English SPM Essay 10

Raising the Minimum Driving Age

          I strongly and firmly believe that rising the minimum driving age would havedire consequences, and as such believe that rising the driving age must be prevented. Iwould like to discuss with you today why we should keep this tradition of having teenagers be able to obtain their licenses on their 16th birthday.

          The current driving age takes a huge burden off parents who would otherwise beforced to take their kids from place to place. If the people who would like to enact thislegislation had teenagers, I think that they might change their mind. If many of the people were required to haul their kids back and forth to school, sports practice, clubs,appointments, jobs and other activities, I believe they might have a different outlook ifthey themselves had to move their teens around for hours every day. I would also like tobring up the argument of single parents. The opposition have shown no plans on how todeal with single parents. Single parents often already have to do twice the work of aparent in a traditional family, and then to tell a single parent that they must drive theirteen around for two extra years is ridiculous. Rising the driving age would just cause more problems and work for an already overwhelmed single parent.

          The next reason for maintaining the current driving age is that teens need to learn to drive while still under the watchful eye of their parents. Raising the driving age to 18would put many teens in college when they begin to drive. This would also put them in a time where they have no supervision in their lives, and this leads them to experiment with drugs and alcohol. It is a recipe for disaster to make brand new drivers with nosupervision, and then to put them in a time when they are experimenting with drugs is

asking for trouble. Yet “safety” is the first reason why many proponents want to make their idea a law. Yet another reason not to rise the driving age is that it will prevent teens from getting involved in many after school activities such as sports, clubs, and jobs. Not only are the above necessary for many college applications, they also help build character, and self-esteem, which are very necessary at this point in teenagers’ lives.

          I would now like to focus on the argument that safer driving have to do with ageand not experience. This is a ridiculous argument. If this argument were true then whyshould we not raise the driving age to 45. If being older really makes you a better driver,then there is absolutely no reason why we should not raise it to 45 years old. Experiencebehind the wheel and education are what makes people better drivers. Notice that manyinsurance companies give discounts to who have had a driver’s education course. This isbecause they have fewer accidents. This is just one of the many examples that shows drivers get better with experience and education-not from just being older.

          In summary, there is no reason to raise the minimum driving age, but there plentyof reasons not to. Rising the driving age would just cause and undue hardship onfamilies and teens. After reviewing the many above reasons, I beg of you to think how raising the driving will affect parents, teens, and the community and then make you decision based on the facts above, and not the raw emotion that opposition will use.