Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Students Speak Out

The Las Vegas-Review Journal Editorial Essay Program for High School Students

September Topic:
"Should the driving age be raised to help prevent teenage accident fatalities?"

FIRST PLACE WINNER
By Bridget Elizan
Advanced Technologies Academy

Let's raise the legal driving age

Raising the driving age equals decreasing the fatality rate. What many teenagers refuse to realize is that a car is just as dangerous as a gun. What happens depends on what you do: pull a trigger or swerve left into busy traffic.

In reality, a car can be a more dangerous weapon if used incorrectly. The same reality is attached to a gun or any weapon. But teenagers do not see cars as weapons. Teenagers see cars as vehicles used to get to Johnny's house for a party on Saturday night or a way to get to work on time. That misjudgment is only one of many teenagers make.

Car accidents involving young people are not always the fault of a teenage driver. Teens do not always have control over what is in their brains, but more often than not they do -- and accidents happen. The solution is to raise the driving age.

In July of 2005, MSNBC published a report on a 16 year old girl, Alicia, who was instantly killed in a car after the driver, a 16 year old male, lost control of the car and sent them crashing into a utility pole. Yet accident reports of teen fatalities in car crashes continue.

Teens are more likely to act on impulse than to think things logically and thoroughly. The National Institute of Health brought light to this situation by adding that teenagers' brains are not fully developed until around the age of 20 -- particularly in the area that controls impulses and risk taking. Yet most teenagers start driving around the age of 16.

Another leading factor in teen fatalities could possibly be a teenager's cell phone. Teens call, text, surf the Web, all with one device. Eventually teens get so dependent on cell phones that, in many people's eyes, it is all teens do -- even when driving. The leading factor in car accidents is inattentiveness. Teenagers have more than enough issues in their lives that can keep them distracted while driving -- including other friend's into the car, music playing on the radio, talking to someone on the phone. Yet, these things are such a natural part of life for teenagers that they do not see that there is an added risk factor when using them. And no matter how much teachers in Driver's Ed Class stress this, teenagers are either zoning out during the lecture or they do not realize that using a cell phone could mean gambling your life -- until they get into an accident. Teens get districted, it is what teenagers do. However, it can hurt more than just them.

When teenagers drive, they do not realize the sheer power they have over life. One wrong turn and somebody's family, like Alicia's in the MSNBC report, could be visiting a funeral home and buying a casket for their son or daughter.

Although teens do not mean to, teens get distracted. Teens lose sight of the consequences of not paying attention. So let teenagers wait a little longer. Let their brains develop. Let them get their life in check. Let hem realize that a car truly is a weapon.

Let the driving age be raised to prevent teenage accident fatalities.