September 21, 2009

Teen Ink
P.O. Box 30
Newton, MA 02461

Dear Editor:

The driving age should stay at 16 so drivers can gain experience and get better job opportunities. How would you feel if you had to wait till you were 18 before you could get your license? I feel as if this would only make things worse for new drivers and lives would be more hectic. Many teens would be against this, considering the driving age has always been sixteen for Pennsylvania. The topic was brought up about changing the driving age to 18 for safety reasons. Many say that 18 year olds are more mature and more responsible, which would mean that there would be less accidents, which is not true at all. If the age would change, we would have 18 year olds who were inexperienced instead of 16 year olds who are just as capable with the same inexperience. Just because you are older doesn’t mean you will be a better driver. Teens learn from driving and have to experience it for themselves. The only reason why teen crash ratings are so high is because they are learning. The crash ratings would be just as high for 18 year olds if the laws were changed.

The change could cause issues with the economy because many high school students work, and they wouldn’t be able to have one till they were 18 and able to drive. Jill L. Ferguson from U.S. Department of Labor reports that, “by age 15, nearly two-thirds of American teens have had some kind of employment”. Which would leave companies with a hard time finding employees for the job. The change wouldn’t benefit anyone, and would not help with new drivers crash ratings.

Sincerely,



Bill A.