America’s Driving Laws.

The insurance industry and the government agree that new drivers have higher death rates. Therefore, the insurance industry is asking the state governments to increase driving restrictions. Insurance company executives and our current politicians may want to study new users of other vehicles. They would quickly realize that new users of every type of vehicle, including planes or farm equipment, have more accidents than experienced users. If the government raised the driving age to 30, then everyone above 30 would complain about the high accident rates of 30-year-olds.

Furthermore, the new legal driving age has some negative consequences on the teenage community. If a teenager decides to become employed, he or she needs a form of transportation to get to the site of employment. Would it be practical for the parent to transport him or her to work everyday? In addition, the student would be able to drive him or herself to school and attend school activities without the parent having to do all the driving. Clearly, the right to drive makes life much more convenient not only for the teenager, but also the parent.

The state claims that it wants to reduce accidents but the state's real motivation is to control the lives of teenagers. Driving may be dangerous, but many people are willing to accept the risks.

-If laws are based on age and the ability to respond to situations at that specific age, then should we revoke senior citizen's right to drive because their coordination is poorer than a teenager's?

-Any new users for any type of vehicle are more likely to have accidents. According to the politicians, they will complain that 18 year olds are not responsible enough and raise the driving age again.

-The law assumes that passengers over 21 are less of a distraction to the driver than any other passengers.