The age limit to get a driver’s license in the United States should be 18 years old or older because teenagers are irresponsible.

    Changing the age limit is important because people are dying. Teenagers can be reckless, and they don’t realize that the decisions they make affect other innocent people. Teenagers get into more accidents than other drivers because teenagers’ brains are not fully matured. The brain doesn’t fully mature until 21 years of age because teenagers aren’t fully grown.  Some people might have a problem believing the truth so maybe some facts from the “National Highway Traffic Safety Administration” (NATSA) will help them understand.

 In 2005, 7460 drivers between the ages of 15-20died in fatal crashes reported the NHTSA. Overall, teen-driving deaths have declined significantly since 1975 to 5,600 in 1998 from more than 8,700 in 1975, yet the youngest drivers are dying more frequently than ever before. In 2003, fatal crashes involved 937 drivers age 16. In those crashes, 411 of the 16-year-old drivers died, and 352 of their passengers were killed.  Sixteen-year-old drivers are involved in fatal crashes at a rate nearly five times the rate of drivers 20 or older. The risk of accidents is higher among 16-to-19-year-old teenage drivers than among any other age group. Teenage drivers are four times more likely to get into a car accident than older drivers.

    Some say that the age to get a driver’s license should stay at 16. They say that teenagers have responsibilities of their own and have things to get done. Sixteen is the age when teens start to get jobs, so they need to drive to get there, they say. Teenagers play sports, so they need someone to pick them up but, if they drive, then life could be much easier, says those who want it to stay at sixteen.

    But think about it; are these reasons good enough that another person has to die?