Raising the Minimum Driving Age
-------------------------------------------------
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States.”
-------------------------------------------------
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States.” Over the last decade, teenage car crashes and teenage deaths have increased significantly. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States” (McBride). This can be due to many reasons including a teen’s maturity level. The older a person is, the more mature they tend to be. This is not true for all people because if it were then all driving teenagers would end up in vehicle accidents. Maturity does have a lot to do with it and I feel that if the national driving age would be lifted to 18 years then this country would experience less of these occurrences. I have done much research on the subject of teens and maturity. All of the sources I have read say pretty much the same thing – the different parts of a person’s brain mature at different stages in their life. “The cortex is the part of the brain that controls thinking, decision making, and judgment” (Johnson 51). Compared to adults, most teens and adolescents lack the proper skills to problem solve and make smart decisions. This is due to the fact that, for most people, the cortex fully develops in a person’s 20’s, sometimes 30’s. Students require high cognition because it is the set of thinking skills they use to manipulate ideas and other information so they can use it to problem solve. High cognition is necessary to learn math, science, and in making good decisions. In her book The Adolescent Brain: Learning, Reasoning, and Decision Making, Reyna discusses that despite adolescents’ cognitive skills being at their highest, they still demonstrate a frequent inability to use them properly in every day decision making. Decision making is a big part of being able to drive safely and if you cannot make good decisions then you should not be out on the road. Teens are able to acquire a driver’s license at the age of 16 in most US states. The majority of teenagers take advantage of this and feel that once they turn 16 they are entitled to a driver’s license. In her article for The Boston Globe, Miss Rodriguez stated that “There’s no way that some of these kids should be driving. They turn 16 and they think they have the right to drive” (Rodriguez 1). Everybody – regardless of age – must earn their right to drive. It even says in the handbook you study in preparation for taking a driver’s permit exam that holding a driving license is a privilege. If you abuse this privilege then your right to drive should be taken away from you. All drivers must be responsible when out on the road. This mindset of teens feeling that they are entitled to a driving license just reflects how immature they really are.
Aside from the United States, most other countries do not allow their teens to obtain a driving license until they are 17 or 18 years old. The age of 18 is best for obtaining a license because most teens have graduated high school by, or around, their eighteenth birthday. Teens experience a lot of stress that stems from issues in school or with their peers. Stress impacts decision making skills and if a teen has already graduated then they will most likely not have these stressors. Therefore, their driving will not be affected. Both parents and school officials have come together to help try lifting the minimum driving age to at least 18. Since there has been no luck so far, some schools have started offering programs to help their students in dealing with stress, peer pressure, and giving assistance in making smart decisions. Schools want to help prevent their students from making bad choices and parents do not want to lose their children in some fatal car crash.
Another good reason to increase the driving age is because of auto insurance. Although you may be allowed to own a vehicle at the age of 16, you must be at least 18 to have auto insurance put in your name. Because of this, most teens drive vehicles that are insured by their parents. We know that when you get into an accident your auto insurance usually goes up. Parents do not enjoy having to pay more because of their teens’ mistakes. I feel that I have made some very good points on why the minimum driving age should be lifted to 18. When a person turns 18, their life changes. They are now considered an adult. Adults, in general, are more responsible than teens. You have to be responsible to drive so it makes sense that you would need to be an adult as well.

Works Cited
Johnson, Leona. Strengthening Family & Self. Illinois: Goodheart –
Willcox, 2009. Print.
McBride, Hugh C. “A Matter of Maturity: Is Your Teen Ready to Get Behind The Wheel?” Aspen Education Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.
Reyna, Valerie. The Adolescent Brain: Learning, Reasoning, and Decision Making. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2011. Print.
Rodriguez, Julia. “A Higher Age Vowed for Teen Drivers.” The Boston Globe 26 March 2006: Page 1. Print.