Should The Driving Age Be Raised to 18: Argumentative

Should the driving age be raised to 18? Essay on this topic can cause a lot of debates. It has been a common thing for teenagers to learn how to drive at 15, and get their license at 16. Teenagers feel very happy when they learn how to drive, but don’t always know the responsibilities of being a good driver. They cause so many accidents which cause so many deaths because their minds aren’t developed enough to make those decisions. It is time for these accidents to stop. There are two main pros of raising the driving age to 18: there will be fewer accidents, and teenagers will have more time to develop their minds. An the following chapters of this argumentative essay prove its rationality.

Too many accidents are caused by teens, and many people die as a result. A 2008 report states, “More than 5,000 US teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59” (National Highway Safety Administration). The number is startling because it represents how a lot of teens die every year, and that it will be safer once the driver is older. A story about a mother that lost her 16-year old daughter says, “Jessie rolled her car into a Missouri ditch and died in July 2003. Her mom used to happily be Jessie’s ride. She would give anything for the chance to drive Jessie again” (USA Today). This shows how it affects the loved ones of the teens, and it is devastating because this careless mistake is neither irreversible nor the victims are replaceable.

Teenagers’ minds aren’t developed to enough in order to handle driving. According to brain research, “A crucial part of the teen’s brain – the area that peers ahead and considers consequences – remains undeveloped. That means careless attitudes and rash emotions often drive teen decisions” (USA Today). Teenagers may think that they are really good drivers, but they don’t always consider what will happen when they have such attitudes. Another study says, “For the majority of teens, their brains haven’t developed to the point where they can control impulses” (UC Davis). All teens are at risk because their minds aren’t even developed, and impulses are something to be taken very seriously.

To conclude, the answer to the question “should the minimum driving age be raised?” according to this essay is “yes’. Teens really need to know the dangers of driving, and how they think. Nobody wants to be killed in an accident whether it is the person hit, or the person driving the car. Fewer accidents and teenagers having more time to develop their minds are both examples of why the driving age should be raised to 18.

Works Cited

1. Afifi, T. O., Henriksen, C. A., Asmundson, G. J., & Sareen, J. (2012). Childhood maltreatment and substance use disorders among men and women in a nationally representative sample. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57(11), 677-686.
2. Anda, R. F., Felitti, V. J., Bremner, J. D., Walker, J. D., Whitfield, C., Perry, B. D., . . . Giles, W. H. (2006). The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood: A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 256(3), 174-186.
3. Bensley, L. S., Van Eenwyk, J., & Simmons, K. W. (2000). Self-reported childhood sexual and physical abuse and adult HIV-risk behaviors and heavy drinking. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 18(2), 151-158.
4. Davis, C. G., Lehman, D. R., Wortman, C. B., Silver, R. C., & Thompson, S. C. (1995). The undoing of traumatic life events. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(2), 109-124.
5. De Bellis, M. D. (2002). Developmental traumatology: The psychobiological development of maltreated children and its implications for research, treatment, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 14(4), 747-776.
6. Kendler, K. S., Kuhn, J. W., & Prescott, C. A. (2004). Childhood sexual abuse, stressful life events and risk for major depression in women. Psychological Medicine, 34(8), 1475-1482.
7. Poulton, R., Caspi, A., Milne, B. J., Thomson, W. M., Taylor, A., Sears, M. R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2002). Association between children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: A life-course study. The Lancet, 360(9346), 1640-1645.
8. Rapsey, C. M., Scott, K. M., & Patterson, T. (2018). Long-term effects of childhood abuse on the quality of life and health of older people: Results from the Depression and Early Prevention of Suicide in General Practice Project. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 30(5), 372-386.
9. Silver, R. C., Boon, C., & Stones, M. H. (1985). Searching for meaning in misfortune: Making sense of incest. Journal of Social Issues, 41(1), 81-102.

Video Version