Sixteen is too Young essays

Sixteen is too Young essays In the state of Virginia, you can start driving with your learners permit at 15. A learners permit requires that an adult 21 or older, or your immediate family 18 or older must be sitting in the passenger seat. Once you have had your learners permit for 6 months and have turned 16, you can receive your drivers license that allows you to drive without supervision (VA DMV). I know the first time I drove alone at 16 I did not feel ready. I learned all I could from the books, but there is so much more to driving that what they teach you in the classroom. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading causes of death for American teenagers. Sixty-five percent of those deaths occur when another teen is operating the vehicle (NHTSA). This is a flashing red light that the legal driving age should be raised. Some say that if the legal driving age was raised it would be an inconvenience to both the teen and the parent. The teen can not get an after school job because he/she has no transportation, and even if the parents are willing to chauffeur their teens around, they can not do it until they get home from work. I will admit that it is an inconvenience; however, an inconvenience today means that your child will be living tomorrow. Sixteen and seventeen year old drivers make up about two percent of the total driving population, but they are involved in one out of every seven crashes (Cohen). There are approximately 5,000 teen deaths per year related to unsafe driving (Wims). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that A sixteen year old driver is 42 percent more likely to be involved in a crash than a 17 year old with just one additional year of driving experience (Wims). This is alarming considering that nearly half of all 16 year olds have a drivers license. Most 16 year olds just are not experienced enough to operate a vehicle yet. ...