Appropriate Age For A Driver’s License Creative Writing (Essay Sample)

Name:
Instructor’s name:
Course:
Date:
Appropriate age for a driver’s license: Why 16-year old teens are not ready to take responsibility on the road.
Having teens behind the wheels presents mixed blessings for parents and families. For some parents, having teens driving themselves to school or to the grocery store means less work and responsibility. Therefore, they can focus on more “important” things. This assumption is not only wrong but dangerous. At the age of 16, teens are not ready to take responsibility on the road. The most appropriate age for earning a driver’s license in the United States should be 20 years. There are many reasons why 16-year old teens should not be allowed to be drivers.
Driving at the age of 16 is a recipe for many fatal road accidents. According to statistics, auto accidents are the number one case of death among teenagers in the United States (Williams 278). Despite the fact that youth drivers in the United States is only approximated to account for 14 percent of the overall population, they represent more than 28 percent of the total cost of auto injuries among females and about 30 percent among males (Curry et al. 121). The ages of 16-19 have been reported to represent the most perilous years of driving. Teens within this age bracket are likely to cause road accidents three times more than drivers aged twenty and above.
At the age of 16, teens are inexperienced and immature. Immaturity and inexperience increases the risks of road accidents. Since their eyes are untrained, they underestimate the dangerous and hazardous situations while driving (Goodwin et al. 160). Most of them have not used the road for a long time and hence are unfamiliar with different signs on the road. The immaturity and inexperience causes many fatal accidents. Tailgating and speeding is also common with teenage drivers and especially those who are driving for the first time. More than 30 percent of reported fatal crashes are caused speeding by teenage drivers (Curry et al. 201). Some teenagers as young as 16 drive under the influence of alcohol. Drunk driving is another reason why they should not be allowed to drive on their own.
Irresponsibility on the road by teenage drivers is also shown by their low rate of seat belt usage. Failure to use seat belts is dangerous since the life of the driver is at greater risk in case of an accident or crash (Goodwin et al. 180). Traffic police officers report that most teens of this age who get involved in fatal crashes do not wear seat belts. Another concern is how teens get distracted while driving (Goodwin et al. 189). Distractions are heightened when a teen is driving in the company of other teenagers. For instance, during road trips, teenagers get distracted because of loud music and interference from their friends in the passenger seats. Another common cause o...