Should the minimum age for driving be raised?

Just in Canada about 23,197,572 different age groups were licensed in 2009. From that 23,197,572 about 1,096,437 teenagers between the ages of 16 – 19 are licensed in 2009. From the 23,197,572 about 22,101,135 ages 20 and above are licenced in Canada in 2009. (http://www. tc. gc. ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp3322-2009-1173. htm#t2) People now days think that teen drivers are the worst and the driving age should be increase, however it is not just teenagers that create accidents; there are various reasons to why collisions occur.

In Ontario, you are able to take the test and get your driver’s license at the age of 16, but you need to have an experienced driver beside you until you’re 17 years of age.

In my opinion, I think that the driving age should not be increased because the rates of fatalities are high but not as high as the older age groups, the older you get the harder it will be to learn the laws and regulations of driving itself, and the older they get the more chances of drinking and driving.

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Firstly, just because of raising the driving age does not prevent car accidents from occurring.

Many adults tend to have a major impact in the accidents that occur now days. For instance, from the recently collected data in 2009 of the percentage of driver fatalities and serious injuries by age group shows that the ages from 25 to 34 faced the most number of injuries and fatalities compared to the any other age groups. From the 25 to 34 ages about 17. 1 % faced fatalities and 19.

1 % faced serious injuries. In the same data collected the teen drivers between the ages of 15 to 19 showed that 9. 6 % are fatalities and 9. 9 % are faced with serious injuries. http://www. tc. gc. ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp3322-2009-1173. htm#t2)

Furthermore, the second most age group that faced harsh outcomes from accident were from the ages of 45 to 54. 18. 4 % of the people encountered fatalities and 18. 2 % faced serious injuries. (http://www. tc. gc. ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp3322-2009-1173. htm#t2) This data collected illustrates that accidents occurred more to the older age groups compared to the young drivers. Therefore, by increasing the age group the teens would be penalized for the few teenagers that actually were involved in the accidents.

Secondly, by rising the driving age it would be harder for drivers to grasp onto information as they get older. The older the drivers gets the more difficult it will be for the new learners to keep their memory onto such signs on the roads. Studies demonstrate that as humans get older their brain starts to lose more white matter pathways. (Swaminathan, Nikhil) These white matter pathways connect to different brain cells and as human gets older the white matter pathways start to erode.

What good would it be if you increase the age of driving, but have drivers don’t comprehend the key information that they learn. Also, this could be the cause of serious injuries and death to pedestrians, passengers and drivers. Hence, this action will be much more unsafe to the public rather than keeping the youngsters from driving early. Lastly, as you increase the age of driving, the drivers will become eligible for intoxicating themselves with alcohol and driving. In addition, there was a data collected of the percentage of fatally injured drivers tested and found to have been drinking in 2008.

This data shows that 37 % consumed 160 MG% of alcohol in their blood, about 15 % were fatally injured by consuming 81 – 160 MG% of alcohol in their blood, and about 6 % consumed 1 – 80 MG% of alcohol. (http://www. tc. gc. ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp3322-2009-1173. htm#t2) As a result, the older drivers are the more number of deaths is caused by drivers who were drinking and driving. This would only be an option to the older drivers because they would be permitted to buy alcohol.

If the drivers were younger there would be much less chances for that to occur because when you’re 16 or 17 years of age driving; they would not be able to buy any drinks. Therefore, the driving age should not be raised. In conclusion, the age should not be raised for driving because collisions occurred more to the older drivers than the younger drivers, the older you get the harder it will be to learn the rules of driving, and the older humans get the more chances of drinking and driving. Accidents happen to any one does not matter whether they’re 18 or 40 so, what difference would it make by increasing the age of driving?