Amrit Hayer

English 11 TP Period 1

21 November 2017

Increasing the Driving Age

Thesis statement: Minimum driving age should be increased to 18 years old in the USA.

1st Argument: Younger drivers make poor driving decisions because of immaturity.

2nd Argument: Teens using alcohol with driving makes them even more dangerous

Counterclaim: Most teens have have part-time jobs that they need to attend.

3rd Argument: Having a job won’t matter if the teen dies on the way to work.

Imagine you are driving on the highway on a snowy cold day. Suddenly a younger driver

decides to switch lanes without turning on his turn signal and crashes into you. Due to the crash,

you have serious injuries and the teen dies in a fatal death, all because the the younger driver

made a small mistake. Now the life of a sixteen-year-old is lost due to something he could have

waited to use. Life is too short to be wasted on driving because the amount of risk that goes with

it. So should the minimum driving age be increased to eighteen in the USA?

The first reason the driving age should be increased to eighteen is that younger drivers

make poor driving decisions because of immaturity. Studies show most fatal accidents are not

due to alcohol, but to the inexperience and immaturity of young drivers. Three out of every four

fatal crashes are due to a new driver making a mistake (“States Urged to Raise the Driving

Age”). If there were fewer young drivers on the road, there would fewer fatal crashes. There
would be fewer teen deaths every year if they would wait till they’re 18 to drive. Stats also show

that teen drivers exit the learning period with driving skill issues which makes them dangerous

on roads (“Basic Facts About Teen Crashes”). So teens should practice their driving skills till

they’re 18 so they can be the best driver possible for safety of others and themselves.

Sources say that most teens have jobs that they need to attend so they need to be able to

drive to attend them. Parents of teens say that they don’t have time to take their jobs and after

school activities. Maybe all parents might agree with this but driving your 16 or 17 year old

everywhere they need to go can be a major struggle because many parents themselves have jobs

(“Driving age should stay at 16”). The age has really nothing to do with the driving aspect but

it’s the immaturity of the driver that will cause trouble. There is a a lot of teenagers that mature

enough to drive and need jobs because they might be in a financial trouble or they want start

saving up for college.

However, the job won’t matter if the teen or young drivers gets in a fatal crash or severe

accident on the way to work and ends up dying. Studies show 16-18 year olds have a higher

crash rate than any other driving age (“States Urged Raise the Driving Age”). So it’s not safe

young drivers to be even be driving to work because how high crash rates are for young drivers

and it could help reduce the number deaths that happen if the teen doesn’t drive on the way to

work. Jobs are important but so is the life of a driver. Stats also show that teens are three times

likely as a twenty year old to get in a car crash (“Basic Facts About Teen Crashes” 1). So it's

obvious teens are not safe on the roads and they can be threat to anyone else because they are

more likely to crash than any other age group.

 Overall driving age being increased would help save lives of others and these young

teens. It would also make the roads much safer to everyone that uses them. Every teen might not

be a bad driver but they can’t think like adults, they think like teens which leads them into

problem. What bad could come if the teen waits just 2 more years for their own good. In general

a life is more important than being able to drive younger.

Works Consulted

“Basic Facts About Teen Crashes.” ​Teen Driver Source.​ The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,

12 July 2016, ​https://www.teendriversource.org/stats/support_teens/detail/57​. Accessed

20 November 2017.

​ orthern Star.info, 6 February 2006,

“Driving Age Should Stay At 16.” ​Northern Star. N

http://northernstar.info/opinion/editorials/driving-age-should-stay-at/article_b5824ae9-3f

c3-581e-bfa4-17725decd91c.html#comments​. Accessed 16 November 2017.

​ bscohost, 8 April 2002,

Kelly, Katy. “Wreckless Teens.” ​US News & World Report. E

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=743f3057-ea65-4072-97b4-afd

4ade0de94%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjdXN0dWlkJ

mN1c3RpZD1pbmZvaGlvJnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=6416873&db=m

ih​. Accessed 16 November 2017.

Patrick, Gillespie. “More american teens are getting jobs.” ​CNN Money.

Time Warner Company, 3 July 2015,

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/03/news/economy/america-teenage-economy-jobs/index.h

tml​. Accessed 20 November 2017.

“States Urged to Raise the Driving Age.” ​CBS News. ​10 September 2008,
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/states-urged-to-raise-the-driving-age/​.