Hi! First time posting on here... please do not hesitate to tell me of anything you think that needs to be changed! Thank you! (Oh, and I do not support either side of this topic, but had to defend one.) Thank you! :)
The Young and Reckless
On January 15, 2011, near Coldspring, Texas, Troop 8 started setting up for their annual Winter Camp campout. It was cold, foggy, and rainy. All scouts for this campout were responsible for getting a ride to camp, either by going with a guardian or another scout's parents. Once the scouts had arrived at camp, we were having our first assembly when our scoutmaster came out and gave us the news that one of our scouts was killed driving himself up to camp. He was only 16 years old, having received his license three months earlier. It was believed that his death was caused by his lack of experience behind the wheel in bad weather conditions; he drove off the road into a fence, where one of the posts went through the windshield and broke his neck. After this event, it became my belief that the minimum age limit for someone to obtain their license should be raised from 16 to 18 years old.
Too many students from my school have died as a result of making bad decisions while driving. Whether it is reaching for a coffee cup and taking your eyes off the road for just a split second, searching for that one song on your Ipod, or thinking you are above having to follow the speed limit and rules of the road, too many have demonstrated how the immaturity of a young teen behind the wheel not only endangers them and their passengers, but also the drivers and pedestrians around them. In 2009, over 3000 teenagers aged between 16 and 19, died behind the wheel. That number continues to increase each year, even so more and more safety features are installed in today's cars. The immaturity that inhibits a teenager's ability to focus on the road is to blame for these statistics.
At 18 years old, a person is given many more rights and responsibilities: they are allowed to vote for their community's and country's leaders, buy and possess guns and ammunition, sign contracts and be held legally accountable for them, join the military, serve on a jury, and even get married. All of these rights and privileges require someone to be mature. It requires them to assess different situations and have good judgment, allowing them to make smart decisions. So why is the privilege of driving given to people at the age of 16? Driving also requires someone to have good judgment and to make smart decisions, such as putting your cell phone away while you are driving, or not driving after you have been drinking.
As the rate of teenage driver-related deaths has risen steadily over the years with over 3000 deaths in 2009 alone, it can be concluded that people between the age of 16 and 19 are simply too immature to operate an automobile. By pushing the driving age up to 18 years old, countless lives can be saved by allowing teenagers to mature an additional two more years.
