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Argumentative Essay on Teenage Drivers

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Argumentative Essay on Teenage Drivers
Saving Lives of the Inexperienced Remember the days leading up to your sixteenth birthday? You would be talking with friends about how you cannot wait to go out in your new car and drive with the wind blowing through your hair? Plus the adrenaline pumping in your body especially on the day of your birthday and waiting to go to the license bureau and claim your ticket to “freedom!” Though there may have been another side of the spectrum which was not being focused on, and that was the amount of experience you have yet to gain before calling yourself a “full-time driver.” By nationally setting the driver’s learner permit minimum age at sixteen years old and enforcing two years of driving with a licensed adult before obtaining a full license, will result in reducing the amount of teenage car accidents because of the increase in supervised driving experience for new drivers. Earlier this year last October, Kieran Turner, a spokesman for NZTA (New Zealand Transportation Agency) mentioned teenage car accidents are still the “single biggest killer of teenagers” nationally (“Car crashes biggest teen killer”). Additionally, according to statistics gathered by the Federal Highway Administration, drivers 19 years old and under came in second on the rank in amount of fatal accidents, being 3,272 total, both females and males (Federal Highway Administration). The group which came in first was the 20 to 24 years old drivers with an amount of 5,600 total fatal accidents (Federal Highway Administration). From looking at the statistics, there clearly is a sign showing that action needs to be taken into consideration in order to drop these rates. Age rather in comparison to experience, is the actual top cause of traffic incidents among teenagers. Though, the age does go in a relation to experience, but every driver is different. Explorations need to occur with new drivers and the link with high amounts of car accidents, with the help of an increase in supervised


Cited: “Car crashes biggest teen killer.” Southland Times, The 24 Oct. 2013: 2. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Cheney, Peter. "Inside the mind of a teenage joyrider; For boundary - testing youth, the ca is freedom, an joyriding breaks all the rules. Experts say that 's the heart of its appeal." Washington Post [Toronto] 02 Jul 2010, A6. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Dinkelacker, Thomas H. “Driving Distracted While In Your Employ: Liability Involving Cell Phones.” The Psychologist – Manager Journal 8.2 (2005): 165-175. PsycARTICLES. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Federal Highway Administration. “Table 1120: Licensed Drivers And Number In Fatal Accidents By Age And Sex: 2011.” ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2013. Ed. ProQuest. 2013. Web: ProQuest Statistical Abstract. 19 Nov. 2013. Halsey III, Ashley. "Nighttime magnifies risks for teen drives; Phones, inexperience compound dangers after day, study says." Washington Post 06 May 2010, Met 2 Edition A06. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Halsey III, Ashley. "Teens driving their peers more likely to die in crashes." Washington Post 27 Sep 2013, Met 2 Edition A03. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

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