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IsabelEdmondson
Ms.Gardner
English10H/Period6
10May2016
AgelessBehindtheWheel
Accidentshappentoeveryonenomatterwhatage:nowonderwhytheyarecalled
accidents.Severalpeoplethinkyoungdriverscausethemostamountofcaraccidentstherefore,
theyassumeincreasingthelegaldrivingagewilllowerthefatalityrate.Allstatesdecidewhen
teenscangettheirdriverslicense,butpeoplebelievethelegaldrivingageshouldbeincreased
forsafetypurposes.Thedrivingagecouldimpactthenumberofaccidentsandsafetyonthe
roadhowever,themainfocusshouldbeonthereadinessofthedriverdespitetheirage.Inorder
toholdadriverslicenseinCaliforniathedrivermustmeetthefollowingrequirements:be16
yearsold,haveheldaprovisionalpermitforatleast6months,havecompleteddriverseducation,
havecompletedatleast6hoursofprofessionaldrivertraining,havecompleted50hours(10
hoursmustbeatnight)ofdrivingpracticewithanadultovertheageof25withavalid
Californiadriverslicense,andpassthedrivingtest(DriverLicense).Teensmustmeetthese
strictrequirementsalongwithcompletinghoursoftrainingtoreceiveadriverslicensetheyare
justaspreparedasanewadultdriverwhodoesnothavethesameamountofpracticeoran
experiencedadultwhohasforgottentherulesoftheroad.
Majorityofadultssuspectteenagersaretooyoungandinexperiencedtohandlethe
responsibilityofdriving.Keepingteensofftheroadwouldlowerthenumberofaccidentsand
deathsthatarecausedbyteendriving.Zernike,anationalcorrespondentfor
TheTimes
,states:

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Carcrashesaretheleadingcauseofdeathforteenagers,whohaveacrashratefourtimeshigher
thanthatofolderdrivers(Zernike).Raisingthedrivingagewillpreventthenumberof
accidentscausedbyteensbecausethenewdriverswillbemoremature,andthereforetheywill
bebetterdrivers.
Between6and13teenagersdiefrommotorvehicleaccidentseveryday,
accordingtostaterepresentative,KeishaWaites(Waites).Thissupportsthefactthatadult
driversareclearlymorefittodrivethanteenagers.
Teensdohaveahighercrashrate
nonetheless,raisingthedrivingagealittlewillnotmake18or19yearsoldanybetterdrivers.
Youngdriversdocausemanyaccidents,butit'snotjustbecausetheyareyounger.Itis
becauseoftheirlackofexperiencewhichanynewdriverwouldhaveeveniftheywereafew
yearsolder.
Teenslookforwardtoseveralritesofpassageastheyprogresstoadulthood,with
thefirstmajormilestonebeingthatsweettasteoffreedomthatcomeswithadriver'slicenseat
age16(DrivingFirst).
Whenteensreachtheirlasttwoyearsofhighschooltheyyearnformore
freedombeingabletodrivegivesthematasteofit.Nowteenscanfinallydrivethemselvesto
school,sports,workoranyotherextracurricularactivitieswithoutrelyingonanadulttoget
themtospecificplacesontime.
Afteryearsofcartingkidstoschoolandbackandtakingthem
wherevertheyneedtogo,mostparentsconsider,[it]arelieftoletthemdrivethemselves
(DontRaise).
Often,highschoolersneedawaytogettoandfromschoolhavingalicenseat16
wouldallowthemtotransportthemselvestoschool.Havingalicenseat16,theageyoumay
obtainajob,allowsteenagerstostartmakingmoneytosaveupforcollegeinthenearfuture.
Numerousfamilieshavetroublegettingalltheirchildrentoschoolandotheractivitiesbecauseof
conflictingschedules.Thisisasituationthatcouldbesolvedbyhavingoneextradriverinthe
houseoncetheoldestchildturnssixteen.Inanemergencysituation,theteendrivercouldtake

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overthewheeliftheirparentswereunabletodrive.Thisallowsteensmorefreedomand
responsibilitytransitioningthemintoyoungadults.Havinganotherdriverinthefamilycanhelp
outinvariousways.
Adultsmayhavetheirlicense,butdotheyreallyrememberandfollowtheregulationsas
carefullyasateenwhojustfinishedtheirdriverseducationcourse?Adultsareveryguiltyof
feelingtooexperienced,sotheyfeelconfidentenoughtoeat,talk,orputonmakeupwhile
drivingwhichisaverybadexampleforimpressionableteens.Itwaseasierforteenagersparents
toobtainadriverslicenseasaminorbecausetherequirementswerenotasstrict.Thismeans
theydidnotgainthesameamountoftrainingastheirchild.Lotsofparentscannotrememberall
therulesoftheroadanymoresinceithasbeenyearssincetheytookdriverseducationclassif
theywereevenrequiredtotakeit.
KitrellDalton,a15yearoldfromAtlanta,wasinterviewedin
adrivereducationclassalongwithtwodozenothernewteendrivers.Anarticlefromthe
New
YorkTimes
,writtenbySusanBrenna,usesDaltonsclaim:Someadultsdriveworsethan
teenagers,saidKitrellDalton,15,whoreceivedherlearner'spermitinJanuary.Somepeople
actliketheygottheirlicenseatthegrocerystoreforfree,likethey'veneverhadadrivingclass
oranything(Brenna).Daltonarguesnotalladultshaveproperdrivingskillseventhoughthey
possessadriversliscense.
Anotherproblemisthatmostadultsfeeloverconfidentwhichleads
themtomultitaskingwhiledriving.Thiscanresultincountlessbadhabitsovertheyears,leading
tomoresafetyhazardswhileontheroad.Gettingtoocomfortablewithdrivingresultsinlaziness
andzoningoutwhilebehindthewheelwhichleadstothesameriskofteendrivers.Anyonein
controlofpowerfulmachineryfacesdifferentrisksdependingontheirage.

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Newadultdriverswhoareonlyacoupleyearsoldergettobypassmanyofthestrict
requirementsthatteenshavetofollow.Lotsofknowthisandwaituntiltheyturn18toapplyfor
alicensesotheycandriverightawaywithoutabunchofrulesandrestrictions.Inparticular,
manyteenagerswaituntiltheyareover18todrive,yettheywillbelessexperiencedthan
16yearoldswhohavehadbehindthewheeltrainingwithaprofessional.Similarly,withthe
increaseinage,themorelikelyitisforyoungadultstodriveundertheinfluencebecauseof
moreexposuretoalcoholanddrugs.Awriterfromthe
LosAngelesTimes
,ShariRoan,argues
that,Whilethenumberoffatalcrashesamong16and17yearolddrivershasfallen,deadly
accidentsamong18to19yearoldshaverisenbyanalmostequalamount(Roan).Roanalso
statedthatresearcherssawa26%reductionintheaccidentsinvolving16yearoldsbecauseof
theirstrictrequirements,whereastherewasa12%increasein18yearoldswhohaveless
requirementstoobtainalicense(Roan).Thefactsshowthattherealriskisnewdriversonthe
roadwhichisunavoidablebecausetherewillalwaysbenewdriversnomatterwhattheirageis.
AccordingtoMikeLeonard,lawspassedinIndianatightenedthedrivingrequirementsforyoung
driversinJuly2009byaddingmoretimebetweenreceivingapermitandqualifyingforadriving
license.Nowtheagerequiredis16years,andsixmonthswithdriverseducationinsteadof16
years,andsixmonthswithoutdriverseducation.Thenewlawsloweredthecrashrate
significantlyhowever,theagedidnotchange(Leonard).Thisshowstheamountofpreparation
beforedrivingontheroadismoreimportantthanthenewdriversage.
Newdriverswillalways
haveahigherriskofaccidentsbecauseofinexperience,butpreparingnewdriversproperlycan
lowertheaccidentrates.

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Teendriversmustcompletehoursoftrainingbeforegettingtheirlicenses:theyarejustas
preparedasanynewdriverofanyage.Keepingthedrivingagethesameandmakingsureall
newdriversareproperlypreparedandtrainedfordrivingontheroad.Peopleneedtomakesure
everyonesafedrivingispromoted.Insteadofraisingthedrivingageadultsneedtoberole
modelsforteensandteensneedtomakesuretheyareproperlyeducatedbeforeattemptingto
drive.Everyoneneedstomakesuretheyareproperlytrainedandeducatedbeforegoingbehind
thewheelinordertopreventmoreaccidentsamongpeopleofallages.

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Workscited
Brenna,Susan."GrownUpDrivers."
TheNewYorkTimes
.TheNewYorkTimes,16May2000.
Web.2May2016.
"Don'tRaiseDrivingAge."McClatchyTribuneBusinessNews.15Sep.2008:n.p.SIRSIssues
Researcher.Web.02May2016.
"DriverLicenseandIdentificationCardInformation."DriverLicenseandIdentificationCard
Information.StateofCalifornia,2016.Web.04May2016.
"DrivingFirstSteponRoadtoIndependence."McClatchyTribuneBusinessNews.17Sep.
2008:n.p.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.04May2016.
Leonard,Mike."NewRestrictionsonTeenDrivingLedtoFewerCrashes."McClatchyTribune
BusinessNews.15Mar.2011:n.p.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.04May2016.
Roan,Shari."DrivingLawsMayBeShiftingtheFatalitiestoOlderTeens."LosAngelesTimes.
14Sep.2011:A.1.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.02May2016.
Waites,Keisha."MyCaseforRaisingtheDrivingAgeinGa."AtlantaJournalConstitution.08
Dec.2015:A.12.SIRSIssuesResearcher.Web.04May2016.
Zernike,Kate."UnsafeBehindtheWheel?."NewYorkTimesUpfront.08Oct.2012:67.SIRS
IssuesResearcher.Web.04May2016.