|
|
|
Washington
State is considering raising the driving age to 18 this is an
unusually bad idea for many reasons. Washington State already
has graduated licensing requirements with many rules and
regulations, Parents are overburdened with the
responsibilities of driving and teens are not as reckless as
people would have you think
Washington
State already has graduated licensing requirements with many
rules and regulations to govern driving laws that concern
teens.
*Teens
must pass driver’s education courses and take a written and
driving exam to pass.
*Sixteen
and seventeen year olds cannot carry other teen passengers and
must drive with an experienced driver for almost a year after
getting a license
Teen
drivers cannot drive at night or alone and must retain a B
average in school to receive insurance discounts.
*Teens
cannot get a license without jumping through many hoops and
following strict guidelines
*Parents
are overburdened with the responsibilities of driving.
Parents
are tired of chauffeuring kids around town.
The
economy has forced many families to send both parents back
into the workforce to make ends meet. Parents cannot drive
kids to work or sporting practices. Parents depend on their
older teen children taking some of the financial
responsibilities off them by getting jobs.
*There
are only so many hours in a day many teens will not get rides
to important functions or to work.
*The
economy would come to a complete halt if no teens could work.
Clothing stores, fast food, and the movies would close down if
teens stopped spending money there
Statistically
teens are not as reckless as people would have you think.
The
best argument for leaving law as it stands it a simple one.
Accidents are not caused by drivers who happen to be 16 or 17
years old they are caused by NEW drivers. So if you change the
law to 18 then they will be new drivers and have
disproportionate amount of accidents.
Teens
get bad publicity but numbers do not lie. In fatal accidents
in a ten year period between 1998 and 2008 only 10% of 16 year
olds had alcohol in their blood compared to 43% of 20-49 year
olds. The adults were 4.3 times more likely to be drinking
than teens.
The
National Insurance Alliance has found that 16 and 17 year old
drivers receive only 1% of the texting or phone violation
driving tickets.
*That
means 99% of texting or speaking on cell phone tickets were
given to those 18 and up.
*The
media has done a good job of teaching teens the importance of
safe driving.
*The
media has also portrayed teens as reckless for comic effect
but the statistics do not add up. *Teens actually cause very
few of the fatal accidents adults do the most damage.
You
could argue that teens die everyday from accidents, that they
are too immature and that their impulse control isn’t mature
enough to handle the responsibility. I believe statistics will
prove that new drivers, not teen drivers, cause these
accidents. Impulse control in teens seems much better
statistically than adults. Ninety-nine percent moving
violations along with 90% alcohol related fatalities are
caused by adults.
Maturity
happens when you give teens a chance and they succeed. Keeping
teens at home playing X-Box is not helping their maturity
issues. The ability to get a job and attend after school
sports practices do increase maturity. All of which can happen
if you have a car.
We
were all new drivers once. With education and the existing
laws governing teens and driving we will all be safe with
teens getting their licenses at 16.
Washington
State already has graduated licensing requirements with many
rules and regulations, Parents are overburdened with the
responsibilities of driving and teens are not as reckless as
people would have you think.
I
believe we should keep the driving age at 16 in Washington
State.
Free
Essays
Free
Presentations in PowerPoint format
Free
Educational Games for Kids
|