropping them and picking them from schools, work or from their friends over the weekends. They prefer the children driving themselves so that they can concentrate on their other duties and have not to worry about the mobility of their children. It is with due consideration that I can persuade those opposed to shifting the limits for the legal driving age to 18 that the United States has an advanced transport system that will get the children moving either with or without riding their own cars. Secondly driving is a responsibility that might be too much a task for children at the age of 16. In fact reviewing the age to 18 years will be a big step towards saving the lives of the pedestrians, other road users and even that of the children who will be exposed to less danger. In the end the country will have safe roads that are conducive to all people.

In conclusion research showed that New Jersey where children are allowed to drive at 17 has a lower accident rate than other states where children are allowed to drive at 16 years. Furthermore statistics by the National Highway Safety Administration show that more than 5,000 teenagers in the United States die each year in a car crash (David, 196). Even though raising the age will disappoint children nearing the driving age and put much pressure on the parents who will be forced to be driving them, it will be for the best interest for our country to have safer roads that do not risk the lives of other road users.

Works Cited:

David, Spurling. Introduction to Transport Economics: Demand, Cost, Pricing, and Adoption. New York: Universal-Publishers, 2009 http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=f66ZRLmlNuwC&dq=driving+age+limits&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Elizabeth, Warren. Should the minimum legal driving age be raised to 18? Debate forum, Retrieved December 10, 2013 http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-minimum-legal-driving-age-be-raised-to-18

Gregory, Ted. Should 16 year olds drive? Chicago Tribune, 2008. Web. Retrieved Dec 10, 2013 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-teen-driving-study_09sep09,0,1775625.story

Irvine, Martha. Teen driving age should be raised, says Auto Safety Group. Huffington post magazine, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/09/teen-driving-age-should-b_n_125010.html