There are arguments that the legal driving age is too low, and this causes an unacceptably high level of traffic accidents. Raising the driving age, would ensure young drivers are more experienced and less prone to rash judgements which can put other road users at risk. Arguments for raising the legal driving age include:
1. Cut the number of deaths
The highest death rate for drivers is amongst the age group 17-25. If the driving age is increased there would a be a fall in fatalities arising from motor car use. This has a significant economic benefit.
2. Cut Congestion.
Fewer drivers on the road will reduce congestion and therefore reduce costs for firms
3. Reduce Obesity
Driving encourages the population to become lazy and obese. If people can’t drive they will be forced to walk, use public transport and cycle. This will help lead to a healthier population, which in turn leads to less strain on the NHS
4. Young drivers overestimate their skill
Young drivers, especially male drivers, are likely to overestimate their ability to drive at speed and in difficult conditions. For people of school age, there is often great peer pressure to drive excessively and in a dangerous way.
However, raising the driving age to 21 is rather a crude mechanism to raise some issues from young drivers.
Disadvantages of Raising Driving Age
- Is public transport good enough to provide an alternative? People in rural areas will be at a disadvantage and struggle to travel to work and visit friends
- Train travel is much more expensive than car use. Young people are already struggling with high rents and cost of education.
- Reduced mobility of young people can have an economic cost; it would lead to geographical immobility and geographical unemployment
- There are much better ways to tackle issues of pollution and congestion than raising the driving age. For example, using electronic-road pricing could better manage demand and congestion levels.
- High traffic accidents amongst young drivers are a problem, however, a better solution may be to improve standards of driving tests and stricter enforcement of speed limits. People have to learn to drive at some time.
- Lower demand for cars and therefore lower output in the car industry.
- It is an arbitrary denial of freedom to choose.
Conclusion
Raising the driving age to 21 is not a good idea. There is a stronger case for raising the driving age to 18 (though as a compromise people could be learner driver from the age of 17.
About The Author
I agree with Ben and Bailey. The amount of teenage obesities will increase if the driving age is lowered. Teens will become overweight if they overuse their ability to drive.
Also, who is paying for the gas? Is it the parents or the teens? Since gas prices are so high, would a simple job cover the cost of gas and ensure a supple amount of money for college?
1. I believe this point is a serious issue. Young drivers often overestimate their driving skills, causing accidents, thousands of dollars in repair, injuries, and even deaths. Teens will often race on the highways or country roads and cause crashes by missing stop signs. If the driving age is raised, this won’t occur and many lives will be saved.
My Earlier Comment-
The last sentence does not make sense, sorry about that, but it still gets the point across.
“the third “benefit” is absurd, if your raising the driving age to 21 to reduce obesity, then you should just raise it to an even higher age because not just teens are obese, thats a problem for every age in america
-Blanca Parent and Anna Miller”
The 3rd benefit is not ‘absurd’. We are considering teens here, not everyone. Why not help prevent teens from getting over weight? Obviously we can’t raise the driving age to 40 or something because that is far too old. Driving does cause drivers to remain unactive while driving and offers them access to fast-food drive-throughs. You can’t deny that driving could cause obesity in teens and we can’t raise the driving age that high.
I think that your benifits are pretty good. It should reduce obesity. So many teenagers just drive instead of walking. They never take the time to exercise.
Even though driving gives teens more independence and more responsibility, it can also be a bad thing. Teens who can drive are TOO independent at times. They need to tell their parents what they’re up to instead of going anywhere they want to all the time.
Driving could equal drinking and drugs for some teens. So parents, think about that when you talk about getting your childrens’ driver’s license.
“The highest death rate for drivers is amongst the age group 17-25. If the driving age is increased there would a be a fall in fatalities arising from motor car use. This has a significant economic benefit.”
wont this just rise with the driving age.. i mean just because your raising the age doesnt mean there going to be perfect drivers and have better experience or over estimate there skill. Personally i dont think it will make any difference what so ever.
the third “benefit” is absurd, if your raising the driving age to 21 to reduce obesity, then you should just raise it to an even higher age because not just teens are obese, thats a problem for every age in america
-Blanca Parent and Anna Miller