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Raising the Legal Driving Age

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Submitted By edge77
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For many teenagers obtaining their driver’s license is the first initial step of becoming an adult. Many political and public figures question the ability to drive legally at age 16; in some states even younger. There are many reasons why many individuals question the legal driving age such as how will impact society? If the legal driving age in the United States is raised to 18 will there be a decrease of accidents? In the United States most states allow teenagers to have a learner’s permit and a driver’s license at age 16. Rising the legal driving age would cut down on car accidents and associated damages, cut down on teen deaths from traffic accidents and allow for teens to gain more experience before driving on their own.
Let’s take a look at the reasons these changes should be made, as they are very eye opening and show some very disturbing statistics involving teen driving. Teenage driving has cost more than 81,000 people lives since the year 2000 as a result of motor vehicle accidents (SafeRoads, 2009). Teen drivers are not always attentive and responsible; many times the drivers can be easily distracted by friends, music, and cell phone. Although not all accidents can be prevented, if there is a possibility that rising the legal driving age to 18 can potentially decrease the number of individuals killed in motor vehicle accidents than it can only have a positive outcome. There are many individuals that have received their driver’s license at an older age and are very responsible drivers. 81,000 lost lives are a massive number of deaths that involve teen driving.
While the amount of lives lost are a big factor in the need to change the legal driving age, another figure to take into account is the monetary costs of teen driving accidents. “A first-ever analysis from AAA finds that crashes involving teen drivers ages 15 to 17 cost American society more than

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